This is an entry-level visual arts program emphasizing 2- and 3-D studio practices, art history, visual literacy, artistic research, and writing. We will delve intensively into the development of studio skills in design, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, life drawing and painting, and monotype printmaking, while exploring how these material gestures express content. As a working group, students will engage in an art practice that explores what it means to be in conversation with art history and the sociopolitical world, drawing encouragement and influence from a greater community of artists, philosophers, writers, and social critics.

The program is designed to support students interested in the visual arts, as well as those who are curious about visual literacy and want to experience using materials as an approach to inquiry and expression. No prior art experience is necessary, but enthusiasm, curiosity, and a strong work ethic are required. Students should be prepared to dedicate at least 40 hours per week to studio work and rigorous reading and writing on topics related to the concepts of 20th- and 21st-century art history and critical theory. Students will be exposed to an interdivisional approach to visual arts that includes both art and humanities work: studio work; art history; visual/cultural studies, including literature, philosophy, and history; and a significant writing component.

Fall and winter quarters will provide students with basic studio experience with several material approaches and will offer design and drawing workshops. Students will work in either 2-D or 3-D fall quarter, switching to the other medium in winter. There will be visits to regional museums and we will attend the Art Lecture Series. In the spring, students will have the opportunity to apply their learning to individual projects, utilizing knowledge and skills gained over fall and winter. There will also be an opportunity to go to New York City for three weeks to attend the Whitney Biennial, visit artists' studios, attend talks, and draw from observation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By the end of this program, students will understand how one engages with an art community to share support and inspiration, and how the artist’s work expands beyond that community and connects to critical issues. Students will begin to imagine how to situate their own projects in terms of the world around them.