The studio arts programs of the Certificate and Academy BFA are contained in the undergraduate departments of Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking and Liberal Arts.
The Department of Painting offers a major or concentration in painting, and is the largest program at the Academy. It offers a diverse range of painting and drawing classes in many media and approaches, housed in skylit studios and large studio classrooms in the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building as well as in the historic Cast Halls of the Historic Landmark Building. It also administers PAFA’s specialty in Contemporary Realism and the specialty in Fine Arts Illustration. The office of the Department of Painting is on the 10th floor of the Hamilton Building.
The Drawing Program offers a major or concentration in drawing and is administered by the Department of Painting. Drawing is the common language of all the fine arts disciplines at PAFA and is also considered a vital and contemporary medium in itself. Drawing is an important component of all of the studio art programs at PAFA.
The Department of Sculpture offers a major or concentration in sculpture and offers a full range of courses in contemporary and historic sculpture processes and techniques, from site-specific sculpture and new media to traditional realist clay modeling and a bronze foundry. Sculpture classes take place in the historic studios of the Historic Landmark Building as well as a state-of-the-art Sculpture shop on the 7th floor of the Hamilton Building.
The Department of Printmaking offers a major or concentration in printmaking and offers courses in a full range of contemporary printmaking media. Housed in the spacious printmaking facilities of the 6th floor of the Hamilton Building, the printmaking program administers a collection of prints by alumni and historically important printmakers.
The Department of Liberal Arts administers the general education requirements of the Academy BFA and offers a range of art history, social sciences, history and quantitative reasoning courses of special interest to contemporary artists. The classrooms and offices of the liberal arts program are housed on the 4th floor of the Hamilton Building.