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Dear Prospective Student,

Hello, and welcome to the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts. I want to thank you for your interest in our programs and in KU. The School of Fine Arts at KU, in comparison to other fine art programs across the country, is quite diverse in it’s nature, in that both performing and visual arts are housed all together. However, we in the school tend to think that this creates even greater opportunities for our students and faculty to be creative.

Please use the links above for further information regarding these topic areas, and contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Brian Hanabury
Recruitment Coordinator
School of Fine Arts
1467 Jayhawk Blvd. Room 300
Lawrence, KS 66045-7531

Fax: 785. 864.4404
Phone: 785.864.2073

What Majors offered in Fine Arts at KU?

Our degree programs are focused into four main areas: Art, Dance, Design and Music.

Art

In the Art department five major emphasis areas are offered: Drawing & Painting, Expanded Media, Printmaking, Sculpture and Art History. There are BFA and BA degree options available in the Art department.

Design

The Design department has 10 major emphasis areas: Ceramics, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Industrial Design, Metalsmithing & Jewelry, Photomedia, Textiles, Theatre Design, and Visual Art Education. There are BFA and BA degree options available in the Design department. The Bachelor of Arts (BA) program consists of only 30% studio classes while about 70% are liberal arts classes in Art and Design degrees.

The BA is available in Design, but only in one of these specific areas: Ceramics, Metalsmithing, PhotoMedia or Textiles. The BA is also available in Art and includes studio classes in painting, printmaking and sculpture, not just one specific area.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program consists of just over 50% studio classes while less than 50% are liberal arts classes in Art and Design degrees. The BFA in History of Art is the only exception to this. It consists of only 25% studio classes while 75% are liberal arts classes.

The BFA in Design is more specific and covers large amounts of studio work in the one area you chose: Ceramics, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Metalsmithing, PhotoMedia, Textiles, Graphic Design, Illustration, and Theatre Design. However, if you work towards the BFA in Art, you will work in all the areas: painting, printmaking, sculpture, and expanded media even though you will chose one of these specific areas as your concentration.

Dance

The Dance program has two main degree offerings, the Bachelor of Art in Dance, and the Bachelor of Fine Art in Dance. These programs are suited to the interests and plans of the individual student. Emphasis areas the student can choose from are ballet, modern, movement analysis and jazz.

Music

In the Music department, the following Bachelor of Music degrees are offered: Bassoon, Clarinet, Double Bass, Euphonium, Flute, French Horn, Music Composition, Musicology, Music Theory, Oboe, Organ, Organ in Church Music, Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Viola, Violin and Violoncello. There are also Bachelor of Music Education degrees available in, Music Education & Music Therapy. The department also offers a Bachelors of Fine Art in Theatre and Voice, as well as a variety of Bachelors of Arts degrees in Music.

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) consists of only 40% music (or dance) classes while about 60% are liberal arts classes in Music and Dance degrees. The BA is available in Music with one of the following concentrations: Musicology, Music Theory, Piano/Organ/Orchestral Instruments, Voice, or Music with an outside concentration/minor. This last choice has built in hours for completing an already approved minor that exists in the College or another professional school.

The Bachelor of Music (BM) and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance consists of just over 70% music (or dance) classes while just less than 30% are liberal arts classes in Music and Dance.

The BM is available in Bassoon, Clarinet, Double bass, Euphonium, Flute, French horn, Music composition, Music education, Music history, Music theory, Music therapy, Oboe, Organ (with concentration in organ or church music), Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Viola, Violin, Violoncello, and Voice.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Theatre and Voice consists of 85% music classes while only 15% are liberal arts classes.

A Historical background about the School of Fine Arts at KU

The University of Kansas was one of the first public universities in the United States to have formalized professional degree programs in the Arts. Very early in the University’s history Music and Art faculty were appointed. With the first musician hired in 1869 and the first painter/art historian in 1870. There was a formalized degree offering programs from the Music department by 1881, and a department of Drawing/Painting in 1886. The School of Fine Arts as we now know it was founded in 1891 by merging these two departments.

The Design department was founded in 1920 as a bachelor degree.

The Dance division was officially implemented as a degree offering program in 1978, after long existing as a honorary dance society since 1921 and as the University Dance Company in 1977. While the Dance division originally was apart of the department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, it became apart of the Music department in 1985.

Small school within the big school

Art, Design, Music & Dance all have portfolio (Art& Design) and audition (Music & Dance) requirements to obtain admission to their respective departments. Because the competition to get into the programs is very competitive, and there is limited space available, the typical Fine Arts course does not allow students from out side Fine Arts to enroll in our courses. Therefore, the school operates in much the same manner as an art institute or, a music or dance conservatory within the confines of the larger university. This format is a huge advantage to our students in that not only do they get to develop relationships with a set peer cohort of students and individual relationships with faculty members, but they also have opportunities within the University of Kansas to obtain a broad knowledge base that conservatories and art institutes can’t offer them.