Studio Art

Make Your Artistic Dreams a Professional Reality

Develop creative problem-solving skills, technical expertise, and self-awareness to create a bright future with a degree in studio art.

Choose the B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree for an intensive study of the visual arts with a concentration in ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking or sculpture that will prepare you for a career as a professional artist. Select the B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) degree program for a deep working knowledge of the fine arts with the opportunity to explore a variety of media and career possibilities. Both options build your creative and critical thinking skills alongside studio and technical skills.

Learn From Celebrated Artists

Create with professors who study and exhibit regionally, nationally, and internationally, including a Fulbright scholar and recipients of grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

Studio Art Minor

The minor in studio art can be combined with any major to provide expertise and deeper understanding of the arts. Students may also create a self-designed major in the arts (subject to approval) specifically tailored to their combined artistic areas of special interest.

A New Home for the Arts

With its spacious and modern design, the new Davidow Center for Art + Design enriches the cultural and artistic experiences of students, alumni, faculty, staff and the larger community. The 15,000 square-foot space opened in fall 2017 and offers studios, a state-of-the-art black box theater, a fine art gallery with views of Mount Kearsarge, a sculpture garden, and faculty offices – all topped with a solar array.

Where Talent Meets Preparation

Studying the arts at Colby-Sawyer is a multidimensional experience that blends your creative talent with professional preparation and opportunities to learn alongside talented faculty and practicing artists.

A self-selected internship provides you with hands-on experience in the art world, while student exhibitions in our campus gallery allow you to share your art with the public. Your Capstone project, a culmination of your work at Colby-Sawyer, serves as your professional portfolio when you graduate.

Trips to major galleries and museums, as well as private and professional art studios, bring you up close to major works of art and the creative process. Major on-campus art exhibitions and a long-standing relationship with the Fulbright Commission bring renowned, emerging and cutting-edge national and international artists right to your doorstep.

Express Yourself Outside of the Classroom

Join a student-led club or organization focused on the performing arts to connect with other students interested in creative expression. Make your stage debut with the Colby-Sawyer Players, or jam out with Vocally Charged a Capella group.