Program Overview

Sculpture, Bachelor of Fine Arts

Program Overview

The Department of Sculpture and Extended Media's full-time faculty members and various part-time and technical faculty represent a spectrum of directions and philosophical attitudes. Faculty interests range from formal to conceptual, from the concrete to the evanescent. This breadth of interests is presented to students and contributes to the comprehensive nature of the department. Students are not only exposed to traditional sculpture media, but encouraged to explore technology's parameters and to pursue interdisciplinary activity.

The department encourages sculpture students to broaden their experience in other areas. By promoting a curriculum that encourages students to take a wide range of courses throughout the university, faculty stress links between art, science, the humanities, and the world. As a consequence, sculpture students have rich, productive associations with professors in many fields. Sculpture students are challenged to exploit their full potential by questioning notions of contemporary art. The goal is to provide students with the vocabulary, the seeds of discernment, and the skills of both analysis and synthesis in order to become participants in the dialogue of our time. All of this takes place in an environment of high expectation regarding self-motivation, intellectual capacity, and responsibility. The sculpture program is housed in a state-of-the-art facility. Sculpture majors are provided with semi-private, locked studio spaces and are given time, support, and encouragement to pursue their independently determined goals.

Career Opportunities

Sculpture alumni are equipped with the critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and technical skills that many careers of the 21st Century require. Alumni often start working as artist assistants and move on to careers as studio artists themselves. Fabrication skills, particularly those in 3D digital modeling and CNC technology, are in high demand, and graduates from our program have a reputation for their abilities in these fields. Many of our alumni work in the art world as curators, preparators, conservators, administrators, and other art-related professions.

Our alumni have the agility and forward thinking that will carry them through a rapidly changing world, and this will equip them for careers that may not yet exist at the moment they graduate.

Job Titles

• Bachelor-level job titles:
  • 3D Digital Fabricator
  • Art Handler
  • Artist
  • Arts Administrator
  • Gallery Assistant
  • K-12 Art Instructor
  • Media Producer
  • Museum Preparator
  • Program Manager
  • Studio Assistant
• Graduate and professional level job titles:
  • Curator
  • Educator/Instructor
  • Gallery Director
  • Museum Director

Admission Requirements

• No guaranteed admission.
• Apply for admission during the first year at community college.
• Review deadlines and portfolio requirements for transfer applicants.

Degree Requirements

• Highest level of math required: Quantitative Foundations requirement only
• Science required: Natural Sciences requirement only
• Foreign language requirements: No
• Additional tuition/fees: Yes
• GPA requirements (to progress/graduate in the major): 2.0+ cumulative GPA, 2.0+ average GPA in art foundation coursework

Curriculum

Community College Courses

VCU Courses

• Art Foundation Program: Students must complete the Art Foundation program at VCU or equivalent courses at another institution to be eligible for admission to the Sculpture degree.
• ARTF 133: Space Research
• ARTF 134: Time Studio
• ARTF 139 or ARTF 138: Project Studio or Project Seminar
• Sculpture major requirements:
  • SCPT 211: Materials and Techniques
  • SCPT 215: Sophomore Seminar
  • SCPT 301: Speculative Futures
  • SCPT 311: Process and Practice
  • SCPT 411: Advanced Practice in Sculpture (Must be taken twice)
  • SCPT 415: Senior Seminar
• Sculpture electives: 16 credits
• Art history: 9 credits (six credits must be 300 level or higher)
• Non-SCPT studio art electives: 8 credits (six credits must be 300 level or higher)
• Electives: 21 credits (Note: Students must complete a minimum of 45 upper-level credits to graduate from VCU.)
• REAL: The REAL requirement may be satisfied by successfully completing a 300-level (or higher) course that has received a REAL attribute of Level 2, 3, or 4 or through an approved "REAL" co-curricular experience that has received a REAL attribute of Level 3 or 4.

Credits and Graduation

• Community college credits transferred to VCU: 32
• Credits completed at VCU: 88
• Minimum credits required for bachelor's degree: 120