The Department of Fine Arts of the School of Arts was created in 2001. Over two decades of discipline construction with an exceptional faculty of national artists, it has had a wide influence in the country among professional fine arts institutions and laid a solid foundation for future development.

Painting is currently a first-class undergraduate program at the municipal level, with two directions of Oil Painting and Chinese Painting The Department has a strong faculty of 17full-time teachers who graduated from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Fudan University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Renmin University of China, Tokyo University of the Arts, Chongqing University, Southwest University and other famous universities. Among them are three professors, seven with doctor’s degrees, as well as associate professors together making up 70% of the faculty. Core faculty members serve as members of the National Social Science Fund Review Committee, the Professional Committee of Art Education in Colleges and Universities of the Ministry of Education and other national institutions, and as members, executive directors or directors of national professional committees such as the National Steering Committee of Aesthetic Education in Colleges and Universities, the National Steering Committee of Art Theory Education in Colleges and Universities and the Higher Art Education Branch of the National Association of Education Calligraphy and Painting, as well as in the Chinese Painting Institute, the Chongqing Artists Association and its subsidiary committees, and the Chongqing Gongbi Painting Society. Over fifty academic papers authored by the faculty appeared in high-level domestic academic journals, with five monographs, and ten National Social Science Foundation projects and other projects at provincial and ministerial levels. Over 100 artworks by teachers and students of the Department have been selected and awarded at national, provincial and ministerial levels.

Undergraduate education at the Department follows fundamental principles of art and integrates Chinese and foreign pedagogies in history and current social context. The curriculum focuses on the teaching of basic techniques and theories, enabling students to improve their basic skills and all-round development in order to cultivate a broad artistic vision and profound humanistic foundation. Graduates are expected to have good professional ethics and capacity with a complete system of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Every year, more than one-third of the undergraduates pursue further studies through regular graduate programs admissions or admissions to graduate schools exempted from entrance exams, admissions to graduate programs in other countries to further enhance their professional theories and creative abilities. Employment opportunities for graduates of the Department are promising and there is a good reputation of professional career prospects in the industry. Graduates from the Department have found jobs in professional art education, scientific research, art creation and management in higher education institutions, art associations, painting institutes, design institutes, galleries, news outlets, publishing houses and other cultural and art institutions. In the past 20 years, the Department has delivered hundreds of high-quality interdisciplinary professionals to society and contributed to national and regional economic and cultural development.