Program Overview

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics with Entrepreneurial Studies, offered by the Department of Art, welcomes students into a diverse community of thinkers and makers who challenge traditional processes in a forward-looking way.

Led by a faculty of practicing artists in state-of-the-art facilities, Ceramics majors work in a close-knit environment, side-by-side with graduate students, as they explore traditional and experimental clay techniques. The program draws on the energy and resources of the urban landscape of Philadelphia—a city with a longstanding clay culture and vibrant visual art scene—to forge community partnerships that lead to broader, inclusive perspectives, conversations and exchanges of ideas.

Students learn product design and production, studio management and gallery installation, as well as critical thinking and problem solving—transferable skills that help prepare them for success in any artistic discipline or profession, including as educators, gallery operators, architectural designers, curators and more. Students also have opportunities for internships in Philadelphia's densely networked clay community.

Designed to complement the studio experience with tools to support a studio practice or pursue graduate studies, the Entrepreneurship coursework enhances students' career options. Graduates of this degree program will possess requisite business skills to support themselves as visual artists or entrepreneurs in art and related fields.

Each student moves from a common foundation curriculum that introduces materials and processes and prepares them for success in a range of fields of study. Those who select Art as their major will work side-by-side with majors in Visual Studies, Art Education and Art Therapy. The dynamic exchange of ideas that result from these interdisciplinary conversations spur intellectual risk and drive research-based creative concepts.

Upon graduation, students have the practical skill sets and honed aesthetic for successful careers in studio art, art education and design, as well as attend top-tier graduate programs.