Art

In Clemson's fine arts program, you'll be immersed in a rigorous course of study that includes studio techniques, conceptual directions and art history. With the instruction, tools, time and opportunity needed to develop your unique artistic voice, you'll spend hours in the studio among a vibrant community of artists and scholars, with full access to the department's clay, drawing, painting and printmaking studios, plus computer, photo and sculpture labs. Art historians, with a deep knowledge of modern and contemporary art, offer a rich understanding of past and current developments and will help provide context for your studies. 

In the professional BFA program, students can choose an emphasis in ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture or new media, with complementary coursework in animation, graphic design and new media. In the liberal arts B.A. program, students select a concentration in studio art, digital art and design media, or art history, and they can customize their studies with a minor or double major, which allows them to tailor their career interests and take advantage of Clemson's unique strengths as a large research university. Both degree programs are nationally accredited through the National Association for Schools of Art & Design.

You'll be encouraged to investigate materials, processes and contexts that best suit your mode of expression. Rigorous studio activity and strong conceptual development are vital for success in this program. You'll produce a cohesive body of artwork and a portfolio for graduate study or professional applications in the BFA program or complete individualized professional preparation in the B.A. degree.

BFA Concentrations:

Ceramics Emphasis: Deepen your understanding of the diverse range of materials, concepts and processes related to clay, and develop a dynamic, individual practice in a supportive studio environment.

Drawing Emphasis: Develop skills of observation, perception and interpretation through the immediate and immersive act of drawing and through experimenting with various drawing mediums and processes and concepts.

Painting Emphasis: Cultivate your talent formally and conceptually to become a versatile, vital contributor to the contemporary art-making dialogue.

Photography Emphasis: Master the tools, techniques and methods, including traditional black and white film and contemporary digital formats.

Printmaking Emphasis: Explore the myriad possibilities offered - traditional and nontraditional materials, formats and production techniques - as ways to challenge the conventions of image and presentation to facilitate a transformative artistic experience.

Sculpture Emphasis: Immerse yourself in the ever-expanding field of this discipline as you create work in a host of contexts, including traditional gallery, site-specific, temporal/relational and installation modes.

New Media Emphasis: New media explores art practices and ideas. Digital tools and processes are explored relative to drawing, painting, printing, bookmaking, photography, video, installation and motion graphic techniques.

B.A. Concentrations:

The Studio Art Emphasis provides a liberal arts degree offering expertise in studio art within the context of a broad program of general studies. Its core studios are those that constitute standalone concentrations in the professional BFA degree program (Ceramics, Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and New Media). This emphasis forms a grouping of these areas to create a singular, comprehensive studio experience. 

The Digital Art & Design Media Emphasis combines emerging technologies and new artistic strategies with traditional forms, materials and methods. This emphasis explores unconventional strategies in image generation, sound, installation, performance, time-based art, design and virtual spaces. The three primary disciplines within Digital Art & Design Media are new media, animation and graphic design.

The Art History Emphasis provides a liberal arts degree that offers a concentration in art history within the context of a broad program of studio art and general studies. An art degree in this context embeds artists in the humanities, a branch of knowledge and study dedicated to exploring how and why humans produce culture and find meaning in it. This concentration examines how visual art informs and is informed by historical and contemporary aesthetic, social and political conditions.

For the 2022 admissions cycle, Clemson has adopted a test-optional policy. Applicants are not required to submit a standardized test score to be considered for admission to Clemson for the 2022-2023 academic year.

If you choose that test scores should be used, your scores must be submitted electronically by the respective testing agency. Clemson’s institutional code for SAT is 5111, and the code for ACT is 3842. Clemson super-scores both the SAT and the ACT. For the SAT, this means that the overall total SAT score will then be derived by taking the highest of the evidence-based reading and writing/math scores.

According to The ACT, superscoring at Clemson means that we “consider a student’s highest ACT section (or subtest) scores regardless of test date. The super composite ACT score is calculated as the average of the best ACT English, Reading, Math, and Science subject scores and is used as one of multiple factors in admission and financial aid.”