The Fine Arts Program
Columbia College Chicago offers a four-year Fine Arts concentration leading to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. A more general Bachelor of Arts degree in Art is also offered. The program is centered on the individual student's artistic growth and self-definition.

An emphasis on historical tradition and new ideas in contemporary art expands students' perceptual reach and aesthetic awareness. By engaging critical thinking, exploration, and experimentation the program helps students discover and examine the world through art. Fine arts students study ideas, art works, and learn about artists through slides, lectures, and practical application. Students learn to rely on their personal experience and encounters as sources for concept development and visual form.

The fine arts concentration at Columbia begins with the Core Curriculum required of all Art and Design majors. The concentration is designed to develop well-rounded students who are keenly aware of their resources and options for aesthetic expression and who can make aesthetic decisions that reflect our society as a whole. The strength of the program rests in diversity, including traditional approaches to art making as well as new media; its low student-teacher ratio; state-of-the art facilities; and an exceptional faculty that is dedicated to the growth of each student.