Major or Minor in Visual Arts

Degree* Options: Major, Minor
Locations: Lincoln Center, Rose Hill
Visit the Department of Visual Arts

*Campus location may vary by area of study. Lincoln Center offers courses in all areas of study. Rose Hill offers courses in painting and drawing, photography, graphic design, and built environment. Please consult the visual arts department prior to applying.

Study art in the creative capital of the world.

Students Preparing Area for Visual Arts

Work closely with Fordham faculty as you develop your technical skills and define your artistic voice. At Fordham, all of New York City is your campus. Museum and gallery tours, studio visits, and visiting artist lectures are an integral part of the curriculum. Small class sizes allow you to forge close relationships with professors and fellow students.

Our Lincoln Center campus is steps away from MoMA, the Guggenheim, and the Met. For a more traditional on-campus experience, head uptown to Rose Hill—just a short train or van ride away—where you’ll study across the street from the New York Botanical Garden and the Visual Arts Complex has a beautiful sky-lit studio space with terrazzo floors and a state-of-the-art computer lab.

Either way, a short subway or train ride brings you to the endless galleries and arts activities of Chelsea, the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn.

We believe educational diversity is critical to the training of an artist—and that creativity and visual understanding are integral parts of a broadly searching mind.

That’s why you’ll learn more than visual arts here. You’ll also study philosophy, theology, history, literature, mathematics, languages, science, and the performing arts through Fordham’s common core curriculum, the centerpiece of our liberal arts education.

We want you to excel in your field—and as a human being.

  • We offer six visual arts areas of study at our Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses.

    • Art & Engagement: Explore the relationships and contexts of artmaking and viewing 
    • Built Environment: Prepare for a career in architecture or urban planning with a combination of studio and lecture classes
    • Film and Video: Create your own experimental, narrative, or documentary films and learn film history
    • Graphic Design: Study the principles of design and typography from a critical, social, historical, and theoretical perspective
    • Painting and Drawing: Learn traditional and modern technical skills, art theory, and creative expression
    • Photography: Develop your darkroom and digital skills and learn the historical and critical context of the medium

    Studios and computer labs at both campuses are available to students when classes are not in session, including weekends, evenings, and summers.

    Galleries

    We have two galleries at the Lincoln Center campus:

    • The Ildiko Butler Gallery features thematic group exhibitions of contemporary photographers, painters, architects, designers, and filmmakers.
    • The Lipani Gallery features solo and group exhibitions of student work as well as work by professional artists, architects, and designers.

    Both galleries are dedicated to solo and two-person senior-thesis shows in the spring.

    Internships

    Inspiration is all around you in New York City—and so are the internship opportunities. You may find yourself working in one of NYC's many creative and cultural institutions or companies, or assisting an artist in his or her studio.

    Some common venues:

    • Museums
    • Galleries
    • Nonprofit organizations
    • Artists’ studios
    • Advertising agencies
    • Book publishers
    • Magazines
    • Architecture firms
    • Graphic design firms

    Curate exhibitions. Design materials for events. Arrange workshops, field trips, and lectures. Two student-run clubs will stimulate your creativity, engage your intellect, and foster your artistic collaborations:

    • Student Arts Guild at Lincoln Center
    • Society of Visual Arts (SOVA) at Rose Hill

    Study Abroad

    Many visual arts majors spend their junior year finding inspiration abroad. There is a whole globe of study abroad possibilities available through Fordham’s International and Study Abroad Program.

  • Drawing and Painting

    • Figure Drawing
    • Collage and Mixed Media
    • Senior Project: Painting

    Graphic Design

    • Fundamentals of Website Design
    • Logos, Branding and Presentation
    • Art Design and Politics

    Film and Video

    • Seminar in Avant-Garde Film/Video
    • Documentary Film/Video Production
    • Studio Production Workshop

    Built Environment

    • Designing the City
    • Architectural Language
    • Environmental Design

    Photography

    • Digital Photography
    • Documentary Photography
    • Contemporary Issues in Photography

  • Many of our Visual Arts graduates find positions in:

    • Museums
    • Galleries
    • Nonprofit art centers
    • Arts-related NYC government departments
    • Publishing
    • Architecture firms
    • Graphic design studios
    • Broadcasting companies
    • Film studios
    • Advertising
    • Interior design
    • Schools
    • Libraries

    Many continue their education at top graduate schools, including:

    • Carnegie Mellon
    • Cornell University
    • Harvard University
    • Oxford University
    • Parsons School of Design
    • Pratt Institute
    • Rhode Island School of Design
    • Rutgers University
    • University of Pennsylvania
    • University of Virginia
    • Yale University

    Creative work by our graduates has been exhibited, screened, and published in venues including:

    • The Whitney Museum of Art
    • MoMA PS1
    • MoCA Los Angeles
    • The Sundance Film Festival
    • The Anthology Film Archives
    • The New York Times

    Looking for advice from a visual arts graduate? We’ll connect you with our powerful (and Fordham-loyal) network of alumni, who want to see you succeed as they have.

Learn More About the Visual Arts Degree

Visit the Visual Arts Department