A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA, B.F.A.) is the standard undergraduate degree for students in the United States and Canada seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts (BCA). In Great Britain, the equivalent degree is the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, while in Australia the Bachelor of Fine Arts is awarded to students completing a degree in visual arts, but not performing arts. Specific degrees such as the Bachelor of Dance or Bachelor of Drama are used in the performing arts in Australia and much of Europe. In India, a Fine Arts undergraduate degree is known as a BFA or BVA (Bachelor of Visual Arts). It is a four-year degree. The eligibility for this course is 10+2 pass in any stream from a recognised educational board.
In the United States, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree differs from a Bachelor of Arts degree in that the majority of the program consists of a practical studio component, as contrasted with lecture and discussion classes. A typical BFA program in the United States consists of two-thirds study in the arts, with one-third in more general liberal arts studies; for a BA in Art, the ratio might be reversed.
The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), which accredits Bachelor of Fine Arts programs in visual art and design in the United States, states that "the professional degree (BFA) focuses on intensive work in the visual arts supported by a program of general studies," whereas "the liberal arts degree (BA) focuses on art and design in the context of a broad program of general studies."
A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree will often require an area of specialty such as acting, musical theatre, ceramics, computer animation, creative writing, dance, dramatic writing, drawing, fiber, film production, visual effects, animation, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, visual arts, interior design, metalworking, music, new media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, stage management, or television production. Some schools instead give their students a broad education in many disciplines of the arts.
Although a Bachelor of Fine Arts is traditionally considered a four-year degree, a BFA program may take longer to complete because of the amount of studio course work required.
Famous quotes containing the words fine arts, bachelor of, bachelor, fine and/or arts:
“When a girl of today leaves school or college and looks about her for material upon which to exercise her trained intelligence, there are a hundred things that force themselves upon her attention as more vital and necessary than mastering the housewife.”
—Cornelia Atwood Pratt, U.S. author, women’s magazine contributor. The Delineator: A Journal of Fashion, Culture and Fine Arts (January 1900)
“When a bachelor of philosophy from the Antilles refuses to apply for certification as a teacher on the grounds of his color I say that philosophy has never saved anyone. When someone else strives and strains to prove to me that black men are as intelligent as white men I say that intelligence has never saved anyone: and that is true, for, if philosophy and intelligence are invoked to proclaim the equality of men, they have also been employed to justify the extermination of men.”
—Frantz Fanon (1925–1961)
“Do not let your bachelor ways crystallize so that you can’t soften them when you come to have a wife and a family of your own.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“The band waked me with a serenade. How they improve! A fine band and what a life in a regiment! Their music is better than food and clothing to give spirit to the men.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)