The Studio Art Major
Course Requirements
The studio art major course requirements are located in the academic catalog and are listed below the requirements for Art History on the catalog pages. Each studio art class requires an application form during registration.
Pre-requisites
For studio art, all 200-level classes require a pre-requisite class. Observational drawing may be used as a pre-requisite for ALL 200-level classes. Introduction to Sculpture may be used as a pre-requisite for 200-level ceramics and metals classes as well as 300-level sculpture and woodworking classes.
Integrative Exercise ("Comps")
The studio comps consists of an independent studio project which runs from the beginning of fall term through an exhibition in the Carleton College Art Gallery in the second half of spring term. Students register for six credits of Integrative Exercise in fall term. Most of the requirements are fulfilled during fall. The process gives the opportunity to develop art work over a good period of time, with the close advice and support of the studio faculty. The full group of studio faculty conduct a series of individual meetings with students to offer guidance and feedback. Students are also encouraged to work closely with individual faculty members. The department brings in a least one outside examiner to critique student work.
Art Education
Students are able to complete their training and certification for teaching during the completion of the Studio Art major. No specific art education courses are taught within the Studio Art Department. Students seeking certification must complete the required courses within the Educational Studies Department, including observed student teaching within the public schools and a course in methods of teaching art.
Studio Art Comps
An overview of the comprehensive exercise
SENIOR STUDIO ART COMPS
2009-2010
Comps is both the culmination of your experience as an art student at Carleton and a springboard for developing your identity as an artist. While it involves serious creative activity, it’s also important that you allow yourself time to play -initially to try out ideas that may or may not lead to finished artwork. A rigorous engagement with whatever processes you choose is the main requirement.
The bulk of your time devoted to Comps will be centered around the creation of your art. 10 hours of work per week during comps would be an absolute minimum, and is the basis for our evaluation of your productivity. You are also required to schedule several meetings with faculty throughout the term, arrange your own group critiques, and meet with a visiting artist. As an important supplement to your studio work, you are to attend 4 artist’s talks during the year and write an artist’s statement that you will revise as the term progresses. (There will be a sign in sheet at all talks.)
During junior seminar you discussed with faculty the potential of your comps project. You revealed your technical skills, artistic influences and conceptual ideas thus far. Faculty in response to your presentation provided suggestions for research and potential direction. We asked that you consider what research might help you individually grow as an artist or how might your work contribute to the larger world in a thoughtful, compelling or provocative manner? The interdisciplinary nature of your education has created a platform from which to imagine a project that is intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling.
When thinking about what you want to focus on for your project, we have found that it is best to concentrate on a medium or combination of media that you are already somewhat, if not intimately, familiar with. Give yourself room to experiment, but don’t try to start from scratch. It is easy to get bogged down in technical problems that can distract from achieving your goals.
Take the process seriously, but try not to get hung up with the notion that you have to produce “A Significant Work of Art.” Such thoughts can squelch great little ideas before you have the chance to play around with them and see where they might lead. Trust your intuition, no matter how trivial a thought or gesture might seem at first.
This is a major independent project and more importantly it is a transitional experience. You will soon be leaving the world of structured assignments, given and evaluated by interested and committed faculty and supported by a network of fellow students. There are many decisions to be made about how to be an artist and the more you know, the better prepared you will be to make intelligent choices after school.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The purpose of the artist statement is to help clarify your intent, cite influences, and place what you do in the studio in a broader social and art historical context.
This is an evolving 1-3 page artist’s statement that you will revise as your work progresses. Consider it a document of your thoughts about the artmaking process. It begins as a sketch in which materials, techniques, ideas, and imagined forms begin to take shape. Provide influences- examples of other artist’s work, literature, history, science and so on.
Your statement should naturally change over the course of the term. Don’t just do minor revisions. The writing will help articulate your visual journey- it will set ideas in motion. This is an opportunity to consider and reference the knowledge you have gained in your art history courses.
Your first paper may resonate with the ideas you presented last spring or it may have completely changed over the summer. Based on these potential changes we will assess your statements and assign you an advisor by September 23.
(January 13 for winter comps)
The final statement will be a more developed document that identifies specific sources and influences and places your work in an historical context. How do you see what you do in relation to other artists’ work? It should be 3 pages in length. It is due one week prior to the end of the term.
You will be required to post a minimum of three versions of your statement on the comps moodle page according to the following schedule:
FALL COMPS WINTER COMPS
1st version: Sept 19 1st version: Jan 9
2nd revision: Oct 21 2nd revision: Feb 10
3rd revision: Nov 12 3rd revision: Mar 4
CRITIQUES and WORK-IN-PROGRESS REVIEW
You will have a variety of different kinds of feedback and critique opportunities in which to present and discuss your developing work. The following guidelines spell out the required components of the process.
1. You are to set up a minimum of three individual meetings with studio faculty-two meetings with your advisor and one with an additional faculty member.
You select and schedule critiques with the faculty members you feel would provide the most help (That could mean someone most familiar with the medium you’re focusing on, or conversely, someone with a sensibility contrary to your own, who might be more likely to challenge you to think about your work differently). These critiques should be scheduled in advance. They are not just casual conversations. While one-on one meetings are fine, you may want to schedule meetings with two or more faculty at once. The discussion that arises from multiple perspectives can be productive.
2. Twice during the first half of the term, faculty will review your progress by taking a look at your work after the 2nd and 5th weeks of the term. You will present sketches, studies, and any other pertinent material in your studio for review. We are not looking for finished work at this time (although if you have completed art work include it too.) We are looking for significant evidence of engagement in the process.
3. Small group critiques - You are responsible for organizing groups of 4 or 5 students that will meet to review one another’s work in a semi-formal situation with (if you would like) one or more faculty members participating as well. These meetings will take place sometime during week 6 or 7.
4. Individual meetings with an outside visiting artist during week 8.
In addition to these required sessions, we strongly encourage you to meet with the faculty whenever you have questions, problems or just want to show us what you are doing and thinking about, and take advantage of one another’s opinions and viewpoints by organizing discussions amongst yourselves. While we feel this is an important part of Senior Art Comps, ultimately the responsibility- for scheduling, conduct, and content- is yours. Whether you meet as a whole class or in small groups, we believe that students can offer each other a unique brand of criticism and support. One idea is to have a weekly meeting time (say Friday night) during which anyone may present work. This is a great chance to obtain multiple perspectives on your work.
COMPS PROJECTS MUST BE COMPLETE BY THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES.
PROJECTS NEED TO BE ON VIEW FOR FACULTY BY NOON OF THAT DAY.
They should be presented in a coherent fashion, so that faculty can evaluate your efforts over reading days. By “complete” we mean that there should be an adequate amount of resolved work that you feel you could present for exhibition. (This does not mean that you can’t continue to make work and further develop ideas after the end of the term. On the contrary, we encourage you to do so.) We will notify you by the end of the exam period of your status (pass or fail). Please note: students whose work is under-developed by mid-term will be warned that they are in danger of failing comps. The department will make a fairly strict judgment on the passing of comps within the first term. It often happens that a fairly high percentage of students do not pass comps within the first term. Don’t be too discouraged if this happens. You still have time to finish.
If it is determined that not enough work has been completed to pass, or that there is some other significant problem with the work, you will be notified and given clear expectations and deadlines for completing the work during winter or spring.
If the work is not resolved to a satisfactory degree by the final deadline date in spring, you will not pass comps and will not participate in the senior exhibit.
Distinction
The College awards two types of distinction: distinction in comps and distinction in the major. In order to receive distinction in the major, you must receive distinction in comps, plus achieve a GPA of 3.5 within the major (including Art History courses). Distinction in comps will require completing comps within the term you are registered for comps, plus being awarded distinction by the faculty in consultation with the outside evaluator, who will have a substantial say in the decision. The faculty will meet with the outside evaluator to decide distinction at the end of the term you are taking comps for credit. Students will be informed via individual email about the decision on passing comps. The possibilities will include not having passed in that term, passed comps, or passed comps with distinction. We do not make a public notice on passing comps or distinction beyond just informing you individually. If a student receives distinction in comps, and later achieves the overall required GPA, he or she will be noted for distinction in the major at graduation. For those who have passed comps during that term we will also send a formal letter in campus mail. We will try to conclude this decision as soon as possible at the end of the term.
Some of the criteria for receiving distinction are:
- Exceptional level of work, both in terms of quality and quantity
- A high level of engagement with the critique process
- Development of your work, including thoughtful changes in your artist’s statements
- Organization (meeting deadlines, participating in critiques, steady pacing in your work, thoughtful plans for the final installation of your work)
- Sustaining your work (getting off to a quick start and developing your work in thoughtful ways, including responding to the critique process throughout the term)
- Being able to be articulate about your work, including placing it in some context with your overall studies (this includes having made a thoughtful and well prepared pre-comps presentation, thoughtful artist’s statements throughout the term, and especially a well crafted final statement/paper at the end of the term
The Senior Show
The senior show is strongly related to the comps process. In the exhibition you should plan to show a cohesive body of work that comes from your senior year. This will require careful editing, a thoughtful process of installation, and participation with the whole group in regards to planning for the show. This will include participating on committees for publicity, food, installation and clean-up.
For many of you, all of the work in your show will be from your comps work. We strongly encourage people to continue to develop their comps work after completing the actual term of comps. We allow other course work from the senior year to be in the show as well, although we want to stress that the show should be a cohesive body of work rather than a smattering of all of the types of work you have done in that year.
Note that all of your work needs to be presented- ready for Installation- on the Tuesday of the week of the show. This means all preparation is completed at that point and work that is not ready (not framed, component parts for installation not complete etc.) will not be allowed in the show. For those of you working in sculptural installation, you will need to have all of your work ready to install, including a detailed plan/sketch/diagram of how you are going to install your piece.
We show work in Boliou, the gallery, and Hulings Halll. Hulings should be limited to 2-D work and will require frames for their wall hanging system. It is also possible to show work in other parts of the campus, but this will require advance planning.
SCHEDULE AT-A-GLANCE
Fall comps 2009
You must attend all scheduled meetings. All work reviews, critiques and papers must be completed by the deadline- please note the time of day they are due. If an emergency situation arises that may conflict let your advisor know immediately.
Sept. 16- Tues, 4:30 pm - Boliou Lounge
Introductory meeting- Go over schedule and divvy up studio space
Sept.19 5:00 pm
First draft of statement due- posted on moodle
Oct. 1-3 Work up by noon Thursday Oct 1
Present work in progress in studio space for faculty review.
Weeks 2-5
Schedule at least 1 meeting with your comps advisor (advisors TBA)
Oct. 21 5pm
Statement revision due—posted on moodle
Oct 22-24 12pm work up by noon Thursday Oct 22
Present work in progress in studio space for faculty review
Week 6-8
Schedule at least 1 meeting with your comps advisor plus one meeting with a 2nd faculty member
Required small group critiques
Oct 28- 7.30 talk by comps reviewer Tim Dooley
Oct 29-30 individual critiques with reviewer
Nov. 12- 5pm
Final 3 page statement due- posted on moodle
Nov 18
Comps due- last day of class
Present completed comps work for faculty review. Work presented by noon.
Winter comps 2010
Jan 6
Introductory meeting- schedule, work out studio space
Jan 9
First draft of statement due -posted on moodle
Jan 21-23
Present work in progress in studio space for faculty review
Weeks 2-5
Schedule at least 1 meeting with your comps advisor (advisors listed below)
Feb 10-
Statement revision due- posted on moodle
Feb. 11-13
Present work in progress in studio space for faculty review
Week 6-8
Schedule at least 1 meeting with your comps advisor plus one meeting with a 2nd faculty member
Required small group critiques
Feb 18, 19
Meet with outside visiting artist
March 4
Final 3 page statement due- posted on moodle
Mar 11
Comps due- last day of class
Present completed comps work for faculty review. Work presented by noon.
Spring 2010 All senior comps
Week 1
Boliou Lounge- organizational meeting for student show- plan space allocation, publicity
April 22 FINAL DEADLINE FOR PASS/FAIL EVALUATION OF COMPS
Tuesday May 11 4pm
All work must be completed and ready for installation.
Meeting of all seniors in gallery. All work must be complete and ready to show at this point. This includes any framing or other materials needed for installation. Work that is not fully prepared at this point will not be included in the show. After the full group meets in the gallery, faculty will go with smaller groups to each of the exhibition spaces to help to plan installation. Faculty will review your work- either in the exhibition space or in your studio, to see that it is ready for installation.
Wed. May 12-
Begin installation of show, all work delivered to exhibition space by noon. Begin installing work- please don’t wait until the last minute.
Friday May 14
Installation must be complete by 11 AM
This deadline is very important to allow gallery staff to complete lighting etc.
This includes having done all cleaning in the gallery after your installation process
Week 8-9
Optional final critiques with faculty in the gallery
June 12 Graduation
De-installation of Sr. Show following Commencement lunch.
You must be at the gallery no later than 2 pm. Plan ahead for friends or family to assist if necessary.
Classes for the upcoming year may be found on the registrar's site.
Below is a very tentative schedule for academic year 2010-11 for Studio classes. This is subject to change.
| Studio Art Classes | |||||
| Fall 2010 | |||||
| 110.01 | Obs draw | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 110.02 | Obs draw | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 122 | Intro to Sculpture | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 230 | Ceramics(throwing) | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 238 | Photo 1 | TTh am | 9:00 | (freshman class) | |
| 251 | Metals | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 260 | Painting | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 276 | Paper Arts | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 338 | Adv Photo: Color | TTh pm | 1:15 | ||
| Winter 2011 | |||||
| 110.01 | Obs draw | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 110.02 | Obs draw | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 110.03 | Obs draw | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 122 | Intro to Sculpture | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 210 | Life drawing | TTh pm | 1:15 | (soph priority) | |
| 232 | Ceramics (handbuilding) | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 238 | Photo 1 | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 274 | Printmaking | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 322 | Adv sculpture | TTh pm | 1:15 | ||
| 339 | Photo: Digital | TTh pm | 1:15 | (soph priority) | |
| 360 | Adv painting | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| Spring 2011 | |||||
| 110.01 | Obs draw | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 110.02 | Obs draw | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 113 | Field drawing | TTh pm | 1:15 | ||
| 122 | Intro to Sculpture | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 238 | Photo 1 | TTh am | 9:00 | ||
| 251 | Beginning Metals | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 260 | Painting | MW am | 8:30 | ||
| 298 | Jr Seminar | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 327 | Wood:The Table | TTh pm | 1:15 | ||
| 330 | Adv ceramics | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
| 374 | Adv printmaking | MW pm | 1:00 | ||
