Painting

Explore Art in the North

Aerie, Kyle Agustines

Degrees offered through the Painting program include:

BFA in Painting

The University of Alaska Fairbanks BFA in Painting is a strong component of our studio foundations program and an art discipline that students can focus their undergraduate concentration within. Students in the program are encouraged to develop foundational technical skills in acrylic, oil, encaustic, watercolor, and mixed media. Strong emphasis is also placed upon students developing their own aesthetic voices and points-of-view, and also developing the critical and conceptual abilities to clearly communicate those ideas with peer artists and larger public audiences.

The BFA process culminates with a thesis solo exhibition accompanied by a written thesis paper which should clearly support the exhibition and the ideas and approaches examined in the exhibition’s body of work.

Art major Klara Maisch poses with some of her paintings in the Fine Arts studio. | UAF Photo by Todd Paris

Peggy Swartz at work during the portrait painting class in the UAF Fine Arts complex, offered during Wintermester 2014. | UAF Photo by Todd Paris

MFA in Painting

The MFA in painting emphasizes the development of contemporary studio painting practice. Some of the conceptual areas that students can explore is the interpretation and reinterpretation of imagery of the North, specifically within Circumpolar regions, cultural and regional identity issues, and the nexus between art and circumpolar science. At the University of Alaska Fairbanks we closely collaborate with our colleagues in the sciences to create new methods or approaches to build on these ways to connect these areas in a meaningful interdisciplinary manner, e.g. art and anthropology, art and geology, art and neuroscience connections, etc.

The MFA process culminates with a substantial thesis solo exhibition accompanied by a written thesis paper that should clearly support the exhibition and the ideas and approaches examined in the exhibition’s body of work. In addition a public presentation of the thesis work is also required.

Selected Student Work

The Cherry on Top

Kyle Agustines

Two ravens on the back of a yellow dumpster fight over a pizza crust as the sun sets behind them over a snowy hill

The Last Piece

Susan Andrews, Watercolor

an abstract painting with white, black and green

Kingigin

Riley Dixon

A predominately red painting with the focus on a large black hare-like creature surrounded by smaller red ones

Consume Me

Chana Stern

A swirling abstract painting of reds and deep burgundies

Picking Cranberries

Riley Dixon

A human skull skull with the top part removed and sitting off kilter and slightly behind it on a pink background

Open Minded

Vanya Gillette

A vibrant blue abstract image with red accents in the lower left corner

Safe Harbor

Susan Andrews, Watercolor on Stretched Paper

A leaf-puffin hybrid image where the left side is an orange leaf that transitions into the upper half of a puffin as you move right

Puffin Leaf

Susan Andrews, Watercolor

A leaf-whale hybrid image where the left side is a green leaf that transitions into the upper half of a whale as you move right

Whale Leaf

Susan Andrews, Watercolor

A surreal portrait of a woman with hands protruding from the top of her head like antlers

Deer God

Vanya Gillette

Oil painting, "52 Chainsaw Pickup" by Allison Juneau, image courtesy of the artist

Fine Arts Archive

Browse previous MFA and BFA thesis exhibitions at UAF

Facilities

The BFA painting program facilities include a dedicated space set aside for each student in the program to be able to work on multiple pieces throughout the semester, standard tools to create work such as drills, saws, clamps, gesso, and other materials commonly associated with making work, a computer and a large flat screen TV monitor to view artwork, video, and other digital resources to assist in research and the generation of new work.

The MFA painting program facilities are located in the Graduate Studio Building, where the all graduate students have allocated individual spaces to create their work. Students also have access to all other Art Dept. studios and tools as needed, such as the main Painting Studio and Sculpture Studio.