Matthew Schrader
Assistant Professor of Studio Art
- Office
- Johnson 114
- Tel
- (802) 443-2543
- mschrader@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Spring Term 2025-Monday's and Wednesday's, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., and by appointment
Courses Taught
ART 0174
Spacing
Course Description
Spacing
In this course we will investigate physical structures encountered daily. Buildings, parks, and infrastructure constitute this built environment, reflecting their societies. But what could abolitionist architecture look like, or how might public space in the U.S. create new social relations? Through lenses of race, class, and gender we will build critical vocabularies around the practice of making space. We will focus on the historical and contemporary embodiment of power, race, and culture of the U.S. through the built environment. This studio class will then present a series of projects addressing basic three-dimensional construction and model making techniques. We will engage historical and contemporary artworks, urban planning, architecture, and poetry from perspectives of resistance to dominant modes of constructing space.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ART 0175
Current
Notes from the Woodshed
Course Description
Notes from the Woodshed: Sculpture, Abstraction, and Improvisation
This class takes its title from a book of writing by the black American visual artist Jack Whitten (1939-2018). Whitten’s title itself borrows from a tradition in jazz music, ‘the woodshed’ was a metaphorical place to practice, experiment and develop new ideas before taking them public. We engage the classroom as our own ‘woodshed’, creating sculptural form through close looking, response, and improvisation. Students will develop the basic skills and visual language for creating sculpture using wood, foam, Magic-Sculpt, and found materials. We will read Whitten’s book ‘Notes from the Woodshed’, and other texts that contextualize the rich histories of abstract sculpture made by black Americans in the 20th century. No former experience with art is necessary to take this class.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ART 0179
Ruins and Rituals
Course Description
Ruins and Rituals
In this course we will examine monuments, memorials, landscape, and cultural memory. The title comes from a 1979 sculptural work by the black feminist artist Beverly Buchanan. Buchanan has described her works as monuments made from earthen materials to remember acts of black resistance in the United States. We will also investigate recent actions to remove and destroy monuments to confederate soldiers and other figures related to colonial violence. This is a studio class incorporating material experimentation and research. Students will work at model scale using paper, wood, plaster, digital photography, and photoshop to propose (anti)monuments for our time.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ART 0371
Sculpture I
Course Description
Sculpture I
In this sculpture class we will foreground “process” in the creation of form. We will address a variety of traditional tool and material relationships as well as inventing new and unusual processes with unconventional materials and tools. Parallel to studio-based experimentation we will engage in a weekly practice of critique learning how to process the visual with language. The class will be organized around a series of existing artworks, texts and films that will serve as models to help guide our collective inquiry. (At least one 100 level drawing or digital studio course) 6 hrs. lect/lab
Terms Taught
Requirements
ART 0500
Upcoming
Special Project
Course Description
Special Project
Supervised independent work with a special project proposed by a student or a collaboration between a student and a faculty member on a special project. Admission by permission of a faculty member. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
ART 0700
Current
Upcoming
Advanced Studio Thesis I
Course Description
Advanced Studio Thesis I
In this studio course, students will conceive, produce, exhibit, and document a body of work in one or more artistic media. We will conduct regular group critiques and discussions, learn to present artworks in oral and written formats, and explore the role of critique in developing an individual creative practice. Students will become familiar with the themes and critical discourse of contemporary art through selected readings, studio visits with Studio Arts faculty and visiting artists, and field trips to museums and exhibition spaces. Each student will receive studio space and a stipend for production. Interested students should contact the professor a minimum of (1) week prior to online registration. Provide a transcript of all completed Studio Art courses, images of work created, and a brief, 1-2 page description of the media you intend to use and the subject matter you wish to further investigate. Students are expected to have completed two Studio Art classes in the medium they wish to explore before applying for ART 700. Approval required. 4 hrs sem./lab.
Majors and minors may submit a proposal for ART0701 and ART0702 after completing ART0700.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ART 0701
Current
Upcoming
Advanced Studio Thesis II
Course Description
Advanced Studio Thesis II
Approval required. 4 hrs sem./lab
Terms Taught
ART 0702
Current
Upcoming
Advanced Studio Thesis III
Course Description
Advanced Studio Thesis III
Approval required. 4 hrs sem./lab
Terms Taught
BLST 0174
Spacing
Course Description
Spacing
In this course we will investigate physical structures encountered daily. Buildings, parks, and infrastructure constitute this built environment, reflecting their societies. But what could abolitionist architecture look like, or how might public space in the U.S. create new social relations? Through lenses of race, class, and gender we will build critical vocabularies around the practice of making space. We will focus on the historical and contemporary embodiment of power, race, and culture of the U.S. through the built environment. This studio class will then present a series of projects addressing basic three-dimensional construction and model making techniques. We will engage historical and contemporary artworks, urban planning, architecture, and poetry from perspectives of resistance to dominant modes of constructing space.
Terms Taught
Requirements