About

The Art and Design major at Seattle Pacific University offers an interdisciplinary education integrating creative practice, historical inquiry, and professional application. Students pursue a single Art and Design major (BA) with four tracks: Photography, Studio, Visual Communication, or Visual Studies. Each track develops a focused skill set while encouraging broad engagement with visual culture.

Students in Photography, Studio, and Visual Communication gain technical expertise in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, digital video, typography, brand design, and UI/UX. Visual Studies emphasizes research, writing, and critical analysis — preparing students for curatorial practice, arts education, and cultural interpretation through art history, theory, and contemporary visual culture.

Grounded in Christian faith, the art curriculum invites students to explore creativity as spiritual inquiry and shared human experience. Across all tracks, students examine historical and cultural contexts, experiment with materials, and refine creative and analytical voices. The program fosters curiosity, craftsmanship, and critical thinking — equipping graduates to contribute meaningfully to art, design, and visual scholarship with wisdom and purpose.


student process
student process
student process
student process
student process
student process
student process
student process
student process
student process
student process

Art inspiring change

Students in the Photography, Studio, and Visual Communication tracks are hands-on makers and visual thinkers. They work across drawing, painting, photography, video, digital design, and branding, developing technical expertise and conceptual depth. These tracks prepare graduates for careers in design, illustration, fine art, photography, filmmaking, digital media, creative direction, and entrepreneurship.

Students in the Visual Studies track are researchers and cultural interpreters. They examine global visual culture through historical, philosophical, and theological lenses, gaining skills in curation, exhibition design, art criticism, and visual literacy. Graduates pursue careers in galleries, archives, education, arts administration, and related fields.

Across all tracks, the Art and Design major equips students to engage the world with creativity, insight, empathy, and faith — using visual culture to communicate ideas, express values, and inspire change.

What will I study?

  • Drawing
  • Painting
  • Sculpture
  • Photography
  • Design
  • History
  • Curation
  • Interactive Digital Media
  • Video
  • Animation
  • UI/UX

Art programs degree requirements

Visit the Undergraduate Catalog for current degree requirements for the Art and Design major, its tracks, and the four minors.

Review the requirements