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Studio Art - Requirements

This track is designed for those who wish to prepare for careers in the fine arts in areas such as drawing, painting, sculpture, digital video, ceramics, or digital or traditional photography. It may also serve as a foundation for graduate study in the fine arts. This track consists of twelve course units and is built on the foundation of the common core of four courses.

Core Courses

ART 113. Global Perspectives in Art History to the Renaissance

The basic problems of the development of Western art are considered in terms of the major civilizations and epochs that produced them from ancient civilization to the Renaissance. Also introduces Non-Western art, such as African, Asian, Islamic, Judaic, Aboriginal (Australia and New Zealand), and Art of the Americas. (Fall.)

ART 142. Visual Foundations

Visual Foundations: Composition, Color and Design is a guided investigation of basic concepts and techniques of visual organization. The course will address both the theory and application of two-dimensional design and color using a variety of concepts, media, and techniques. Through a series of weekly projects, students will develop awareness of the formal elements of composition, a working knowledge of fundamental design principles, and an understanding of the interrelationship between form and content. The formal elements of design include line, shape, value, color, and space and principles of organization – harmony, variety, balance, proportion, scale, dominance, movement, and economy. Learning to analyze one's own work and the work of others is as important a skill as making the work. Students will learn and use the appropriate vocabulary necessary to verbalize their creative process and critical thinking.

ART 170. Drawing I

Skills and critical understanding of the fundamentals of drawing: composition, perspective, value, and balance are developed through rendering the observed world. Students engage in the pictorial issues of drawing, in particular the relation of subject and context. These fundamentals should be taught in context with a pictorial language, rather than elements of abstract design. (Fall and Spring)

ART 180. Painting I

Emphasis on investigation as related to historical, individual, and creative problems of space, composition, structure, and image. (Fall)

Additional Required Courses

ART 114. Art History Since the Renaissance

Study of the major movements in Western art from the Renaissance to the present. (Spring)

ART 229. Modern Art (Writing Intensive)

Development of European and American Art from the Post-Impressionists (1890s) to Pop Art (1960s). Prerequisite: ART 113, ART 114 or permission of instructor.

ART 270. Drawing II

Development of personal and innovative composition through a wide range of techniques and media. Prerequisite: ART 170 or permission of instructor. (Spring)

ART 280. Painting II

Continuation of the investigations and problems explored in ART 180, Painting I. Prerequisite: ART 180. (Spring)

ART 370. Advanced Drawing

Advanced problems in the development of skills of graphic expression with major emphasis on the human figure. Prerequisite: ART 270 or permission of instructor.

ART 380. Advanced Painting

Advanced problems in painting: structured, composed, and created by the student. Prerequisite: ART 280.

ART 371. Senior Seminar

This seminar focuses on contemporary issues of art-making both in the context of criticism and theory and as practice (studio/creative/scholarly work). Students will engage in a collaborative dialogue with the participating art faculty members, guest speakers, and each other. On-site visits to installations and galleries will form a regular part of the pedagogical program. Senior status, Studio track. (Fall)

ART 372. Senior Projects

Students will design and realize a semester-long project. Students will meet with faculty and solicit advisers from the adjunct faculty. This class is designed to let students advance their personal creative techniques, content, and vocabulary using a variety of traditional and digital media and to develop their own practice. Prerequisite: ART 371. Senior status, Studio track. (Spring)

 

Studio Electives

 

Printmaking:

 

ART 146.2. Printmaking and Book Arts.

This half-semester course introduces materials, tools, and procedures of printmaking and may include linocut, woodcut, intaglio, solarplate, and paper-making. Final project may include a book designed, produced, and bound by the student. (Fall)

 

ART 245. Printmaking I.

Introduction to traditional and innovative techniques and ideas in relief, silk-screen, etching, mixed media. Prerequisite: Art 170 or permission of instructor. (Spring)

 

Special Topics in Silkscreen Printing:

Screen printing is an extension of the introduction to silkscreen printing covered in the regular printmaking course.  Because screen printing is unique, no prior printmaking prerequisite is required.  This course will require the student to put the elements of design and color to use.  Students must develop personal imagery and motifs and apply them to functional and fine art works. The elements of repetition, rhythm, and all over pattern, will be emphasized as well as the principals of color and composition. A current exposure to the “state of screen printing” will be met by regional field trips throughout the semester. Three basic techniques will be explored in screen printing, stencils, drawing fluid methods, and photo emulsion technique. Any or all of these methods may be combined when developing an image. Several projects emphasizing these techniques will be required throughout the semester. Instructor-led formal critiques will be held throughout the semester to evaluate student progress and the development of the student’s personal imagery.  There is also a Personal Discovery Project/Presentation required.  (Spring)

 

Ceramics and Sculpture:

 

ART 159. Design: Three-Dimensional.

In-depth investigation of basic forms involving a variety of multidimensional media. Recommended foundation course for sculpture. (Spring)

 

ART 160. Ceramics.

This course introduces the fundamentals of ceramic art—including hand-built and wheel techniques—applied to tiles, objects, and vessels, and methods of glazing. Outdoor raku firing will be introduced. The history and use of ceramics will be discussed. The basics of operating a ceramics classroom are included: loading, unloading, firing and maintaining electric kilns, including low-fire and high-fire; purchasing clay, glazes and other supplies; health and safety concerns.  (Fall and Spring)