About the Fine Art (Visual Art) Program

Queen’s Fine Art (Visual Art) is a direct entry program, which means that students enter their major area of focus in their first year of study; only those students admitted to the Fine Art (Visual Art) Program may enroll in the program's studio courses. Your class of 30 students stays together as a group for four years and will get to know the instructors and other students quite well.

History of Fine Art at Queen's

André Bieler, 1896-1989, a prominent Canadian artist and painter, was the founding director of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and responsible for bringing the visual arts to Queen’s University. A Bachelor of Art Education program was set-up in 1970 and in 1974 a separate Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) degree was established. The program moved into Ontario Hall in 1976, along with the Art History Program and the Art Library, which has since moved to the Stauffer Library.

Four BFA students view installation.
© Queen's University, Fine Art (Visual Art) Program students review an art installation.

Goals of the Queen’s University Fine Art (Visual Art) Program

  • To increase student’s knowledge of the expressive, intuitive, intellectual, and structural aspects of visual language through observation, exploration, discovery and practice.

  • To stimulate intellectual curiosity and its translation into visual art through memory, reason, and imagination while balancing craft with personal expression in traditional and new media.

  • To develop student’s expertise in traditional practices in a learning environment that encourages experimentation and invention.

  • To promote the visual arts as a significant form of communication and expression.

Please explore the pages in this section to explore some of the unique opportunities that are available to our Fine Art (Visual Art) students. Be sure to check out the equipment that is available for creating art here at Queen's University in the Fine Art (Visual Art) Program.