Fine Arts Division

Here, you’ll extend your artistic reach beyond the work of a standard animation studio. You’ll study the media of the fine artist—drawing, sculpture, acting, and storytelling—to develop your unique film grammar and technical skills across 2D, 3D, stop-motion, and more. Our labs feature state-of-the-art equipment such as 24-inch Cintiq monitors, and technology to support students as they gain expertise in 3D animation, sound effects, layout and lighting, and post-production.

As a Film major at CCA, you’re directing your own future. We pair practical skills—such as writing, producing, filming, and editing—with a comprehensive grounding in cinema history and theory. As a film student, you have access to the Carmen M. Christensen Production Stage, audio suite, pre-production studio, post-production editing suites and lab, and media center to check out all the equipment you need to bring your vision to life.

From video games to extended reality and from tabletop games to digital, students can explore the full possibility of what games can be in this fine-arts focused program. In Game Arts play studios (opening fall 2022), check out game and console libraries; experiment with social and physical gameplay; and learn how to work with XR, AR, VR, motion capture, 3D, and sound engineering equipment. Advanced computer labs are loaded with a suite of industry-standard game development software, such as Unity Game Engine, Unreal Engine, Twine, ZBrush, Maya, and Blender.

The Individualized Studies program is specifically for students whose work bridges media and disciplines that fall outside regular program structures. It is a self-directed major open to students during their second year. No matter your focus, you’ll have access to state-of-the-art studios, shops, labs, and our special collections at the Simpson Library.

You’ll explore a variety of processes for jewelry making and design through courses taught by renowned faculty. We cover the full range of techniques across metalsmithing, contemporary jewelry design, sculpture, and installations. Our program blends sustainable practices with cutting-edge technology, helping you develop a unique aesthetic approach that’s compelling, original, and conceptual. Facilities include tools for traditional processes—soldering, forging, casting, stone-setting, patination, and enameling—and prototyping equipment like 3D printers, jewelry welders, and laser cutters.

The Painting & Drawing program cultivates a supportive community and rigorous culture of critique. We welcome artists who work across disciplines, including photography, sculpture, film and video, textiles, and performance. Our light-filled painting and drawing studios are designed so ideas can flow freely. Plus, juniors and seniors have their own dedicated studio spaces.

Develop your lens on the world in CCA's Photography program, where you'll build skills in film and digital photography. With the latest high-end digital cameras, a traditional black-and-white darkroom, and a full range of current equipment for experimental printing processes, you’ll practice image-making that matters every day. Our facilities include industry-standard and emerging tools, from 13-inch Wacom Cintiq tablets and high-resolution scanners to inkjet printers. The program’s Media Center has lenses, lighting kits, tripods, and additional equipment you’ll need for projects.

Printmedia allows you to explore the traditions of printmaking and book arts within an innovative studio practice. Get your hands on dozens of equipment for etching, lithography, and presses, molds, bookbinding, screenprinting, and more. With the Bay Area as your backdrop, draw your inspiration from museums, galleries, and alternative art spaces, world-renowned print publishers and studios, and socially engaged nonprofits.

In our nationally recognized Ceramics program, students become interdisciplinary artists and nimble collaborators. You'll investigate the history of ceramic arts, contemporary theory, and material possibilities within the context of an interdisciplinary art and design school. We have dedicated areas for hand building, wheel throwing, and slip casting, plus kiln and glaze rooms to finish off your works of art.

Learn to make sculpture at any scale, in every material imaginable, from nationally renowned artists. Sculpture at CCA includes many disciplines and viewpoints, where you can work with a range of complex materials as you study the medium’s role throughout history and contemporary culture. Our facilities, including metal fabrication and welding shops, a woodworking shop, and model-making studio, help you work with every material imaginable. You can experiment with 3D rapid prototyping, kinetic work in high-end computer labs, and even performance.

Textiles students get to connect a contemporary art practice with one of the oldest aesthetic traditions in the world. You’ll be introduced to a variety of textile construction methods, such as weaving, printing, dyeing, and hand-work, through conceptual and experimentally driven frameworks. Equal parts analog and digital, our state-of-the-art studios are designed to foster a range of applications: experimental, functional, and industrial. The Weaving Studio is outfitted with floor looms, two computerized Jacquard looms, and a computer-operated dobby loom. In adjacent spaces, the Print Studio and Dye Lab offer individual print stations, a production print table, and a large vacuum exposure unit.