Bachelor of Arts in Art
Develop and hone your skills to produce purposeful art with an art major.
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Develop Your Art and Share Beauty With Others
At Concordia University, the Bachelor of Arts in Art program helps you grow as both an artist and a person of faith, refining your craft to create meaningful and beautiful art for your neighbors in various venues.
Some distinctives of our program are:
- Working year-round directly in the landscape, cultivating gratitude for Creation
- Figurative training, including anatomy and figure drawing from clothed models
- The opportunity to illustrate Bible passages and work towards liturgical art, cultivating gratitude for God’s gift of imagination, liturgy, and other artists
- A freedom of personal style, including figurative, abstract, or a hybrid, with the common aim of transformational plasticity as a shared goal for the best art across times and cultures
- A beautiful permanent campus art collection that includes original works of art by Rembrandt and Albrecht Dürer.
- A year-long senior guided independent project, with two multi-faculty and staff critiques, culminating in a public group exhibit with artist slide talks.
- Field trips to see art in Orange County and Los Angeles County, and to paint at the ocean.
- Art history and Q & I classes that include drawing and sculpture studies from art as a way to consider individual artworks and develop a sense of context in art history
Career Relevant
Gain real-world skills for a life of service and leadership.
Collaborative Classes
Learn in classes with a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
Opportunity Awaits
Access internship and career opportunities across Southern CA.
Getting Started
As an art major, you’ll create and critique artwork across diverse media while learning to apply the principles of design, composition, and communication. Coursework integrates technique, art history, and cultural awareness, giving you a well-rounded foundation for graduate study or professional practice.
In this program, you’ll take courses like drawing, painting, and 3D design. If you choose to specialize in graphic design, you’ll have classes on typography and illustration. By specializing in studio art, you can deepen your development in painting and drawing (including gouache, oil, watercolor, and digital painting), as well as the study of the figure, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics.
Next Start
January 11, 2027
Curriculum
Core Curriculum (Sample Courses):
- ART200 – Elements of Art
- ART201 – Drawing I
- ART202 – 3D Design and Visualization
- ART251 – Design and Color Theory
- ART301 – Drawing II
- ART315 – The History of Contemporary Art
- ART321 – Painting I
- ART496 – Senior Project
- ART497 – Senior Show
View the Concordia University Irvine Online Catalog for a full list of courses.
Upon completion of the art program, you will be equipped to:
- Give and receive, in humility, oral and written evaluations that make clear connections between the form and content of their own artwork and of others’ artwork.
- Demonstrate accurate and empathetic application of Christian, Western, and non-Western symbolic and metaphorical meanings in their art and in their analyses of others’ art.
- Demonstrate a process of research, development, and revision to produce a generous body of personal work that culminates in a gallery exhibit.
- Develop artworks that create meaningful conversations with artworks across cultures, times, and places, demonstrating their sense of context in art history.
- Demonstrate hospitable presentations of their artwork to diverse audiences, engaging and responding to viewers’ specific experiences of their art presentation.
- In each art medium, through disciplined practice, develop technical excellence to communicate visual relationships observed in nature, in a dynamic relationship with imagination, geometry, and compositional conventions.
Emphases
- Graphic Design
- Studio Art
View the Concordia University Irvine Online Catalog for a full list of courses for each emphasis.
Tuition and Fees
At Concordia, we understand that investing in your education is a significant decision. That’s why we offer a variety of scholarships and financial aid options to help make your academic journey more affordable. In fact, 100% of our students receive some form of financial assistance! View tuition and fees.
Admission Requirements
View the Application page for full details on application and admission requirements.
Nationally Recognized Q&I Curriculum
Concordia University Irvine is among a distinctive group of universities that offer a comprehensive liberal arts curriculum for all of its students. Our nationally recognized Enduring Questions & Ideas curriculum (Q&I, for short) is carefully crafted so that you discover the purpose of a liberal arts education — to grow intellectually, ethically, and spiritually.
Internships
At Concordia, our goal is to help students discover their calling by nurturing creativity, leadership, collaboration, and critical thinking through the study and practice of art. Internships give you the chance to apply what you’ve learned in real-world settings, building your portfolio, developing professional connections, and exploring where your artistic gifts can make an impact.
Career Outcomes
A college art program gives you the technical foundation and professional portfolio you’ll need to pursue a wide variety of creative careers.1
With a Graphic Design emphasis, you’ll be prepared for roles such as:
- Advertising or Brand Designer
- Creative Director
- Graphic or Web Designer
- Multimedia Artist or Animator
- Product or Package Designer
With a Studio Art emphasis, you could pursue paths in:
- Liturgical Art
- Gallery ownership and/or curation
- Art Education or Art Therapy
- Illustration
- Wedding painting and commissions
- Photography
- Conservation
- Museum Curation
Regardless of your path, you’ll graduate ready to pursue meaningful creative work that inspires and uplifts others.
Academic Opportunities
At Concordia, you’ll find countless ways to grow as an artist and share your work with others.
You’ll have opportunities to participate in:
- Student and faculty art exhibitions each semester
- Practicums and design internships across Southern California
- Visiting artist lectures and workshops
- Publications and gallery displays, including the John and Linda Friend Art Collection — featuring works by Rembrandt and Salvador Dalí
These experiences help you develop your professional voice and connect your faith with your creative practice.
Extracurricular Activities
The art major offers several opportunities to share your art with others at Concordia. Special projects can be created throughout the art curriculum that explore faith, diversity, and multicultural themes.
- The Aerie Magazine
- John and Linda Friend Art Gallery
- President’s Academic Showcase
- Student Art Show
Life at Concordia
Join a community where you’re free to explore your interests and pursuits, make relationships that last a lifetime, and develop your own relationship with God. What will you explore?
Explore Financial Aid
Reduce your tuition costs with financial aid — with help from a team that wants to make your time at Concordia as affordable as possible.
Meet Our Faculty
FAQs
Should I go to art school or university?
If you want to focus exclusively on art, an art school may be the right fit. But at Concordia, you’ll get a comprehensive liberal arts education that strengthens both your creativity and your career options. You can even pair your art major with programs in marketing, education, or theatre design to broaden your opportunities.
What do people do in art college?
Art majors explore a range of media, from painting and design to sculpture, photography, and more. At Concordia, you’ll learn both theory and practice, gaining hands-on studio experience while developing a professional portfolio to showcase to employers and curators.
Is a college art degree worth it?
A bachelor of arts degree expands your technical skill set, deepens your understanding of visual communication, and encourages you to experiment with new mediums. Whether you plan to pursue a creative career or apply your skills in other industries, your training in creative thinking and visual problem-solving will always be valuable.
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Sources
1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, on the internet, at:
- https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/craft-and-fine-artists.htm (viewed Jan. 6, 2025).
Cited projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth.