Franciscan University of Steubenville’s study abroad program is housed in a picturesque 14th-century Carthusian monastery in Gaming, Austria. For over 30 years, the program has offered a coherent, holistic formation experience to students seeking to deepen their faith and their understanding of Catholic culture from an historical, philosophical, theological, and artistic point of view. Since 2022, the Austrian Program has offered studio art classes in painting, portraiture, and sacred art. 

Franciscan University is currently exploring the possibility of creating a master’s degree in fine art with a concentration in sacred art taught from Gaming, Austria. Beyond the beautiful setting of the facilities, the proximity to important works of art and architecture in Europe’s great cultural centers makes the Austrian study abroad site ideally suited to a Catholic Master of Fine Arts Program. 

The proposed curriculum would focus on representational work in the classical, figurative tradition and would require students to learn traditional methods and techniques, cast drawing, painting, and sculpting the human form, artistic anatomy, and composition, and more. 

If you are a college student or recent graduate interested in attending and seeing such a master’s program flourish, please help us assess the demand by filling out this three-minute survey.

Start Survey

Faculty

Carl G. Fougerousse

Professor Fougerousse earned his BA in Philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio and his MFA (specializing in figurative painting) at the New York Academy of Art. 

He is the founder of Red Fern Studio. The studio was started in 1998 to execute ecclesiastical works steeped in the tradition of Catholic figurative and decorative art.

Professor Fougerousse designs and produces sculptures, paintings, murals, stained glass, mosaics, and interiors and has completed large scale projects for churches, universities, restaurants, and private residences throughout the United States and Europe.

In addition to his fine art practice, Fougerousse has taught drawing and painting at Savannah College of Art and Design, the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C., and art history at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah. He has also lectured at New York University, and New York’s Sheen Center for the Arts, and at conferences and parishes across the country. He currently teaches art history, painting, sacred art at Franciscan University’s study abroad program in Gaming, Austria. 

 

View more of his work

Marisa T. Lilje

Professor Lilje earned her BFA at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and her MFA (specializing in figurative drawing and printmaking) at the New York Academy of Art.  

 She has widely exhibited her work at institutions such as the University of New Mexico, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Hurn Museum and Telfair Academy in Savannah and galleries across the country including Philips de Pury and Co. and Medialia Gallery in NY, and Location Gallery in Savannah.  

In 2019, Professor Lilje was awarded the ON: VIEW residency by Sulfur Studio for her portrait drawings and paintings and continues to take on portraiture commissions for private clients across the United States. 

She has taught drawing at Veritas Academy and the Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, GA. She currently teaches art history, painting, and portrait drawing at Franciscan University’s study abroad program in Gaming, Austria. 

 

View more of her work