Undergraduate Program in Visual Art

With its unique interdisciplinary approach that bridges studio production, art history, and curatorial practice, AMPD's Department of Visual Art & Art History offers students the opportunity to become well-rounded professionals in the field, able to lead in the creation, exhibition, critical understanding, and communication of visual culture in diverse environments.

Through intensive studio training supported by studies in the history and theory of art, students receive a thorough grounding in the production of artworks and comparative cultural analysis across a wide range of traditional and contemporary media. In the initial foundation year, students take courses in all artistic media -- painting, sculpture, print media, drawing, photography, and interdisciplinary art -- and then can choose to specialize in one or more areas. At all levels, students are mentored by faculty members who are highly regarded artists with active professional practices.

York's Visual Arts students are supported in their exploration and creation with access to facilities unrivaled in Canada, 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.

Our world increasingly needs creative thinkers to ignite bold new ideas, invent transformative experiences, and develop innovative solutions for global challenges. As one of North America’s premier centers for education in the arts, York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) will unleash your creativity and prepare you to thrive in a world where the single most valuable asset is creativity.

This is your opportunity to join Debra Brown (Cirque du Soleil choreographer), David Quilico (Vice-President of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada), Georgiana Uhlyarik (Associate Curator of Canadian Art, Art Gallery of Ontario), and Hael Kobayashi (Executive Director of Creative Intelligence, University of Technology, Sydney), as York AMPD graduates, uniquely defining what creativity means today and how it will be imagined tomorrow.

Our School is committed to excellence, experimentation, and leadership. Learning by doing is the hallmark of our programs. We offer intensive professional training and in-depth academic studies in dance, design, digital media, film, music, theatre, and visual arts.

But disciplinary rigor is only one part of the AMPD experience. Guided by award-winning artists and leading scholars with real-world experience, you’ll push the boundaries between artistic media, explore emerging technologies, and discover the creative side of other fields. You will gain practical experience, explore career options, and build relationships with prospective employers through field placements, internships, and the School’s partnerships with creative industries and arts organizations, from Facebook to the Canadian Stage.

You have a dream. This is your time and this is the place to transform that dream into new ways of thinking, new avenues for your creativity, and new paths to success after graduation.