Our mission is to educate future artists who will go out and share their talents with the world. Be it in traditional studio media or the digital world of graphic design, our aim is to equip students with the tools necessary to become successful artists, designers, and professionals in the field. Our faculty is filled with experienced and accomplished artists and scholars dedicated to student success. To the wider community we hope to expose the Samford campus and Birmingham region to a diverse array of visual arts, and foster an environment of creative excellence and patronage for the arts. Whether your interest is in taking a drawing class, choosing a major, or visiting the Samford gallery to take in our current exhibition, we welcome you to the art department at Samford.

As part of the art and design experience at Samford, School of the Arts students share an innovative curriculum, Catalyst, which is designed for the next generation of artists.  The new course structure provides a collaborative and multi-disciplinary environment for students to prepare for today's job market while developing skills to fulfill meaningful vocations.  The program culminates in an immersive senior Catalyst project, providing a professional-level experience. 

Art

The Department of Art offers majors in fine arts leading to a bachelor of arts (if a language is taken) or a bachelor of science (no language requirement), and in graphic design leading to a bachelor of fine arts. The department also offers a minor in art and, in cooperation with the Music Division and the Department of Theatre and Dance, offers an interdisciplinary minor in the arts.

We have a commendable Bachelor of the Arts & Sciences degree. We host professional shows in the art gallery each month that reflect the very best of what the arts have to offer. Our BA/BS degree includes courses in Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, Ceramics, Art History, etc. Our graduates have received jobs in the areas of painting, gallery work, ceramics, and printmaking.

Graphic Design

We are very proud of our graphic design majors. The vast majority of our students receive jobs within a few months of graduation. Our Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design is a professional degree, meaning it has a large number of hours in the major. Approximately 80 of the 130 hours a student takes are specifically in art and graphic design. This ensures students have as much exposure as possible to various graphic design techniques and processes. No minor is required. Our program includes a wide variety of courses in Advertising, Motion Graphics, Publication Design, Letterpress Printmaking, Web Design, Interactive Computer Multimedia, Typography and History of Graphic Design.

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Interior Architecture

The Department of Interior Architecture offers a major in interior design leading to a bachelor of fine arts degree. Interior design majors must declare art as their first minor, but are free to add a second minor if desired. Note: The art minor that’s part of the interior design major is technically different from the independent art minor as seen here. Students majoring in interior design should follow the minor requirements as detailed in the degree table. The department also offers a non-degree seeking concentration in pre-architecture.  

In 2016, the Interior Architecture Department began offering a Master of Science in Design Studies.

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Admission

Because the bachelor of fine arts in interior design (IARC) presupposes a certain level of professional competence, each interior design major is required to fulfill application requirements for this major during the spring of the sophomore curriculum sequence.

  1. Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 in the major after completion of 26 credit hours, including ART 101, ART 102, ART 221, ART 231; and IARC 101 , IARC 201, IARC 220, IARC 221, and IARC 251.
  2. Successful completion of Portfolio Review including work from those courses listed above (in item 1) along with work in progress from IARC 222 and IARC 252.
  3. Successful completion of an interview with the interior architecture faculty members following completion of the aforementioned courses (in item 1) to continue in the program.
  4. Completion of application form including permission to retain student work for use in marketing and accreditation purpose.

Note: Entering freshmen and transfer students in the Department of Interior Architecture are required to attend a seminar early in the fall semester. This will include delineation of the course of study for both interior design and pre-architecture, the purpose of the art minor, explanation of the portfolio review, and outline specifications for personal computers and software that will be required for the sophomore through senior courses of study. Opportunities for the pursuit of studies at Judson University, Elgin, Illinois, will also be discussed.