About Us

Photograph of A+D students in a studio.
About the School of Art + Design

The School of Art + Design in the College of Design at the University of Oregon is a community of creatively and critically engaged artists and designers. Our work mines the intersection of thinking, making, seeing, and questioning.

Our faculty are engaged in forward-looking research. We grapple with rapidly changing social conditions, contributing to new ideas in our fields and working with new and old technologies in innovative ways. Some of our work focuses on solving problems and other work generates problems. The Art + Design faculty are exhibiting, installing, doing residencies and commissions, securing grants and awards, lecturing and publishing across the nation and internationally.

Students in the UO School of Art + Design have the opportunity to study intensively across a uniquely broad set of studio practices, within a flagship research university. Art students can study 21st-century approaches to sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, fibers, and metalsmithing. Art & Technology majors explore the potential of new technologies in an art context, working with interactivity, video, animation, visual communications, and emerging technology. Students in Product Design learn to design objects for use across a broad range of scales and purposes—tools, transportation, technology, clothing, furniture, and sporting equipment—to fit a changing world.

The School of Art + Design’s NASAD-accredited programs offer undergraduate degrees in Art, Art & Technology, and Product Design. Bachelor’s degrees (BA or BS) encourage liberal arts breadth and interdisciplinary connections, while the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree is a studio-intensive program allowing concentrated study. At the graduate level, we offer the interdisciplinary MFA in Art, as well as the Portland-based master’s in Sports Product Design.

Mission and Values

The College of Design is dedicated to advancing the understanding, value, and quality of visual culture and the built, natural, and social environments through excellent and distinctive teaching, research, and creative endeavors. Grounded in a unique multidisciplinary structure, the College of Design is a diverse learning community of students, faculty and staff members. We seek to enhance the lives of individuals and communities through endeavors that stem from intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and broad inquiry, rooted in the inter-relatedness of theory, history, and practice.

In support of this mission, the College of Design affirms the following values:

Excellence
Supporting and celebrating a culture that promotes rigor, encourages risk-taking, and challenges standards in creating, composing, and presenting ideas.

Open Discourse
Fostering the open exchange and critique of ideas in an environment that welcomes a diversity of views.

Inclusiveness
Actively encouraging the presence and participation in the school of individuals with differing backgrounds, experience, and points of view.

Cooperation
Working together in shared efforts to teach, learn, understand, and create.

Interdisciplinary Experience
Engaging multiple disciplines to expand our perspectives and enrich our teaching, research, and creative practice.

Responsibility
Recognizing our accountability for the impact of our actions on environmental, social, and cultural systems.

Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Community

The College of Design is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive community, increasing access, and enhancing the student experience.

The College of Design Diversity Action Plan was developed in 2017, with input from community members across the College of Design. The Dean’s Fellow for Diversity chairs the Equity and Inclusion Committee and leads strategic initiatives, including implementing the Diversity Action Plan.