Visual Arts - Studio
Mould your artistic style by casting, carving, painting, and printing across diverse mediums in Canada's premier arts creation facilities. The studio-based program prepares you for a career creating change across industries as a practicing artist, educator, curator, entrepreneur, or researcher. With guidance from world-renowned artists, display works at curated public art exhibitions on campus, across the City, and in downtown Toronto.
The AMPD Advantage:
- Class size is capped at 25 students, promoting a personalized learning experience.
- Highest retention rate on campus with over 90% of entering students completing their degree.
- Professional Practices seminar course exploring grant writing, contracts, intellectual property, exhibition proposals, networking, documentation archive, marketing and business development.
Program Structure
Students in the Visual Arts - Studio (BFA) program complete a fundamentals studio course in their first term that introduces them to the visual arts studios, faculty members, and a spectrum of production methods addressing two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) elements of time in artmaking. An established theme provides students with a starting point for research, conceptualization, and the exploration of fundamental processes to visualize their creative ideas.
After completing a common first year, students choose to specialize in one or more visual arts areas. In the fourth year, students complete a capstone studio course designed to allow senior-level students to develop an independent studio practice, furthering their creative, conceptual and technical skills in both an area-specific medium and an interdisciplinary focus. Over the years, students develop a self-directed, cohesive body of work while making connections between their practice and a broader context of contemporary art and ideas.
Featured Facilities
Students in the Visual Arts - Studio (BFA) program explore and create in facilities unrivalled in any Canadian university, including the Joan Goldfarb Visual Arts Study Centre; the L. L. Odette Centre for Sculpture; spacious, state-of-the-art studios; five student-run exhibition galleries and the award-winning Art Gallery of York University.
The Visual Arts - Studio Art (BFA) program offers high-quality, state-of-the-art visual arts facilities supported by technicians with extensive after-hours access offering access to dedicated studios in:
- Digital and analogue photography, printmaking (silkscreen, lithography, intaglio);
- Drawing (conceptual and life model);
- Painting (abstract and figurative);
- Time-based arts (video and performance); and
- Sculpture (metal, foundry, carving, modelling, wood, 3D printing, ceramics, etc.).
Program Details
Offered By
Degrees Offered
Fall Entry
Winter Entry
Summer Entry
Ways to Study
Sample Schedule (First-year)
- Painting, Drawing, Photography, Print and/or Sculpture
- Art Fundamentals
- Critical Issues in the Studio
- Introduction to Art History
Possible Career Paths
- artist
- curator
- art dealer
- gallery director
- art consultant
- art teacher
- arts administrator
Viewbooks
Admission Requirements
I am a high-school student I have completed at least one year of full-time study at college or university I have been away from high-school for at least two years I have never studied in a formal academic high-school environment Returning / Reactivating student (previously York) Visiting StudentsBFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- A maximum of 30 possible transferable credits may be granted for successful completion of the Baccalauréat Général. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- Minimum overall result of “Bien/Buena/Bueno/Good” on all academic courses.
- Some programs require a higher GPA.
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- A minimum overall average of 3 out of 7 is required. Higher grades required for certain programs.
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- CAPE 2-unit courses, with results of 3 or better, are eligible for transfer credit, up to a maximum of 18 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- Extra courses will be assessed for transfer credit. Applicants with the DEC may be awarded up to one full year of transfer credit.
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- Some programs require higher. Please review the requirements for your program below.
- Prerequisite courses should not be below a grade of 4.0 or 70%.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- GCE A2 examinations with results of "C" or better, are eligible for transfer credit, up to a maximum of 18 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- IB Diploma with passes in six subjects: three passes at the Standard-level and three passes at the Higher-level, or two passes at the Standard-level and four passes at the Higher-level
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- Transfer credit is granted for IB courses with Higher-level final grades of 5 or better, to a maximum of 30 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
- Some programs require a higher average. Please review the requirements for your program below.
- Prerequisite courses should not be below a grade of 55%.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- All-India Senior School Certificate (AISSCE)
- Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC)
- Indian School Certificate (ISC)
- Intermediate Examination Certificate
- Pre-University Examination Certificate
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
Minimum Requirements
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- Grade 12 graduation with a minimum overall average of "B" on Grade 11 and Grade 12 academic courses is required to be considered for most programs. Some programs require a higher average. Please review the requirements for your program below.
- SAT or ACT scores are not required for students studying in a recognized accredited US curriculum outside the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam.
- SATs/ACTs are considered in combination with high school grades.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
For Fall (September) 2021 and Winter (January) 2022 entry, York University will deem the SAT/ACT as optional for students studying in a recognized accredited US curriculum high school in the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam. However, students who have completed a standardized test are encouraged to submit their test scores as it may support your application for competitive programs. SAT/ACT scores must be sent electronically from the College Board directly to York. Please browse the section below for pre-requisites and detailed admission requirements.
Note: An SAT/ACT test will be required from students who are not enrolled in a recognized accredited US curriculum high school in the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam or have not studied in a formal academic high-school environment.
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
- AP College Board examinations are eligible for transfer credit, for results of 4 or 5, up to a maximum of 30 credits. Please click here, then click “Transfer Credit Requirements” for details.
Required Documents for Preliminary Review
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
BFA, Visual Art
- February 4, 2022, for Fall 2022 entry
You are required to provide official evidence of academic achievement in secondary education. This can be demonstrated through:
- Final grades under the Ontario curriculum (obtained through correspondence, night school or through TVO)
- Credentials through other curricula, such as results from Advanced Placement (AP) or Advanced-level courses in the General Certificate of Education (GCE). (Students may register to sit for the AP and GCE examinations as private candidates.)
In the absence of final grades in courses:
- You must submit the results of standardized tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with a minimum combined total of 1170 on the Critical Reading and Math components or a composite American College Testing (ACT) score of 24.
- Your application will be reviewed by an admissions sub-committee. If admitted, you will not be eligible for entrance scholarships. You will be considered for continuing student scholarships at the end of your first year of study, if you satisfy those criteria.
You may also be required to provide proof of language proficiency. You will be considered for entrance scholarships on the basis of your overall averages in the six 4U/4M (Ontario curriculum) or equivalent courses.