Founded in 2002, the Public Space Art programme is the earliest public art discipline in China. It has built the country's first integrated training system covering undergraduate, master's and doctoral programmes, and was accredited as a National First-Class Undergraduate Major in 2021. Guided by Oriental aesthetics, the programme keeps renewing its disciplinary content and leads academic development with its core strengths of place specificity, interactivity and engineering capacity.
Focusing on "Methodology and Oriental Studies of Public Art", the programme promotes interdisciplinary integration of new art and science, and explores poetic spatial expression with technological means. Its core research direction lies in the "arts-and-sciences language of spatial expression," with three specialized tracks: Sculptural Arts in Public Spaces, Art in Virtual and Physical Spaces, and Art and Engineering. Backed by four laboratories, it cultivates professional art talents with public cultural literacy, creative practical skills and capacities for social aesthetic education.
The programme sustains multiple international exchange platforms that enhance teaching through exhibition, deepen global collaboration, and broaden the programme's international outlook.
Graduates become well-rounded, application-oriented professionals who can pursue creation, design, research, teaching and art engineering management in art education, urban planning and design, public art institutions, enterprises and public organizations.
2. Curriculum Structure
The programme follows a four-year progressive structure. Year 1 adopts an open, forward-looking educational philosophy through thematic group-based teaching that integrates foundational courses in modeling, design and theories to foster global vision and independent thinking. Year 2 strengthens core disciplinary knowledge through team-taught courses by both senior faculty and distinguished guest professors, bridging knowledge, techniques and practical abilities while reinforcing training in modeling, design and formal language. Project-based courses and graduation projects run in Years 3 and 4: Year 3 deepens students' mastery of creative media and practical techniques, balancing theory and practice; Year 4 delivers- three specialized tracks- Sculptural Arts in Public Spaces, Art in Virtual and Physical Spaces, and Art and Engineering- with tailored instruction that strengthens creative concepts and social engagement. With on-campus and off-campus collaborative teaching, students develop creativity and teamwork, while career guidance is provided concurrently to guarantee high-quality graduation works.
