If early humans used the tools at hand to express their creativity, imagine the possibilities as art and technology collide in the 21st century. From supercomputers to artificial intelligence, Digital Art + Technology students at Ohio University have new tools to create with.
You'll begin by sharing our Foundations Program with other first-year BFA Studio Art students. Then pursue a Concentration in Digital Art + Technology and expand your palette to include digital fabrication with laser and CNC (computer numerical control) etching and engraving; 3D printing and construction; our customized AI software at the Ohio Supercomputer Center, and more.
The projects you exhibit on the path to your senior thesis might include digital sequencing, visual rendering, multi-dimensional constructing, and live event experience, just to name a few.
Admissions Information
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Incoming Students
Admission to the BFA Studio Art Program
Students can start out as B.F.A. Studio Art majors, or start out in the B.A. Studio Art major and then apply to enter the B.F.A. degree at a later date. There are no requirements beyond university admission requirements to become a Studio Art major.
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Current OHIO Students
Apply to the Digital Art + Technology Concentration
Currently enrolled students can declare BFA degree areas and degree concentration areas in the School of Art + Design in the fall and spring semesters during open application periods. You are required to submit an application and portfolio.
Digital Art + Technology Coursework
Experiential learning is critical to our approach. Our students have the passion to experiment and create without any limits. We ask the students to have fun and be open for art experiences.
If you dream it, we can work together to make it happen.
Following the shared first-year Foundations Program experience, DAT students learn techniques, technologies, and tools to create digital fine artwork in a contemporary context. Students participate in critique and critical analysis of digital artwork with the goal of generating a personal, individualized approach to making digital artworks and physical fabrications.
Third- and fourth-year students utilize advanced technology and practices of creative coding digital fabrication for artists such as laser and CNC etching, engraving, and cutting; 3D printing and constructing, high-end computer processing of visual coding and programming. Example projects may include digital sequencing, digital rendering, multi-dimensional constructing, and live event experience, just to name a few.
These amazing creations will be presented in the students’ senior year in a public thesis exhibition as the capstone event in achieving the degree.
Digital Art + Technology Courses
- ART 2110 Digital Art + Technology I
- ART 3110 Digital Art + Technology II
- ART 2120 Creative Coding for Artists I
- ART 3120 Creative Coding II
- ART 4000 Critique Community
Foundation Courses
- ART 1200 - Description + Drawing
- ART 1210 - Function + Practice
- ART 1220 - Image + Design
- ART 1230 - Structure + Space
- ART 1240 - Visual Art in Practice and Theory: Critical Perspectives
Work by Digital Art + Technology Students
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Tuition & Fees
U.S. News & World Report ranked Ohio University the #1 Best Value Public University in Ohio and 30th in the nation. We're continuously striving to make college more affordable and accessible, while maintaining the high quality and value of an OHIO education.
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Financial Aid & Scholarships
Our Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships provides services to students and parents both in-person and remotely. You can visit our office on the ground floor of Chubb Hall or reach us at financial.aid@ohio.edu or 740.593.4141 .
Potential Careers & Post-Grad Opportunities
We focus on preparing students for careers in three different ways: help them expand and explore concepts of art and their applications, train them on different digital media and how it can be presented in physical spaces, and teach them how to build their own unique art studio practice that they can use as professionals either in art or career-based practices.
Career Opportunities
A Bachelor of Fine Arts prepares you to work as a studio artist or in a museum, as an entrepreneur or in a gallery. Adding Digital Art + Technology to your resume opens even more doors, including live events, virtual venues, community projects, character design, animation, game design, art education, and installation art.
Master's Degree Programs
Your creativity journey is just getting started when you graduate from OHIO, and many students decide to continue on to an MFA or graduate degree specializing in digital art, art on computers, creative coding, or multimedia design.
Get Hands-On Experiences
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Telling Their Epic Stories
Digital Art + Technology students help Dr. Basil Masri Zada with his Tell Your Epic Story project at various locations. Participants design their own characters and narratives, and drawings are created using copper tape to enable sound technologies to be a part of the pieces.
Masri Zada's research and artistic practice focus on the practices of everyday life, art, and political activism in relation to the Syrian crisis that started in 2011.
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Utilizing AI in Digital Arts
Students in Dr. Basil Masri Zada's class harness the supercomputer power of generative AI software called Stable Diffusion for a new level of artistic control. Students were able to explore AI technology in a stigma-free environment to determine how it fits within their creative processes.
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Trying New Tools & Techniques
Digital Art + Technology students have access to the program's equipment for Laser Cutting, CNC (computer numerical control) etching and engraving, and 3D printing and construction, as well as specialized software at the Ohio Supercomputer Center.
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InHabitating the Environment
Students in Creative Coding for Artists I (taught by Basil Masri Zada) collaborated with students in Advanced Painting and Drawing (taught by John Sabraw) to create artwork designed to live in a stream infused with acid-mine drainage. For two months, the artwork didn't just submerge — it collected data that students used to create different data art experiences. Just another chapter in the human-environment interaction known as the Anthropocene.
Related Programs
Connect With Us
Faculty in the Digital Art + Technology area are working artists who exhibit actively and serve as visiting artists and lecturers at colleges and galleries across the country. Ohio University is committed to the creation of a diverse community of artist scholars. If you’d like more information about our program, please reach out to John Sabraw.
John Sabraw
Area Chair, Professor of Painting + Drawing740-593-4288
sabraw@ohio.edu
