Bachelor of Fine Arts - Studio Art - Print Media

Print Media at AUArts is where images become agents of change. Students explore silkscreen, intaglio, zines, digital prints, and guerrilla posters—exploring the power of process while questioning how images circulate, whom those images reach, and why they matter. AUArts Print Media sits within a lineage of artists, designers, and rebels who have used print to agitate, amuse, and inspire. In this program, ideas are turned into multiples, experimentation is fearless, and the press is used to amplify the artist's voice—whether a single etching is pulled or a city-wide wheat-paste crusade is staged. AUArts Print Media is home to printers who are restless, innovative, and fiercely curious about the world and the printers' place in it.

Program Overview

In Print Media, experimentation occurs across lithography, relief, silkscreen, letterpress, digital, and hybrid processes—constantly pushing the boundaries between tradition and innovation. The program fosters a collaborative studio community, with peers and expert printmakers providing guidance. From zines and artist books to large-scale public projects, the curriculum moves fluidly, connecting creative work to social issues, pop culture, and contemporary publishing. In Print Media, the image is never merely an image—it serves as a catalyst for dialogue, activism, and personal expression.

Program Highlights

• Drawing is explored through print: traditional and experimental printmaking techniques transform drawings into small-edition prints and unique multiples.
• Pixels meet paper: digital imagery, photo-based processes, and hand-drawn techniques combine to create innovative prints.
• Print as activism: social and political issues are engaged, using traditional and alternative processes to create art for activism and public dialogue.
• Text + image: relief, letterpress, and other print methods are used to experiment with the relationship between word and image, exploring narrative and conceptual possibilities.
• Digital + hybrid processes: digital manipulation, photographic print techniques, and hybrid forms push the medium forward.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Print Media program will:

• Produce professional-quality prints using intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, relief, and digital/hybrid techniques.
• Translate creative concepts into print, integrating drawing, photography, digital processes, and text.
• Develop and execute a cohesive body of work that demonstrates technical skill, conceptual growth, and a personal voice.
• Research, analyze, and discuss print media in contemporary and historical contexts, including its role in activism and social engagement.
• Experiment independently with new processes, materials, and methodologies to solve technical and creative challenges.
• Critically reflect on and present one's own work and the work of others through peer critique, research, and professional exhibitions.
• Collaborate in communal studio settings and contribute to the wider printmaking community through exchanges, publications, or public projects.
• Prepare for professional practice by documenting, exhibiting, and presenting work for diverse audiences and contexts.

New! The Bachelor of Fine Arts program now offers emerging secondary concentrations in Comic Studies and Game Design, available as additional areas of focus alongside the primary concentration.