Fine Arts

Our department has been organized to include the areas of visual arts, music, and theatre, which create through curriculum and events, a campus community conscience for the fine arts.  The department offers a Fine Arts minor, as well as a full range of diverse courses, events, and activities. 

Visual Arts: Students will have a chance to explore their inner artist through classes in painting, drawing, and photography. Students will also present one-person shows, which is a requirement for each visual arts course.

Music: Our music program gives students a chance to develop their talents in many ways. Individual lessons are available in guitar, piano, voice, and hand drumming. Students also have the option to join various musical groups on campus such as the World Drumming Ensemble, SFU Singers, or the Band.

Theatre: Theatre has been a long tradition at Saint Francis. And it’s “hands on” experience. Unlike some schools were you have to be a theatre major or wait until you are a sophomore to be involved, you can be part of our theatre from your first day here. Theatre can give you valuable experience for almost any major: education, business, communications, marketing, law—the list is endless. Theatre is about collaboration, so you can learn what it’s like to be part of a team—or to lead one! Theatre requires all kinds of skills, so even if performing isn’t for you, you can still contribute. Best of all, being part of a show is fun! 

Applied Hand Drumming for the Non-Major

Applied Guitar for the Non-Major

Exploration of Contemporary Music

Creative Movement

Theatre Arts Workshop

Special Projects in Painting, Drawing, or Photography

History of the Theatre

Senior Exhibit and Aesthetics Seminar

The World Drumming Ensemble is a performance group made up of students, faculty, staff and members of the local community. Our repertory includes traditional drumming music from all over the globe. The ensemble was designed to create opportunities for each member to learn, express, perform and, most of all, enjoy playing music. Unlike most university performing groups, we have no prerequisites or auditions — all you need is a willingness to learn. The World Drumming Ensemble prides itself on providing interactive, multi-cultural benefit concerts that support music programming in schools K through 12 throughout the region.

The  SFU Singers organization is open to any Saint Francis University student, and sometimes includes members of the faculty or staff, or individuals from the surrounding communities. Our singers usually perform one concert each semester, occasionally in conjunction with a local church choir. Although SFU Singers is not an audition group, more advanced vocalists have opportunities to perform solos or small-ensemble numbers from time to time. Most semesters, the Womenʼs Select Ensemble prepares several numbers for performance.

Study Abroad: Trips to France and Italy focus on art, history, language and culture. From their centrally–located dormitories, students will visit working artists in their studios, museums, landmarks, architectural wonders (even the department stores are works of art!).

Theatre Arts Workshop: Practical experience of how directors, actors, designers, and technical experts, the artists of the theatre, work together to realize the playwright’s concepts.

Museum Internship: Under the guidance of the Director of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, interns will be directly exposed to and involved in all facets, functions, and principles related to museum work. Specifically, museum interns will have directed experiences in receiving, crating, shipping, cataloging, insuring, and exhibiting a variety of art objects. In addition, they will have directed experiences related to the preparation of policy statements, publicity releases, museum literature, and grant proposals. 

Field Experience: Supervised experience in the application of dramatic method in a summer theatre, in a professional course at another institution, or in a concentrated program of seminars in New York City.

Independent Study in Art &  Theatre