Art & Design Mission Statement

The Centrum on SUU's campusThe mission of the Department of Art and Design is to provide aspiring artists, designers, and art historians with professional training and to provide a critical fine arts component of a university liberal arts education. In fulfilling this mission we will:

  1. Foster appreciation and critical awareness of the visual arts.
  2. Prepare students for further study and careers in art history, graphic design, art education, ceramics/ sculpture, illustration, painting/drawing/printmaking, photography, museum studies and related fields.
  3. Educate students, faculty, administration, and community that the visual arts are intrinsically valuable to all engaged learners, that they inherently embody diverse individual, cultural, and philosophical expression, that they have the power to change the way in which we perceive things, and that they are the most direct way to vicariously transfer meaning and experience.

Goal Statement

The department of Art and Design at Southern Utah University will:

  1. Infuse student artists with philosophies and skills that enable them to pursue professional work, teaching opportunities, and further education.
  2. Enrich SUU and environs with opportunities to experience creative achievement in the visual arts and inculcate in students an enthusiasm for creative expression.
  3. Provide models for success and examples of the diverse opportunities that are available in visual arts disciplines.

Objectives

  1. Design and provide vibrant degree programs
  2. Facilitate student involvement in clubs, internships, competitions and exhibitions.
  3. Prepare students to present their work and intellectual achievements.
  4. Prepare students for related employment and advanced schooling.
  5. Expose students, faculty and community to the visual arts.
  6. Provide General Education in art and design.
  7. Establish meaningful connections with disciplines other than the visual arts.
  8. Administer a program of visiting artists, designers, and other relevant presenters.
  9. Encourage professional work by faculty members and provide opportunity for students and others to experience it.