Overview
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Introduction to Fine Arts
The Fine Arts degree program at MCC invites you to explore the potential of a creative life. Those enrolled in the program will receive the mentorship, vocabulary and skills necessary to succeed within the creative economy and its countless configurations, contexts and careers.
To enable transfer, the Fine Arts Program has been carefully planned and designed to provide you with the essential skills and knowledge you would accrue while enrolled within the first two years of a four-year degree program. Diligent Fine Arts students at MCC will not only transfer easily into advanced degree programs, they will succeed with distinction having been armed with a strong foundation in the arts.
The Fine Arts Program focuses on creative practice, problem setting, tangential research, play, articulation, and exhibition. We believe that students who champion these tenets of a creative practice will be best prepared to offer considerable contributions to their industries, cultures and contexts.
Degree & Certificate Options
The Fine Arts Program offers a degree option to earn a Fine Arts Associate of Arts (A.A.), a Fine Arts Associate of Arts (A.A.) with an Illustration Pathway (see tab above) or a Graphic Illustration Certificate.
Program Goals
Whether it be in transferring to a four-year college, or building a studio-based career upon graduation, the Fine Arts Degree program offers you the skills, techniques, and vocabulary that are essential for aspiring artists to succeed in their pursuits. Students who complete this program will be equipped with a portfolio that will demonstrate their rigorous engagement with artistic mediums and creative problems.
Curriculum
NOTE: You have the option of completing this degree fully on campus, fully online or using a hybrid of both.
Admission Requirements
In addition to college-wide admissions requirements, students must have:
- An interview with the Fine Arts Program Coordinator prior to admission to the program
- An Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription
- A computer/laptop that supports Creative Cloud system requirements
In-Coming Transfer Policy
Appropriate transfer credits for courses within the major may be accepted within a 10-year time frame. The Department Chair, on an individual basis, will evaluate transfer cases more than 10 years old.
Course Sequencing
Degree Program – First Year
ENGL110XM or ENGL110M
Total Credits: 4
Mathematics Elective (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
Social Science Elective (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
(ANTH, ECON, GEOG, HIST, POLS, PSYC, SOCI)
English Elective (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
Degree Program – Second Year
ARTS or GDES (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
Fine Arts or Graphic Design Elective
Mathematics Elective (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
Lab Science Elective (4 credits)
Total Credits: 4
(BIOL, CHEM, ENVS, ESCI, GEOL, PHYS)
ARTS or GDES (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
Fine Arts or Graphic Design Elective
ARTS or GDES (3 credits)
Total Credits: 3
Fine Arts or Graphic Design Elective
Lab Science Elective (4 credits)
Total Credits: 4
(BIOL, CHEM, ENVS, ESCI, GEOL, PHYS)
Outcomes
Students who graduate from this program will be able to:
- Apply the skills, tools, and vocabulary of their chosen discipline in order to create work that exhibits developing technical ability, substance, and artistic distinction.
Articulate ideas, formulate arguments, question assumptions, and demonstrate the ability to evaluate and interpret information through both written and visual mediums.
Collaborate with peers and professionals in the arts, thereby broadening their body of knowledge while developing a personal identity as an artist.
Demonstrate a developing awareness of global, historical, cultural, philosophical, and contemporary contexts, as well as the relationship between the artist and their community.
Employment Opportunities
Graduates of the Fine Arts program will be prepared to transfer to fine art and painting programs at other four-year colleges and universities. They will also be equipped to maintain their own private studio practices, the output of which may be exhibited in galleries, bought in private sale or commission, or used upon application to kick-start a commercial freelance career.
Potential Salary
Salaries for Fine Arts vary widely depending on position.
Transfer Opportunities
Students who graduate from MCC’s Fine Arts program will have an opportunity to transfer to several four-year colleges including: University of New Hampshire
- Keene State College
- Plymouth State University, Colby-Sawyer College
- New England College
- Massachusetts College of Art
- Maine College of Art
- Franklin Pierce University
- Endicott College
- Lesley University
- UMass Lowell
- …and many more!
Illustration Pathway
MCC now offers an option for students wishing to explore the discipline of illustration while receiving a Fine Arts A.A. degree!
The suite of courses taken within the Fine Arts Illustration Pathway will equip you with the skills essential for visual storytelling, world building, character design and more.
The pathway includes the Fine Art core curriculum with specific illustration courses as electives. These courses prepare you to take on commercial projects and also provide you with the foundational education needed to successfully transfer to other bachelors-level illustration or animation degree programs.
See “curriculum” tab for courses you would take in this pathway.
Academics
of MCC classes have 19 or fewer students.