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.
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 department, 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 administrator, Brett Roberts, or our undergraduate chair, Bojana Videkanic. The Fine Arts undergraduate office is in East Campus Hall room 1206.
For graduate inquiries contact our graduate chair, Lois Andison.
The Department of Fine Arts stands in support of our Black, Indigenous, POC, and LGBT+ students and supports the Faculty of Arts’ commitment to doing better.
News
Soheila Esfahani (BA '03) has designed a new coin for the Royal Canadian Mint.
Soheila Esfahani (BA '03, MFA '10 from Western University) has created the winning design for a new coin in the Royal Canadian Mint’s Celebrating Diversity collection.
Fine Arts Alum Vickie Vainionpää has an exhibition of new paintings at the Olga Korper Gallery
Fine Arts Alum Vickie Vainionpää's (BA '15) latest paintings can be seen in the new show, Gaze Paintings, at Olga Korper Gallery from March 16 - April 27, 2024.
Fine Arts Alum Baz Kanold is part of a group show at the Kitchener Public Library
Fine Arts Alum Baz Kanold is part of a group show at the Kitchener Public Library called Trans in KW on display from February 14 to March 30, 2024.
Events
Life drawing session
Free life drawing sessions are scheduled on Wednesday evenings during the spring 2024 term.
Opening reception for the 2024 Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition II
The Department of Fine Arts and UWAG present the second 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.
2024 Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition II
The Department of Fine Arts and UWAG present the second 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.