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A student sits next to a computer screen that displays a computer game.

The bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) degree program in computer art and animation is dedicated to exploring the possibilities of digital media within a fine art, exploratory and culturally aware setting.

A student works on a laptop. Next to the student is a computer screen with small graphics on it.

The program provides instruction in multiple art media where the computer plays the primary role. These media include computer-generated images, 3D computer animation, physical computing, creative computer programming, computer gaming, computer music and sonic art. Students are mentored to become highly skilled critical thinkers producing art in individual and collaborative contexts.

In your first year, you build a strong foundation for working within the digital realm while developing an artistic voice engaged in the language of the medium. During the second year we investigate the diverse possibilities of computer art, the intensity of which is oriented by the inclination of the student and tailored through mentorship. In the third and fourth years, we bring these skills into creative focus, demanding a professional art practice that is both technically sophisticated and critically engaged.

Within the department, computer art and animation is integrated with film, art video and art photography, allowing for a practice that is tightly focused but free to traverse a network of related disciplines. This network expands into the rest of Syracuse University, challenging you to further develop the intellectual resources needed to inform your work. Through this process you synthesize a perspective that is shaped within a web of mutual influence and discourse.

The computer art and animation program boasts alumni who are placed at some of the most prestigious animation and visual effects companies in the world—Pixar, Cartoon Network, Filmworks/FX, LucasArts, Tippett Studio, and Sony Pictures Imageworks—along with creative representation at galleries and media art festivals internationally. The program’s alumni and faculty have consistently pushed the edge publicly as to what it means to be a computer artist and continue to maintain that intensity today.

Our program is ranked among the top 40 animation programs in the country among private schools and colleges by Animation Career Review.

Video: Student Work Playlist

The computer art and animation student work on this playlist includes modeling and texturing, concept art, animated shorts, Maya script demos and more.

Watch the playlist

Program Highlights

Curriculum

The 121-credit curriculum includes major and academic requirements as well as studio and academic electives. As one of our students, you will be assigned a professional academic advisor who will guide you through your academic career and help you navigate class schedules, course selection and more.

Two hands work on a laptop that has a computer game on the screen.

Global Study

You can participate in study abroad or study away programs through VPA or Syracuse Abroad. Computer art and animation majors often choose to study in Los Angeles in the VPA LA Semester in the fall semester of their fourth year and/or at Syracuse University's center in Florence, Italy, in the spring semester of their third year.

A person looks out over the city of Florence, Italy

Career Exploration

In addition to the career exploration opportunities offered by their major, computer art and animation students have access to career advisors and services through the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Office of Academic and Career Advising. The office connects VPA students with networking events, mentors and more.

A student speaks to another person as another student looks on.

In addition to interning, building my portfolio and exploring the city of LA, I was able to meet and connect with alumni currently in the industry and gain insights on their journeys.

Aviance Whitman Computer Art and Animation '24 VPA LA Semester participant
Aviance Whitman.