Welcome to Fine Arts

Artistic performance by Behnaz Fahemi. Woman wearing a long canvas robe, sits on a stool and embroiders words in Arabic onto the robe.
Artwork by James Malzahn. A mid-century decor living room set organized around a 1940s television broadcasting AI generated content.
Artwork by Charlie Star. A dark room lit with multi-coloured disco lights is full of people watching a woman DJ in front of a wall that is densely packed with LP covers, posters, and ephemera.
Painting by Ashley Beerdat. Painting, on canvas fabric pinned to the wall, of a brightly coloured, abstract, tropical landscape.
Three large photographs of a posed figure superimposed on a landscape. The person is dressed in three different costumes with a western/cowboy aesthetic that is altered to question gender stereotypes.
Group of people seated with one standing at the front of the room, in front of several black and white photographs of objects.

Fine Arts teaches the how and the why of making. The how involves a wide-range of material and digital skills from ceramics, painting, print media, and photography, to cutting-edge technologies such as 3D printing, digital imagery and DSLR filmmaking. The why helps students develop criticality in visual culture—a rigour that hones an understanding of what things look like and mean within the current global condition. Our faculty is outstanding, and students often work with them one-on-one.

Please note the following rooms will be closed for roof drain repairs:

  • Room 1224A — Painting studio, will be closed for the whole day on Thursday, October 8th. 

  • Room 1230 — 3rd year studio, will be closed for the whole day on Friday, October 9th.

Students in an art class, seated at easels drawing fabric.
Half opened sketchbook with written notes and a drawing of Big Ben clock in London.
View from above of an artist's studio with the artist working on a painting

Undergraduate students major or minor in Studio and/or Visual Culture; they can also participate in co-op through Waterloo’s Arts and Business program with a Fine Arts major. Graduate students pursue a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) with its unique Keith and Win Shantz International Research Scholarship.

Find out more

To find out more about our program, follow any of the links above or in the main menu. Our faculty and staff are also happy to talk with you via email, over the phone, or in person to answer any questions you might have. 

For undergraduate inquiries contact our Undergraduate Officer, Bojana Videkanic.

For graduate inquiries contact our Graduate Officer, Tara Cooper. 

Fine Arts and the School of Critical and Creative Humanities, stand in support of our Black, Indigenous, POC, and LGBT+ students and supports the Faculty of Arts’ commitment to doing better.

View "Why Study Fine Arts At The University Waterloo? An Intro to Our Program and Facilities" on Vimeo

News

Sofa is back poster
Thursday, October 28, 2021

SoFA is back!

Society of Fine Arts (SoFA) is a student-run organization that represents and builds the community of students of Fine Arts: Studio Practice and Visual Culture at UWaterloo. SoFA has been an integral part of our community.

MFA Thesis 3, Carrie Perreault and Maria Simmons artwork at www.uwag.uwaterloo.ca
Tuesday, July 6, 2021

2021 Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition III

The Department of Fine Arts and UWAG (University of Waterloo Art Gallery) present the third thesis exhibitions by Master of Fine Arts (MFA) candidates from the graduate program in Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo. MFA Thesis gives the campus and community-at-large an opportunity to see the end result of two years of intensive research and studio production by emerging visual artists.