School of Art, Art History, and Design

Where creativity meets expression

Find your voice. Develop your creative skills. Build your knowledge in art.

Why Iowa?

Nestled in the heart of Iowa's beautiful arts campus, on the banks of the Iowa River, generations of artists and art historians have launched their careers and artistic journeys here. Join them.

Study Here

Create a foundation

Study art, art history, and design with leading artists in state-of-the-art spaces.

Create a foundation

Advance your work

Be part of an immersive and transformative arts experience under the guidance of expert faculty.

Advance your work

Monica Correia teaching 3D design in a gallery of work

Learn from experts

For more than 100 years, our faculty have been leaders in their disciplines who exhibit internationally and publish widely.

Learn from experts

You belong here

Be part of a legacy of excellence—and the birthplace of the MFA. Learn from faculty who are leading artists, designers, and scholars. Create and learn in facilities that are architectural masterpieces.

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"During instruction periods you are able to work closely with the faculty, and get really helpful individual critical feedback from your peers because of the small class size. Because of how the classes are set up, not only do you learn a lot but we’re able to foster a really tightly knit community."

- Alexis Williams, 3D Design

Create your story

When you make art at Iowa—or explore the ways that art shapes and reflects culture—you'll blaze a unique artistic journey. Make Iowa your artistic and academic home. Join us.

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Birthplace of the MFA

The first university to accept creative works as graduate theses

Our program also pioneered the practice of bringing established artists to the faculty.

# 7

National Ranking: Printmaking

U.S. News & World Report, 2020

# 23

National Ranking: Best Fine Arts Programs

U.S. News & World Report, 2020

Events

Student exhibitions

BIG CAMERA SHOW - School of Art, Art History, and Design

Wednesday, April 2, 2025 8:00am to 8:00pm

Visual Arts Building

BIG CAMERA SHOW presents the work of current students and recent alumni of various BFA and MFA programs working with view camera technologies. For the non-photo nerd, picture an older box camera where the photographer has a dark cloth over their head to focus an upside down and backward image onto a pane of ground glass. Each photograph is made on an individual sheet of large film - for example, the formats most commonly used are 4 by 5 inches and 8 by 10 inches. While they may seem old-school...