Design Arts Major.

Earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Design

In your Design Arts major, a new program administered through the College of Professional Schools’ School of Architecture + Art, you’ll integrate theory and application to unify art, craft and technology to master stone arts.

You’ll tap your curiosity and creativity through partnerships with the Vermont Granite Museum’s Stone Arts School, in Barre, the self-proclaimed “Granite Center of the World.” Barre has attracted designers and sculptors from Europe and North America since the 1920s to hone their craftsmanship and techniques. The Vermont Granite Museum, founded 1994, has figured centrally in celebrating and preserving the region’s granite heritage and industry. In partnership, Norwich University and the Museum’s Stone Arts School aim to be North America’s premier source of stone arts information and education by merging historical and digital practices in art, fine craft and industry. We create a dialogue between tradition maintainers and experimental innovators.

You’ll learn contemporary design production techniques, which blend traditional arts with modern technical expertise, such as computation and computer numeric control machinery. You’ll also learn to market what you make by complementing your core study with personal finance/business and general education courses. Your junior year will include a semester abroad in CityLAB:Berlin; your senior year will include an internship or apprenticeship and a capstone project.

After further developing your knowledge in internships with business and industry partners, you’ll graduate ready to compete in multidisciplinary fields with facility, clarity and rigor. The industry is poised for the future.

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FAST FACTS: In fall 2019, the Barre Granite Association announced that its member companies have invested $5 million in the past five years in new equipment and machinery. Sixty Barre-area manufacturing and quarrying companies employ more than 1,700 workers and pump $25 million in the local economy through salaries and benefits.