Courses

Foundation Drawing: Making Drawings to Explain the World Around Us
In this course we will learn to make drawings and graphic images to reveal the world we inhabit. Skills learned will include how to make perspective, architecture, value, and contour line systems. We will draw from observation of the natural world including, the human figure, exploring structure, expression, and psychology. We will also make and use photographic images. No previous studio experience is required or expected. 6 hrs. lect./lab

Intro to Sculpture-Form and Space
What defines a sculpture? How do we make a sculpture? How do we talk about sculpture? What purpose does sculpture have? In this foundational, 3-dimensional art class, we will address fundamental sculpture concepts by considering form, function, scale, volume, and ideas behind the tactile world. Students will learn useful techniques such as: basic welding and woodworking; as well as how to use less traditional materials like rubbers, plastics, and foams. Through a series of sculpture-making projects we will learn to control these methods in creating our own art objects. Slide presentations of contemporary and historical artworks will integrate individual instruction and group critiques. No experience is required or expected. 6 hrs. lect., lab

Topics in Contemporary Art
The term "contemporary art" names not only artworks made over the past half-century, but the art-historical discourse that attempts to explain them, the network of museums and exhibition spaces through which they reach the public, and the global industry in which they are bought and sold. In this course we will examine contemporary art’s relationship to the political, social, and technological developments of our era, attempting to answer the questions: How do we make sense of art produced in the present day? And: How does this art help us understand the world?

Introduction to Silkscreen Printing
In this course students will learn the fundamentals of screen printing. The focus will be on drawing and editing. Students will be exposed to the role of screen-printing in contemporary fine art as well as its use in popular culture. Students will make printed ephemera including an originally designed poster and zine. Students will receive tutorials, and take part in individual and group critiques. There is a lab fee for each student of approximately $110 for materials.

The Art of Pastel Painting
In this class we will study and apply principles of making images using the medium of dry pastels. Pastel-painting involves sticks of dry pigment bound with gum-arabic and applied by the artist’s hand to paper. Used skillfully it is intense, direct, and expressive. Using pastels we will learn color theory and how to control value and perspective by creating images of still-life, interiors, and the human figure. This studio course will also include image-lectures on the history of pastel in art history. (ART 0156, ART 0157 or ART 0159 or ART 0185 or ART 1128 or ART 1129 or THEA 0101). There will be a required purchase of materials.

Painting in Water Based Media – Exploring Design and Graphic Concepts
In this course we will explore painting using water-based media including watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and ink. Our focus will be on parallels and crossovers between worlds of fine art and applied design. We will discuss styles common to both art and design from the decorative arts of the Renaissance and Art Nouveau periods to rational geometries of the Bauhaus. Through projects, students will learn to reinvent the past to create contemporary painted images. We will augment water-based painting with digital tutorials in Photoshop and Illustrator to merge handmade and computer methodologies, and to exploit color, layers, and textures of design motifs in typography and popular imagery. (ART 0157, ART 0159, or another intro level studio art course) 3hrs lect./3hrs. lab

Sequential Intaglio
In this course students will explore studio instruction in traditional and contemporary methods of intaglio printmaking such as dry point, aquatint, vernis mou, spit bite, hard ground, and line etching. Once the plate is made, it’s possible to print it multiple times so students may choose to manipulate the image during the printing process, making each image and final print look different. Exposure to contemporary and historical examples and the manifold technical possibilities that produce very different artistic expressions will be discussed in class. Students will receive tutorials and take part in individual and group critiques. (any intro level ART course or by approval) 6hrs. lect./lab

Risograph: Visually Narrated Zines
The Risograph® fuses old and new printing technologies with the color intensity of a silkscreen but the convenience of a printer, making it the ideal tool for printing zines and other high-volume printed matter. A daily sketchbook practice of drawing, observing and note taking will be the source for your stories. Editing techniques and methods of self-publishing as well as contemporary zine-culture will be covered. We will look at historical and contemporary examples of how artists employ print technology in their work. The class will create a collaborative zine as well as a personal zine. (any intro level ART course or by approval)

Monoprint Printing
Printmaking is ever present in our society tracing back to impressions of prehistoric hands on cave walls all the way to printed signs used at protests. In this course students will explore direct and immediate approaches to printmaking, which include collographs, collage, rubbings, layering, pochoir (also known as stenciling), and hand painted applications. The possibilities of creating complex prints are infinite and often painterly. Using “ghost prints” and found material as a way to generate materials for making edition variables, students will have the opportunity to create unique impressions from both observation and invention.(Prerequisite any 100 level drawing class or by approval) 6 hrs. lect./lab

Portraiture In Oil Painting and Sculpture
In this class we will make images and objects of the human figure. Our approach will be two-fold: We will make glazed-ceramic portrait sculptures, which will be used as the basis for large-scale oil paintings. In doing so, we will learn how artists throughout history made oil paintings by creating and using visual source material. Our paintings will, as the need arises, integrate three-dimensional additions made from fired-ceramic, enameled copper, and/or fused glass. In these ways we will explore concepts of decoration, jewelry, and clothing. We will use digital photography throughout to record, analyze, and invent. In addition to weekly image-based lectures on the history of portraiture and design, the class will be include close, individual instruction within a collaborative workshop atmosphere. (ART 0157, ART 0158, ART 0159 or by approval) 6 hrs. lect./lab

Pictures in Space
It is estimated that we see 4,000 to 10,000 images a day. In this class we examine the function and impact of images (photographic and otherwise). Topics of investigation include interactivity, activism, memes, storytelling, and artist/audience relationship. These will be explored through studio-based projects supplemented with readings, individual research, and group assignments. Projects consist of a public art/installation piece, a zine and a website. Exploring research topics from other disciplines is encouraged. A prerequisite of ART150 or ART0195 is recommended but not required. There will be introductory demonstrations designed to bring all students up to the necessary skill level. 6 hrs lect./lab

Senior Independent Study in Studio
Three terms of supervised independent work. Culmination of independent work will be an exhibition. All senior studio art independents will meet for regular group critiques with the studio art faculty and other senior studio independents. (Admission by portfolio review and recommendation of resident faculty member is required.) 3 hrs. lect.

A New World
In this class, students will learn foundational drawing techniques while drawing from observation. Using simple materials like cardboard, 2x4s, burlap, and paper, we will turn the whole classroom into a New World. We will study, shape and determine what kind of new world emerges. Over the course of four weeks, students will produce short animations within this setting of "A New World" using Green Screen technology to combine drawing- and stop-motion animations with 3D Backgrounds. At the conclusion of the month, we will leave this world taking our sketchbooks, drawings and animations (2d and 3d stop motion) as a record of our shared experience. One all-s recording. An all-seeing eye (a wide-angle camera) will capture the rise and fall of this New World in time-lapse. This class counts toward the major as a prerequisite for all 300 level courses. No prior drawing experience is expected. Not open to students who have taken ART0155, ART0156, ART 0157, ART 0159) 9 hrs lab/lct.
Heimo Wallner is a visual artists in whose work animation plays an important role./

Introduction to Oil Painting
In this course we will learn histories and techniques of oil painting and will develop skills and aesthetic sensibilities related to artistic expression in oil mediums. Students will be taught the properties as well common materials and processes used in creating oil paintings. Through assignments that reinforce the use of color and composition, we will explore a range of subject matter and themes for creating both representational and abstract paintings. In this course we will also focus on developing your critical eye as an artist, and becoming aware of trends and concerns in contemporary painting. We will explore these ideas through lectures, discussions, readings, critiques and a written assignments.