Department of Fine and Performing Arts

Visual Communication & Digital Media Arts Major

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As advancements in new media continue to quickly emerge, industry leaders need problem-solvers who can fuse creative talent, research, visual culture and technology to provide innovative approaches to design, communication and media production. If you’ve ever imagined designing magazines, developing your own fashion line, or producing your own film or even creating your own animated production, Bowie State’s visual communication and digital media arts (VCDMA) program will give you the creative and technical foundation you need to excel.

VCDMA offers five concentrations in Advertising Design, Animation & Motion Graphics, Digital Cinema & Time-Based Media, Digital Media Arts and Fashion Design and specialized minors, including Maryland’s first program in hip-hop studies and visual culture.

Follow us @vcdma | vcdma empowers

What You’ll Learn
Special Opportunities
Career Paths

The VCDMA program’s multidisciplinary curriculum merges art, design, digital media production, technology and business/marketing. Additionally, strategic partnerships with other academic programs at Bowie State and professional organizations in the community enhance the learning experience for our students. You will:

Strengthen your skills by applying the key principles of art and design, animation, cinema and fashion design
Study the artists, innovators, filmmakers and designers who have contributed to design, technology, entertainment and media arts.
Conduct collaborative research to broaden your technical expertise in the visual and media arts.
Explore art and self-expression to enhance your cultural and artistic growth and also appreciate culture and diversity.

Grow: Our state-of-the art facilities—including multimedia production and digital media labs, a green screen, stop motion animation studio, a fashion design studio, high-end video editing suite and art studios—provide a rich learning environment for students to hone their creative skills.

Join: The Bowie State student chapter of AIGA, the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design, brings together practitioners, enthusiasts and patrons to amplify the voice of design and create the vision for a collective future. The BSU Artists Guild is a student-based visual arts organization. VCDMA is also a member of the American Advertising Federation and the National Retail Federation . VCDMA and the Studio Arts programs are also affiliated with the National Alliance of Artists from HBCUs (NAAHBCU).

Connect: VCDMA is also proud to partner with A + E Networks for the 1st cohort and program of its kind at an HBCU, The A + E Apprenticeship program. VCDMA has also partnered with Laika Studios and will launch the 1st stop-motion animation and film studio of its kind at an HBCU in 2022. Through the fashion design area, VCDMA has received support from ICON 360 and Harlem Fashion Row In Fall 2022, VCDMA partnered with Tapestry (Coach, Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman) to further enhance the fashion design program and curriculum.

VCDMA has existing MOUs for internship, networking opportunities sand more with PGAHC, MegaMind Media and HBCU CON. VCDMA students and alumni have also successfully completed internships and opportunities in the film animation and entertainment industry through HBCU in LA, NFL Films, Octet Productions, Outlook (OVFX), Creative Junkfood as well as design internships in through Adobe and the Gateway Media Arts Lab.

Showcase: Students have the opportunity gain community exposure by displaying their art in the Bowie State University Gallery of Art, located in the Fine and Performing Arts Center. Students are also able to showcase their work through screenings, undergraduate research and by submitting film and animated productions to various festivals, competitions and more. Fashion design showcases, fashion shows, networking and career building opportunities are just some of the great activities VCDMA has to offer.