Department of Art
- Faculty
- General Information
- Careers
- Degree Requirements for the Major in Art
- Degree Requirements for the Departmental Major in Art
- Admission to Departmental Major in Art
- Honors Program in the Departmental Major in Art
- Degree Requirements for the Faculty-Initiated Interdisciplinary Major with a Concentration in Art History
- Courses in Art
- Courses in Art History
FacultyProfessors Emeritae/i
Dennis Byng, M.S.
University of WisconsinRichard Callner, M.F.A.
Columbia UniversityRobert Cartmell, M.F.A.
University of IowaEdward P. Cowley, M.A.
Columbia UniversityMojmir S. Frinta, Ph.D.
University of MichiganArthur G. Lennig, Ph.D.
University of WisconsinWilliam H. Wilson, M.F.A.
Cranbrook AcademyProfessors
Roberta M. Bernstein, Ph.D. (Collins Fellow)
Columbia UniversityPhyllis J. Galembo, M.F.A.
University of WisconsinEdward A. Mayer, M.F.A.
University of WisconsinThom O'Connor, M.F.A.
Cranbrook AcademyAssociate Professors
David Carbone, M.F.A.
Brooklyn College, CUNYJoAnne Carson, M.F.A.
University of ChicagoSarah R. Cohen, Ph.D.
Yale UniversityMark A. Greenwold, M.F.A.
Indiana UniversityMarja Vallila, M.F.A.
Cornell UniversityAssistant Professors
Rachel Dressler, Ph.D.
Columbia UniversityDaniel Goodwin, M.F.A.
Hunter CollegeSculpture Technician
Roger Bisbing, M.F.A.
Syracuse UniversityAdjuncts (estimated): 6
Teaching Assistants (estimated): 18Art History Faculty in Mediterranean Archaeology and Art
Distinguished Service Professor
Paul W. Wallace, Ph.D.
Indiana UniversityProfessor
John C. Overbeck, Ph.D.
University of CincinnatiAssociate Professor
Michael R. Werner, Ph.D.
Stanford UniversityVisiting Associate Professor:
Stuart Swiny, Ph.D.
University of LondonThe Department of Art offers a 36 credit major in art, a departmental art major of 60 credits, and a 36 credit Faculty-initiated interdisciplinary major in art history. In addition students can minor in art or art history; the department also directs the interdisciplinary minor in Film Studies. The foundation of the studio art majors is a core curriculum in drawing, two- and three-dimensional design, and art history; areas of concentration are painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and photography. The interdisciplinary major in art history offers a range of courses drawn from offerings in art history with the art department, and from other departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, including classics, history, and East Asian studies. The University Art Museum offers a wide variety of exhibitions that enhance and extend the art department's offerings.
Careers
In addition to the traditional careers in fine art, commercial art, art history and criticism, students who immerse themselves in our art curriculum emerge with an understanding of visual literacy at a time when our culture as a whole is becoming increasingly dependent upon visual communication. Career paths include various positions in art museums and galleries, art conservation, art therapy, furniture design, industrial design, interior design, stage and costume design, graphic design, film production, TV production, medical and anthropological illustration, and animation.
Degree Requirements for the Major in Art
General Program B.A.: 36 credits, including at least 12 credits at the 300 level or above, to be distributed as follows: 18 credits are core requirements: A Art 105, 110, 115, 205 and A Arh 170L and 171L; 18 credits are from electives with an Art prefix; 3 of these credits may be from any course that applies to the art history major (see below).
Degree Requirements for the Departmental Major in Art
General Program B.A.: 60 credits including a 27-credit core requirement consisting of A Art 105, 110, 115, 205, 220, 230, 240 or 242, 244 and 305; 12 credits in art history consisting of A Arh170L and 17lL and 6 credits from courses that apply to the art history major (see below); 6 credits in studio art electives; and a 15-credit concentration in either painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking, or photography.
Admission to Departmental Major in Art
The 60-credit art major is aimed at encouraging students who demonstrate both an unusual degree of accomplishment and potential. In the second semester of their sophomore year, or thereafter, students should submit from 12 to 20 works of art, in a portfolio or sheet of slides, to the Art Department for review. The portfolio should reflect a student's intended area of focus: painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking or photography. The portfolio review is intended to give students an opportunity to demonstrate a maturing level of visual culture and the emergence of an artistic voice. Ultimately, an exemplary portfolio will display a high level of visual literacy and technical ability at the service of individual expression. This orientation will lead a student to further study at art school or at graduate school. Portfolios should be submitted to the art department secretary during the seventh week of the semester.
If a student is accepted as a 60-credit art major, the student should seek advisement from the undergraduate adviser and the faculty member they work with most to determine a set of personal goals within their remaining course of study.
Honors Program in the Departmental Major in Art
The Honors Program is designed for the exceptionally talented and committed student of art. Successful completion of the program is excellent preparation for graduate work in the Fine Arts. Studio space for Honors Students is limited. Successful completion of the program earns an Honors Certificate in Art and a nomination for graduating with "Honors in Art" from the University.
Students may present a portfolio for admission to the Honors Program to the Undergraduate Director in the second semester of their junior year or the first semester of their senior year. In order to be eligible for admission to the Honors Program, a student must be accepted as a 60- credit major and have completed at least 12 credits of studio course work. An applicant should have an overall grade point average of 3.25 or higher and a 3.5 or higher in all courses applicable toward the major. Applicants must submit a portfolio of 10 works in their area of concentration. The portfolio must demonstrate visual literacy, technical mastery, creative potential, and the drive and maturity to work independently in order to cultivate a distinctive personal direction. The Honors Committee may waive the entry requirements where appropriate. Decisions of the Honors Committee are final and are not subject to review or appeal.
Students in the Honors Program are required to complete a minimum of 60 credits, meeting all the requirements of the major. In addition, students must complete an Honors Project for 6-12 credits of studio course work and complete A Art 496, the Mentor Tutorial. The Honors Project mentor will be a member of the faculty who regularly works with the student in the student's area of concentration. Critiques will be conducted during regular course offerings. An overall grade point average of 3.25 or higher and an average of 3.5 or higher in all courses applicable toward the major must be maintained in each semester of the program. Students dismissed from the program cannot be readmitted unless the grades on which dismissal is based were in error and are officially changed.
Degree Requirements for the Faculty-Initiated Interdisciplinary Major with a Concentration in Art History
The purpose of the interdisciplinary major in Art History is to introduce students to the principles and methods of art history, and to encourage their intellectual exploration of art and architecture in historical culture. The faculty and curriculum for the Art History major are drawn from the Art Department and from the Classics Department. Advisement and internship supervision are conducted in the Art Department.
General Program B.A.: A minimum of 36 credits: Within the requirements for the major, a student must take a minimum of 6 credits in courses with an A Cla prefix.
Required core courses (9 credits): A Arh 170L, A Arh 17IL, A Arh 499.
Lower Division Electives 9 credits from: A Arh 260, 261, 262, 265, 266, 267, 273, 274, 275, 280L, 298; A Ant 268L; A Cas 240; A Cla 207E/L, 208E/L, 209L; A His 263E, 264E; A Rel 100, 200L.
Upper Division Electives 18 credits, of which no more than 6 credits can be from A Cla courses, from: A Arh 331, 332 or 332Z, 341, 342 or 342Z, 350 or 350Z, 351 or 351Z, 352 or 352Z, 361,362, 363, 365 or 365Z, 366 or 366Z, 432, 442, 450 or 450Z, 460, 466, 467 or 467Z, 468 or 468Z, 475 or 475Z, 490, 491, 497, 498; A Cla 301, 302, 303 or 303Z, 307, 310, 311, 401, 402, 403, 405, 406, 407, 490, 497; A His 302Z; 303Z; 364/Z; A Thr 380L.
Courses in Art
A Art 105 (formerly A Art 105A) Beginning Drawing (3)
Drawing encompasses all the visual disciplines; it will be taught as a way of thinking and planning for other fields of creative endeavor. Drawing is a way of seeing, thinking, and feeling through making marks. Students will be exposed to objective drawing techniques with an emphasis on two-dimensional design.A Art 110 (formerly A Art 110A) Two-Dimensional Design (3)
The principles of two-dimensional design and composition intended primarily as a preparatory course for all other courses concerned with the two-dimensional approach.A Art 115 (formerly A Art 110B) Three-Dimensional Design (3)
A problem-solving introduction to the principles and elements of three-dimensional design. Demonstrations and implementations of equipment, methods and materials encourage students to develop their interpretive and technical facility, while solving problems that deal with form, space, structure, scale and volume.A Art 205 (formerly A Art 105B) Life Drawing (3)
A studio course for students with one semester of drawing experience. This course offers extended opportunities to draw the human figure. Emphasis will be placed on the underlying conceptual structures of perceptual relationships. Students will be asked to master the description of bodily forms deployed in a coherent pictorial space. Prerequisite(s): A Art 105.A Art 220 Beginning Sculpture (3)
Modeling in clay from the figure. Projects include building armatures, modeling portrait heads, doing full figure studies and making a waste mold. Prerequisite(s): A Art 115 or permission of instructor.A Art 230 (formerly A Art 230A) Beginning Painting (3)
An introduction to the language of painting through studio practice. Students will work toward mastering the skills of color mixing as they apply to painting from life. This course stresses the discipline of perceiving the optical effects of light and color in nature and translating them into a pictorial space. Prerequisite(s): A Art 205 or permission of instructor.A Art 240 (formerly A Art 240A) Beginning Etching (3)
Studio course using processes of graphic reproduction with concentration on etching, both linear and tonal. Prerequisite(s): A Art 105 or permission of instructor.A Art 242 (formerly A Art 242A) Beginning Lithography (3)
Introduction to the materials and the process of lithography. Emphasis is on plate printing. Prerequisite(s): A Art 105 or permission of instructor.A Art 244 (formerly A Art 244A) Beginning Photography (3)
Photography as fine art; covers basic black and white processing techniques and darkroom skills. Principles of photographic composition and introduction of important work by photographers. Prerequisite(s): one studio art class and permission of instructor.A Art 250 Introduction to Digital Imaging (3)
An introduction to the technical and theoretical issues of the computer in the visual arts. The convergence of photography and digital media is explored through hands-on projects and readings designed to increase students' aesthetic and technical vocabulary. Topics covered include: basic scanning and manipulation of photographic imagery through raster-based graphics programs, and fine art digital printmaking, as well as an introduction to web graphics. Prerequisite(s): A Art 244 or one studio art course and permission of instructor.A Art 298 Topics in Art (3)
Introductory study of a special topic in fine arts not otherwise covered in the curriculum. May be repeated for credit when the topic varies.A Art 300 Art and Psychology (3)
This course explores the influence of 20th Century psychological thought on the contemporary creative process. We will investigate the works of art and explore creative processes that are directly related to the mapping of the modern psyche. Readings will include writings by both artists and psychologists, including texts by Freud, Lacan, Jung, Breton, Miro, etc. Students will be expected to make class presentations and produce visual projects. Prerequisite(s): A Arh 170L, 171L and A Art 205. May not be offered in 2000-2001A Art 305 (formerly A Art 305A) Intermediate Drawing (3)
A studio course for students with two semesters of drawing experience. This course offers extended opportunities to draw from life combined with an awareness of various pictorial traditions and procedures. The development of a personal direction is strongly encouraged through challenging projects. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 205.A Art 310 (formerly A Art 310A) Studio Experiments in Visual Thinking (3)
An idea-oriented course designed to help students solve visual and artistic problems through invention and interpretation. Emphasis will be placed on imagination and experimentation with alternative and traditional materials, and students will work toward developing an expanded, personal, visual vocabulary. May be repeated once for credit. May not be offered in 2000-2001.A Art 320 (formerly A Art 321) Intermediate Sculpture (3)
An exploration of traditional and nontraditional materials, processes and concepts of sculpture with an emphasis on fabrication, assemblage and installation ideas and actualization of finished sculptural pieces. Prerequisite(s): A Art 115.A Art 321 (formerly A Art 320A) Welding and Foundry (3)
Exploration of metalworking sculpture processes. Fall semester course concentrates on bronze and aluminum casting and finishing using ceramic shell and classic investment mold methods. Spring semester focuses on metal fabrication: cutting, bending, forming and MIG, TIG, arc and oxyacetylene welding techniques. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 115 or permission of instructor.A Art 330 (formerly A Art 230B) Intermediate Painting (3)
A studio course for students with one semester of oil painting experience. This course offers extended opportunities to paint from life combined with an awareness of various pictorial traditions and procedures. The development of a personal direction is strongly encouraged through challenging projects. Prerequisite(s): A Art 205 and A Art 230.A Art 331 (formerly A Art 330A) Painting in Water-Based Media (3)
A studio course for students with two semesters of drawing experience. An introduction to the language of painting through the use of a variety of water-based media (ink, gouache, watercolor, egg tempera). Students will be asked to master several media-related procedures and develop coherent pictorial constructions. Prerequisite(s): A Art 205.A Art 335 Color Theory and Pictorial Tradition (3)
In this combined studio/lecture course, students will examine a range of color theories and their application to specific works of art. Emphasis will be on the expressive role of color in various pictorial traditions. Students will be given an extensive vocabulary of color concepts and related studio exercises. Prerequisite(s): A Art 110. May not be offered in 2000-2001.A Art 340 Intermediate Etching (3)
Studio course with concentration on color etching collagraphs and other advanced techniques. Prerequisite(s): A Art 240.A Art 342 Intermediate Lithography (3)
Emphasis on combining ideas with the medium of lithography both on plates and stones. Prerequisite(s): A Art 242.A Art 344 (formerly A Art 244B) Intermediate Photography (3)
Advanced darkroom skills and introduction to non-silver techniques and analysis of important work by representative studio and photographic artists. Prerequisite(s): A Art 244.A Art 345 (formerly A Art 345A) The Monotype (3)
Studio experience in most processes in the making of monotypes. Emphasis is on water-based, nontoxic materials. Prerequisite(s): A Art 105 or permission of instructor.A Art 346 Introductory Film Production (3)
Seeing and thinking in cinematic terms, with an introduction to the process and equipment with which the filmmaker works. Cameras, lenses, film emulsions and editing procedures are studied in the making of short silent films. Prerequisite(s): A Arh 260, or A Com 238 and permission of instructor. May not be offered during 2000-2001.A Art 347 (formerly A Art 246) Non-silver Photography (3)
Exploration of the various methods of applying light-sensitive emulsions to materials (cloth, paper) and printing from them rather than from the traditional silver-based photographic paper. This method enables the student to work in a more painterly-printmaking manner. Prerequisite(s): A Art 344.A Art 348 Color Photography (3)
Utilization of transparency and negative materials in color photography with emphasis on color printing. Prerequisite(s): A Art 344 and permission of instructor. A Art 110 recommended.A Art 390 Topics in Printmaking (3)
Special projects in print processes ranging from relief printing to color viscosity etching. May be repeated for credit when topic varies (up to 12 credits). Prerequisite(s): A Art 240 or 242.A Art 405 Advanced Drawing (3)
A studio course for students with two or three semesters of drawing experience. Individual attention is combined with technical and formal criticism in the development of a personal visual idiom. In this course, stress will be placed on how the history of drawing helps to reveal a student's potential. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 305.A Art 420 (formerly A Art 420A) Advanced Sculpture (3)
A focus on contemporary concerns and attitudes in three-dimensional work and media requiring an application of concepts and experience learned and acquired in prerequisite courses and through research, which results in finished sculptures. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 320 and A Art 321 or permission of instructor.A Art 421 (formerly A Art 421A) Topics in Sculpture (3)
Further exploration of sculptural concepts with a focus on individual problems, covering a wide range of media, methods and techniques. An emphasis is on the development, interpretation, realization and presentation of one's ideas. May be repeated for credit when topic varies (up to 12 credits). Prerequisite(s): A Art 320 and A Art 321 or permission of instructor.A Art 430 (formerly A Art 430A) Advanced Painting (3)
A studio course for students with two or three semesters of oil painting experience. Individual attention is combined with technical and formal criticism in the development of a personal visual idiom. In this course, stress will be placed on how the history of painting helps to reveal a student's potential. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 330.A Art 434 Topics in Drawing (3)
A studio course for students with at least two semesters of drawing experience. In depth study of selected topics in drawing not otherwise covered in the curriculum. Students will be guided through several pictorial models and procedures, seeking both mastery and a pictorial persona. May be repeated for credit when topic varies (up to 12 credits). Prerequisite(s): A Art 205.A Art 435 (formerly A Art 435A) Topics in Painting (3)
A studio course for students with two or three semesters of oil painting experience. In-depth study of selected topics in painting not otherwise covered in the curriculum. Students will be guided through a variety of pictorial paradigms, seeking both mastery and a pictorial persona. May be repeated for credit when topic varies (up to 12 credits). Prerequisite(s): A Art 330.A Art 440 (formerly A Art 440A) Advanced Etching (3)
Studio course with concentration on advanced etching techniques including photo work. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 340.A Art 442 (formerly A Art 442A) Advanced Lithography (3)
Advanced course in lithography. Emphasis on color and stone process. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 342.A Art 444 (formerly A Art 444A) Advanced Photography (3)
Emphasis on aesthetics and archival processing for exhibition-quality work. May be repeated once for credit. Prerequisite(s): A Art 344.A Art 445 Advanced Monotype (3)
Continuation of A Art 345. Emphasis will be on individual approaches to ideas and various print techniques. Prerequisite(s): A Art 345.A Art 446 (formerly A Art 444B) Topics in Photography (3)
Expansion of camera skills and photographic techniques. Individual interests and abilities play a major role in established course content. May be repeated for credit when topic varies (up to 12 credits). Prerequisite(s): A Art 344.A Art 447 Advanced Film Production (3)
This course builds on filmmaking skills acquired in Introductory Film Production. Students explore cinematic narrative structures, styles of editing, and setting the mise en scène. Students will make a fictional work on film or videotape that focuses on their own life experience. Prerequisite(s): A Art 346. May not be offered during 2000-2001.A Art 450 Advanced Digital Imaging (3)
An exploration of some of the more sophisticated concepts, processes, and software involved in digital fine art. Students develop self-directed projects that reflect not only a technical proficiency with the media explored, but a thoughtfully developed conceptual thread. Weekly readings in current digital media theory and criticism provide insight into the work of emerging artists, and a wide range of techniques, media, and software are covered, including: advanced 2-D image manipulation, web graphics, and high-resolution fine art printmaking, as well as introductions to interactive multimedia and digital video. Emphasis is placed on finding the most appropriate solutions for each student's individual project. Prerequisite(s): A Art 250 or permission of instructor.A Art 492 Internship in Art Museum Management and Operation (3-4)
Designed for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in Arts Management or the Gallery/Museum administrative field. Projects may include computer database, archival records retrieval and storage, media relations skills, collections management, and exhibition organization and documentation. A final project will be assigned. Internships are open only to qualified juniors and seniors who have an overall grade point average of 2.50 or higher. Prerequisite(s): interview by gallery administrative staff and permission of Art Department Chair. S/U graded. May not be offered in 2000-2001.A Art 496 Mentor Tutorial (3)
A tutorial in which readings, discussions, visits to museums and galleries are assigned to build awareness of the relevant traditions supporting an Honors student's development. This tutorial will also include consultation on graduate school applications and instruction on taking slides of works of art. Prerequisite(s): admission into the departmental Honors Program.A Art 497 Independent Study (1-4)
Studio project in a selected art area. Prerequisite(s): junior or senior class standing and permission of instructor and department chair.A Art 498 Honors Project I (3-6)
Studio project in a selected area of concentration. Topics and issues vary according to the needs and goals set by the students with their mentors. The goal of this project is to allows students adequate space and opportunity to cultivate a distinctive personal direction and generate a significant body of work to pursue graduate study. Students will attend appropriate MFA critiques. Prerequisite(s) admission into the departmental Honors Program and permission of instructor.A Art 499 Honors Project II (3-6)
The continuation and completion of a studio project set forth in A Art 498. Upon completion of the project, the student will be required to make an oral defense of the work before the Honors Committee. Successful completion of the program earns an Honors Certificate in Art and a nomination for graduating with "Honors in Art" from the University. Students will attend appropriate MFA critiques. Prerequisite(s): A Art 498.
Courses in Art History
A Arh 170L (formerly A Arh 150L) Survey of Art in the Western World I (3)
general education: HA
Survey of art from prehistoric times through the 14th century focusing on architecture, sculpture and painting of the ancient Near East and Europe.A Arh 171L (formerly A Arh 151L) Survey of Art in the Western World II (3)
general education: HA
Survey of art from the 14th century to the present focusing on painting, sculpture and architecture of Europe and the Americas.A Arh 230 The Art of Medieval Knighthood (3)
The art and culture of medieval European knighthood from its beginnings in mounted soldiers of the eleventh century to its role in elaborate tournaments and jousts of the sixteenth. Attention will be given to the social expression of the knightly class through visual and literary means. Objects of study will include architecture, sculpture, manuscript painting and ivory carvings. Literature will include chivalric epics, romances, and manuals of war. Among the topics to be addressed will be arms and armor, castles and manor houses, the arts of courtly love and the visual spectacle of chivalry.A Arh 260 (formerly A Art 290) Introduction to Cinema (3)
Survey of the silent and sound classics of the cinema with emphasis on the changing conceptions of cinematographic form and content. Screenings of selected European and American films.A Arh 261 Independent Cinema (3)
Introduction to the study of film as an artistic and social practice through an examination of the various genres of independent filmmaking pursued in the United States during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.A Arh 262 (= A Fre 238) Great Classics of French Cinema (3)
An introduction with detailed analyses to a dozen of the most well known French classic films as contributions to the art of cinema and as reflections of French society at various historical moments. Taught in English. May not be used to fulfill the requirements of the major in French. Only one of A Fre 238 and 315 may be taken for credit.A Arh 265 History of Photography (3)
A survey of photography from its invention in 1839 to recent trends. Emphasizes why it was developed, the major19th century documentary and artistic uses, and the extraordinary range of 20th century explorations. An integrated approach tied to parallel social and artistic events.