Student wearing gloves, goggles and a heavy coat sliding a brick into a ceramics kiln that has flames rising out of a vent hole.

School of Visual Arts

The Penn State School of Visual Arts (SoVA) is a place where creative and critical thinkers, makers, and educators shape awareness and change the way our world is seen, experienced, and understood.

You belong here

Our challenging undergraduate and graduate programs span Studio Art, Digital Arts and Design, and Art Education. We also offer online courses tailored to diverse learners.

SoVA’s internationally recognized, award-winning faculty are dedicated to learning, research, and educational imagination. Visual thinkers, creators, shapers, and educators – you belong here.

Contact

School of Visual Arts
210 Patterson Building
University Park, PA 16802
814-865-0444
814-865-1158 (fax)
sova@psu.edu

Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead
Director of School of Visual Arts

Alumni Spotlight

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alumni spotlight

Brian Kappel

Art, B.A. 1998

Brian is a Portland, Oregon-based artist, graphic designer and a self-described “tinkerer.” After a more than 15-year career with Nike, he founded Space Monkey Designs, a firm that is responsible for numerous high-profile designs including VIP event space for ESPN, set design for the Dew Tour and the College Football Playoff suites.

www.spacemonkeydesigns.com
A wealth of student artwork featured in the Zoller Gallery

Faculty Spotlight

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faculty spotlight

Brian Alfred

Associate Professor of Art

Brian Alfred received a B.F.A. from Penn State in 1997, studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine, and received an M.F.A. from Yale University in 1999. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in locations ranging from New York City to Tokyo to London, as well as group exhibitions nationally and internationally. He is the host of the podcast “Sound and Vision,” featuring conversations with contemporary artists, which recently celebrated its 200th episode. His work is in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Denver Art Museum, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.

See all our Faculty