At CVAD, we support the values of courageous integrity, curiosity, caring, being better together, and showing your fire!

Message from Dean Karen Hutzel

The College of Visual Arts and Design prepares students for a range and lifetime of creative pursuits now and well into the future. The departments of Art Education, Art History, Design, and Studio Art, along with Interdisciplinary Arts and Design Studies programs, provide discipline-specific curriculum and experiential learning opportunities, grounding students’ professional pursuits in an area of expertise. Students are encouraged to pursue internships, service-learning, fieldwork, and/or practicum experiences and prepare their identities as creatives. A degree in arts and/or design sets a student up for a career of impact, problem-solving, lifelong learning, and adaptability, all markers of 21st-century skills. 

Housed in the UNT Art Building, the College of Visual Arts and Design is a prominent gateway to the University of North Texas campus, occupying a significant campus edge. Previously spread across eight buildings throughout the campus, the 2015–2019 expansion and renovation of the existing building unites 16 undergraduate and 13 graduate degree programs under one roof. The seamless consolidation of these programs encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and connects the college to the larger Dallas-Fort Worth region's arts community through interior and exterior transparencies. 

Welcome

Here at the College of Visual Arts and Design, we firmly believe that art and creativity are not only forces for personal and academic growth but also positive community change. We are honored to be one of the best art schools in the nation committed to research while serving as a cultural resource for our community. As we strive to better engage our diverse audiences in active dialogues about the importance, meaning, and relevance of the visual arts and design, our world-class facilities help us reimagine and reinterpret art through effective programs, diverse and interactive exhibitions and extraordinarily talented faculty supported by outstanding staff members.

Our commitment to representing a variety of experiences, cultures, and perspectives shapes our work in hopes that students see art with new eyes as a way to understand better the many facets of life and that which enlightens us to be better people.

We are constantly working toward improvement, and we are grateful for your attendance, support, ideas and suggestions as we strive to ensure that your experience is scholarly, exciting and thought-provoking.