Northern Illinois University
School of Art and Design
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Graduate Programs

The graduate program in art and design is comprehensive, leading to advanced study in fine arts, design and media, art and design education, and art history. Graduate faculty and students have distinguished the program with their many awards, honors and professional accomplishments. The graduate studio faculty, students and alumni continue to influence the arts regionally, nationally and internationally. Their work appears regularly in regional and national juried and invitational shows and is exhibited in leading galleries in Chicago, New York, as well as other urban centers both in this country and abroad. Faculty in both art education and art history have published extensively and assumed leadership positions in regional, national and international professional organizations.

In the graduate program, faculty expertise is supplemented by visiting artists and scholars and by Graduate Colloquium speakers who are eminent in their disciplines. Students benefit from study at a major university with extensive library resources, cross-cultural programs, a multi-disciplinary atmosphere and frequent performances by guest artists and groups in dance, music, and theater. Moreover, the university's proximity to the Chicago metropolitan area facilitates use of its libraries, galleries, museums, theaters and other cultural resources.