Dec 26, 2024  
2024-2025 General Catalog [Current] 
    
2024-2025 General Catalog [Current]

College of Performing and Visual Arts


Person IconDean
Michael Schmidt – BH 113A
Faculty IconDean’s Office Staff
Person IconAssociate Dean
Keith Bradshaw – BH 127D
Advisor IconStudent Success Advisors
Person IconBusiness Manager
Alison Adams – BH 113C
Website IconWebsite
 

Mission

The SUU College of Performing and Visual Arts serves as a catalyst for students to realize their creative potential by providing a personalized and rigorous learning environment, fostering experiential education, and contributing to the cultural enrichment of a global society.

College Learning Outcomes & Goals

Learning Outcomes

The College of Performing and Visual Arts has four learning outcomes for all students in the college that build on the University’s mission and core themes.

Students will:

  • Communicate effectively;
  • Develop curiosity, critical, and creative thinking skills;
  • Embrace global awareness, personal responsibility, and artistic integrity; and
  • Process the history, principles, training, skills, and knowledge associated with performing and visual arts to facilitate success in their chosen field.

Strategic Goals

  • Cultivate in all SUU students an appreciation for the value of the performing and visual arts.
  • Promote positive learning environments for our students as they seek to develop a life-long commitment to the arts.
  • Offer curriculum that meets or exceeds national standards, which includes experiential programming giving students opportunities to develop as artists, educators, scholars, and arts leaders.
  • Create events to enrich the quality of life on the campus, in the community, and extending to the national and international arena.
  • Empower and support our faculty and staff as superior educators, mentors, artists, scholars and administrators who engage student learning as part of a collaborative, academic, and artistic process.
  • Contribute to students’ development as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in a global community.

Our mission and strategic goals are focused on making the arts a vital, visible, accessible, innovative, and integral part of the intellectual and cultural life of Southern Utah University and beyond.

Departments, Programs, & Components

The College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA) at Southern Utah University (SUU), offers a diverse range of undergraduate degrees (B.A., B.S., B.F.A., B.M.) in the departments of Filmmaking, Art, and Design; Music; and Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration. Furthermore, CPVA provides graduate degrees in Arts Administration, Music Technology, and Music Education (M.F.A., M.A., M.M., M.M.E.), along with distinctive minors in Shakespeare Studies, Arts Administration, and Museum Studies. SUU holds accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. The exceptional curriculum and contributions of our highly qualified faculty and staff are complemented by integral components of the College, the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) and Shakespeare Studies at SUU, as well as our direct affiliation with the Tony award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF).

Department of Filmmaking, Art, and Design

Go to information for Department of Filmmaking, Art, and Design.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Minor

Department of Music

Go to information for Department of Music.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Academic Certificate (Post-bachelor’s)

Minor

Master’s Degree

Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration

Go to information for Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Minor

Master’s Degree

Centers & Affiliates

  • Shakespeare Studies at SUU: Shakespeare Studies at SUU is committed to furthering study and understandings of the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries both as literature and performance. It is a scholarly resource for SUU students, faculty and staff, the Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF), and other theatre organizations, educators, and the general public. In collaboration with Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Shakespeare Studies at SUU annually coordinates and sponsors the Wooden O Symposium, a cross-disciplinary conference exploring Medieval through Early Modern Studies, through the text and performance of Shakespeare’s plays.
  • Southern Utah Museum of Art: The Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), on the campus of Southern Utah University, features the artwork of regional artists known for their landscapes, faculty and student artists from the SUU Department of Filmmaking, Art, and Design, as well as emerging and distinguished artists from around the country. Strengths of the nearly 2,000-object permanent collection include the body of work by Jimmie F. Jones that exemplifies his notable career in the region, as well as a robust collection of prints featuring well-known artists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Salvador Dalí, Katsushika Hokusai, Thomas Hart Benton, and others. Part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts, which also includes the Utah Shakespeare Festival, SUMA is free and open to the public.
  • Utah Shakespeare Festival: Founded in 1961 as a destination theatre in partnership with Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival is committed to entertain, enrich, and educate audiences through professional production of Shakespeare and other master dramatists, as well as through numerous additional activities, including free Greenshows and seminars and numerous classes which can include SUU credit. Professional actors, directors, and designers come from all over the world to work at the Festival. The Festival was awarded the 2000 Tony Award as the Outstanding Regional Theatre in America, in recognition of its world-class production values and acting. Every year a number of students and faculty from SUU’s music, theatre, and dance programs are employed as actors, technicians, musicians, and dancers at the Festival. Current information is online at www.bard.org.

Other Information

Accreditation

Southern Utah University is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).

Scholarships

Departmental scholarships are available for students who are accepted into both Southern Utah University and the respective department.

Art and Design Majors

Talent based scholarships are available to Art and Design majors who are new freshmen, transfer students, and continuing students upon portfolio review. These are talent-based scholarships and are primarily awarded on talent and not necessarily GPA. GPA will most often be used in the case of a tie-break. Contact the department for scholarship deadlines and specific information at (435) 586-7962 or go to www.suu.edu/pva/art/finaid.html.

Dance Majors

Scholarship recipients are determined during the spring placement auditions. For an audition application form and audition dates, contact the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration at (435) 586-7746 or by e-mail at theatreanddance@suu.edu. Students who live an extended distance from Cedar City, Utah, may submit an audition video.

Music Majors

Scholarship recipients are determined during the spring placement auditions, which take place in February for the following fall semester. Auditions are by appointment only. For specific dates and to arrange for an audition, please contact the Music Department at (435) 586-7890 or by email at musicdept@suu.edu. Students who live an extended distance from Cedar City, Utah, may submit an audition video.

Theatre Majors

Scholarship recipients are determined during the spring placement auditions. For an audition application form and audition dates, contact the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration at (435) 586-7746 or by e-mail at theatreanddance@suu.edu. Students who live an extended distance from Cedar City, Utah, may submit an audition video.

Interested students are strongly advised to apply for general scholarships offered by SUU. Contact Financial Aid & Scholarships, Sharwan Smith Center, Room ST 166, (435) 586-7735 for specific deadlines and information.

Student Organizations

National Student Organizations

  • American Choral Directors Association, SUU Chapter
  • American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA), Student Chapter
  • National Art Education Student Association of SUU, Student Chapter
  • National Honors Society for Dance Arts, National Dance Education Organization, Collegiate Chapter
  • National Association of Music Educators (NAfME), Student Chapter
  • Music Teachers National Association (MTNE), Student Chapter
  • United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT), Student Chapter

SUU Student Organizations

  • Ceramics Guild
  • Graphic Design Club
  • Illustration Club
  • Percussion Club
  • Second Studio
  • SUU Ballroom Dance Company
  • SUU Photography Club
  • SUUDO: SUU Dance Organization