Welcome to Fine Arts

Artwork of a box with a cutwork pattern, lit from inside and projecting Islamic patterns on gallery walls
Artwork of two sheer curtains with an organic leaf print that hang from tree branches suspended from the ceiling.
Detail of four small, colourful paintings and hung edge to edge in a line. The paintings show views of a pedestrian overpass between building.
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.

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 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.

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News

Poster for Netflix film The Sea Beast showing a man and a small girl in a small wooden boat between the eye of a large red monster.
Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Online Q&A with Chris Williams

On Tuesday September 26 from 1:00-2:00 pm. the Arts Faculty is hosting an online Q&A event with Fine Arts Alum (BA ’91) and Academy Award winner Chris Williams

Events