Cultivating Talent in Art and Design Creation, Theory, Art Education, and Arts Administration
The Department of Visual Arts and Design is now in its 27th year. The department was established with the aim of cultivating talent in the areas of artistic and design creation, theory, art education, and arts administration, with a particular emphasis on training visual arts teachers for elementary and secondary schools. In recent years, while continuing to build upon its strong and time-honored foundation in traditional aesthetics and maintaining its established strengths in Western painting, ink painting, and printmaking, the department has also continued to expand its offerings in visual design, animation, and mixed media. These efforts aim to broaden students’ learning and development opportunities and to develop a more specialized curriculum structure and content to meet contemporary trends.
(1) Hidden Curriculum
The department organizes a range of annual and ongoing educational activities to broaden students’ horizons, enhance their interest in learning, and strengthen their professional competitiveness.
1. Exhibitions and Presentations
Annual activities: departmental exhibitions, critique exhibitions, and graduation exhibitions.
Ongoing activities: instructional curatorial projects and students’ on-campus solo or group exhibitions.
2. Academic Conferences, Study Visits, and Workshops
Each year, approximately five to six distinguished experts and scholars are invited to campus to deliver special lectures.
A national academic conference on visual arts is held biennially.
Relevant workshops are organized on a regular basis.
Faculty members participate in overseas study visits independently or through university-sponsored programs.
3. Other Activities
In conjunction with the University Arts Festival and the Golden Shower Tree Festival, the department organizes activities such as costume parades and outdoor sketching competitions. These events provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their talents and gain practical experience.
(2) Instructional Design and the Application of Diverse Teaching Methods
1. Faculty members prepare teaching plans and course outlines, which are uploaded to the course website for students’ reference during course selection. During the first week of each semester, instructors explain their teaching plans to students.
2. To ensure that students acquire essential competencies and develop a wide range of professional skills, the department employs diverse teaching methods across its courses.
Development Highlights
(1) Quality Teaching
Quality teaching has been a central objective of the department since its establishment. The undergraduate curriculum in the Department of Visual Arts and Design combines practical artistic creation with the intellectual foundations of art and the humanities. The master’s program emphasizes in-depth theoretical study and research in artistic creation. The department’s curriculum also supports the professional preparation of visual arts teachers.
(2) Interdisciplinary Programs
Through the Ministry of Education’s TNDA Future Design Entrepreneur Development Project, the department has established a credit program in Film, Television, and Animation. Renowned international industry professionals are invited to co-teaching courses, enhancing students’ employability and entrepreneurial capacity in the film and animation industries.
The College of Arts also offers the Art Creation and Social Practice Program, which integrates practical engagement with the arts. In addition, the department collaborates with the College of Management’s Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Credit Program to offer courses that develop knowledge and skills in innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
(3) Exhibition and Experimental Spaces
The National University of Tainan Art District, planned by the Department of Visual Arts and Design, serves as an important venue for teaching, observation, and exhibitions by faculty and students. In collaboration with the Tainan City Government, the University has incorporated this area into a key cultural tourism route in historic Tainan. The district attracts large numbers of visitors to contemporary art exhibitions and enhances both the quality and impact of artistic presentation.
In 2011, the College of Arts received funding of NT$1.1 million through the Ministry of Education’s Future Laboratory Renovation Project for its “Interactive Audiovisual Creation and Art Living Space Project””. This initiative transformed the Art District into a new experimental space.
Faculty and students regularly hold solo and group exhibitions in the Art District and at the University’s First Gallery. The department also organizes annual faculty group exhibitions, graduate critique exhibitions, and symposiums. Its annual departmental exhibition is prominently presented both on and off campus, while graduation exhibitions are held in major cities such as Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Tainan, receiving broad attention and positive recognition.
(4) Industry–Government–Academia Collaboration
Faculty members have long participated in art-related planning initiatives led by the Tainan City Government and have maintained active exchanges with industry partners. Examples include collaborating with the Tainan City Government in 2017 on lantern production for the Osaka Dondon Festival; working with the Tainan Urban Development Bureau in 2018 on the “Street Museum Plus—The Sounds of the City” project to design and produce the “Hou Li SO” installation; partnering with the Tainan City Teachers’ Association in 2018 on a public bus painting project; and licensing student works to Taiwan Creative Metal Co., Ltd. in 2019 for the development of related products and experiential courses.
(5) Domestic and International Academic Exchange
In recent years, the department has actively promoted academic exchange both domestically and internationally.
Domestic exchange: The department regularly organizes national Visual Arts Conferences and workshops, which have received enthusiastic participation and widespread responses. It also frequently engages in various forms of academic exchange with departments of fine arts, visual arts, and visual communication design at universities and universities of science and technology in central and southern Taiwan.
International exchange: The department has conducted academic exchanges and student exchange programs with partner universities, including Université Paris 8 in France, Kanazawa Seiryo University and Saitama University in Japan, and Kyonggi University in South Korea.
Development Plan
Integrate resources in traditional arts and the humanities to strengthen students’ comprehensive development in visual arts. In addition to painting, the department will further develop diverse media and multimedia forms of expression, technology-oriented approaches, and contemporary art practices that reflect evolving lifestyles.
Enable students to select a specialization for their graduation projects according to their individual interests and career plans, cultivate their professional artistic abilities, and strengthen their employability and competitiveness.
Actively expand domestic and international exchange through a model of “Not only competition, but also collaboration,” building inter-university and regional alliances."
