About the School of Art

With highly specialized and diversified curricula, and degree and certificate programs, the School of Art at CSULB is one of the largest publicly funded Schools of Art in the United States. It was the first School of Art in the CSU system to offer the MFA degree. The National Association of Schools of Art and Design has accredited CSULB for its art and design programs since 1970.

The School of Art is among the largest, most comprehensive, and diverse to be found in the United States. At the undergraduate level, the School offers BA degree programs in:

  • Art Education
  • Art History
  • Studio Art
  • Eight specialized BFA degree programs in:
    • 3D Media (Fiber, Metal & Jewelry, Wood)
    • Ceramics
    • Drawing & Painting
    • Graphic Design
    • Photography
    • Printmaking
    • Sculpture/4D
    • Illustration and Animation

At the graduate level, the department offers MA degrees in Art Education and Art History, and MFA degrees in Studio Art. Additionally, the School is home to certificate programs in Museum and Curatorial Studies, and Biomedical Illustration. The department also partners with the CSULB Single Subject Teacher Education Program in awarding the Single Subject Credential in Art for California elementary, middle, and high schools.

Mission of the School of Art

The School of Art is dedicated to its mission of creating a comprehensive art school experience within the context of a large publicly funded state university. At the undergraduate level, we provide a diverse population of aspiring artists and art scholars with access to affordable, quality education combining a broad-based liberal arts collegiate experience with a firm historical, theoretical, and foundational art curriculum. At the graduate level, our degree programs are designed with a dual emphasis on tailoring programs of study to individual students while fostering shared experience among a community of students.

Over forty full-time and ninety part-time faculty provide instruction to a student population of nearly 2000 majors. Our faculty is committed to the belief that an education in the visual arts and related scholarship can be grounded in tradition while geared toward innovation; can foster both discipline-centered and interdisciplinary activity and discourse; and can achieve a fusion of informed dialogue, practice, and production.