Course Descriptions

Courses offered for Year 1 and Year 2. Studio Electives will be added.

ART 170 – LIGHT, COLOR, AND DESIGN I
Light Color and Design I is a studio course intended to provide a foundation in visual thinking with a focus on concepts and their use, as opposed to mastery of a particular medium. It is an introduction to the formal elements of art – line, value, texture, shape, form, space and composition as they relate to visual organization on the two-dimensional page. Success in this course is dependent upon a number of factors, including energy, self-motivation, open-mindedness, the ability to search for a variety of solutions, focus, preparation, patience and the desire and ability to have fun while working hard.

ART 170 – LIGHT, COLOR, DESIGN II
A continuation of Light, Color, Design I, this course further develops students’ abilities in visual thinking, moving them into more individualized problems in visual concepts within a broader conceptual range.

ART 100 – DRAWING I
Introduction to basic drawing skills and concepts. Projects in line, value, space and composition are among the topics that will be explored in a variety of media and through exposure to a variety of established and emerging artist’s work. In addition to classroom demonstrations, slide lectures on pertinent artists will be shown and discussed. We will begin with observational drawing and end with observation and imagination-inspired drawing along with weekly homework assignments that include keeping a dream sketchbook.

ART 101 – DRAWING II
A continuation of Drawing I, this course further develops students’ abilities in observational drawing, moving them into more individualized problems within a broader conceptual range, to help students find personal directions, various approaches to drawing are explored. Students work with the figure, mixed media, color, narration, and abstraction, and more.

DRAWING III
This is an advanced drawing class that explores the techniques of drawing from abstraction to the human figure using a variety of media.  We will work from personal narrative, imagination, live models, photographs, and from each other. Media used will include: graphite, charcoal, pastel, ink, colored pencils, collage, fiber, and more.  Techniques will be based on the formal elements of art- line, shape, value, color, texture, space.

ART 205 – PAINTING I
This course introduces students to classical and contemporary painting, techniques and concepts, with emphasis on the understanding of its formal language and the fundamentals of artistic expression. Painting from still-life, landscape, interior spaces, and live models from observation will be geared towards realism; at the same time, various other painting styles will be explored. Color theory, linear perspective, pictorial composition, figure/ground relationships, visual perception, spatial concepts, and critical thinking skills will all be emphasized extensively. Major painting styles and movements in historical context, in addition to individual artists, will be studied. Students will use this global, contextual approach to develop a “critical eye” in evaluation of contemporary painting.

ART 306 – PAINTING II
A continuation of Painting I, students will develop a deeper understanding of conceptual approaches to painting, including narrative and personal explorations. Major painting styles and movements in historical context, in addition to individual artists will be studied.

LANDSCAPE PAINTING AND DRAWING
Through both drawing and painting projects, this course will explore your individual approach to the landscape. Projects will focus on achieving the relationship between tone and color, capturing light, atmosphere and depth.

MIXED MEDIA: APPROACHES TO PAINTING
This mixed-media course will introduce alternative materials to explore varied approaches to painting. Beginning with exercises to introduce fluid media into drawings, the class will advance into methods for incorporating drawing materials, collage, block printing, and stencils, into drawn and painted compositions. Issues of craftsmanship as well as narrative and formal content will be addressed. In addition, the class will engage in group discussions of current mixed-media trends in contemporary art.

ART 209 – PHOTOGRAPHY I
Explores the expressive qualities of black-and-white photography and teaches the fundamentals of the camera. Students master the basics of metering, exposure, film developing, contact printing, enlarging, and photographic finishing

ART 230 – DIGITAL IMAGING
Introduces students to the digital camera, scanner, and Photoshop software as conduits for visual expression. The class will focus on the context of digital imaging as it relates to contemporary art practices.

ART 104 – INTRODUCTION TO THREE DIMENSIONAL DESIGN
The emphasis on this foundation course in three-dimensional design is to explore the visual and physical interaction of forms and space.  An increased sensibility to three-dimensional composition will be of continual concern throughout the course. The elements (form, space, line, texture, light, color, and time) and the principles of organization (repetition, variety, rhythm, balance, emphasis, economy and proportion) are used to examine three-dimensional form.

ART 216 – SCULPTURE I
This class encourages students to understand and create forms using reductive and constructive methods. Through studio work and demonstrations, students develop the three-dimensional language of form, space, material, and process. Contemporary sculpture artists will be examined.

STUDIO ELECTIVES
Studio Electives are offered in the fall, spring and summer. The course offerings vary, but may include courses in media such as Ceramics, Glass Art, Fiber, and Digital art.

ART HISTORY

AH 250 – SURVEY OF ANCIENT THROUGH MEDIEVAL ART: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
This course will explore Art History from Cave Paintings through Gothic Architecture, thereby covering a vast amount of historic material. The first third of the course will introduce visual culture concepts and address ancient art of the Near East, Egypt, and Greece. For the second exam, we will survey Early South Asia, the Roman Empire, and Early Byzantium. We will conclude the course by examining Early Hindu art, Early Islamic art, and Medieval Europe. The course will follow and emphasize an historical framework, however, attention will be given to the specific themes such as the visual display of ruler-ship, the use of devotional images, the art of the word, and the role of religious architecture.

AH 250 – SURVEY OF RENAISSANCE THROUGH MODERN ART: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
This course covers a global perspective of the Renaissance through the Modern art period by
exploring the principles and the nature of visual art, its vocabulary, media, and history, through analyzing interesting monuments from many cultures, styles and periods.  Also, the course will present historical information about the social contexts from which individual works of art evolve including what artists express along with specific explanations concerning creativity, symbolism, content and a critical analysis of the relationship art has to the culture from which it emerges.
Recommended Prerequisite: Survey of Ancient through Gothic.

AH 251 – MODERN THROUGH CONTEMPORARY ART
This course will survey the beginning of contemporary art, from the end of Modernism through Postmodernism (from 1970 to the present) and the art of recent years, including painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography as well as recent developments in the idea of medium such as installation art, performance art, digital art, and conceptual art. The focus will cover art from the United States as well as art from cultures and artistic traditions outside of the U.S.