Guide for New Students
Studio art introduces students to the many ways artists think and work. The department provides a variety of approaches, both technical and conceptual. Students develop their means to creating images and objects, as well as their sense of purpose behind artistic expression. They explore the critical role art plays in our society.
Courses are designed for potential majors, students who might go on to a career in art, as well as students who try art for the first time.
Can I major in it? Yes, a studio art major is offered.
Topics explored: Courses are offered in drawing, painting, printmaking, paper arts, photography, sculpture, metals ceramics, woodworking, book arts, and digital and electronic media.
How to get started: Students interested in taking Studio Arts courses should enroll in one of the drawing courses. A section of Observational Drawing is reserved for 1st year students each fall term. ARTS110: Observational Drawing or ARTS114 Field Drawing are the pre requisite courses for nearly every course in the department. Students who wish to begin with 3-D courses can take Introduction to Studio Sculpture (ARTS 122) without having drawing first. This sculpture course can also serve as the pre-requisite course for courses in Ceramics and Metals. Students who feel that they have had drawing instruction outside of the department and might wish to pass out of the drawing requirement may request to submit a portfolio to the department to see if they still should take a drawing course.
Studio art introduces students to the many ways artists think and do work. The department provides a variety of approaches, both technical and conceptual, to the making of art and the impact of visual culture. The department serves both potential majors and students who might go on to a career in art, as well as students who try art for the first time. It offers courses in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, woodworking, bookmaking, and digital art. Students in the major develop a working knowledge of the formal, technical, conceptual, and personal issues involved in making art.
Students contemplating a major in studio art should take at least one introductory studio course during their first year. Good choices are: ARTS 110: Observational Drawing, ARTS 113: Field Drawing, ARTS 222: Sculpture, and ARTS 238: Photography. ARTS 110 or 113 are prerequisite courses for all studio art courses. It is also recommended that a potential studio art major take some art history in the first year.
Students with AP, IB, or college level courses in drawing may be considered for passing out of the 100 level drawing courses by submitting a portfolio to the department.
Follow this link for information about Studio Art's Integrative Exercise (comps) for seniors.
For information on the art history program, contact Katie Ryor. For studio art, contact David Lefkowitz. Many art majors spend a fall term in Florence with the ACM Florence Program, which is offered each year. A midwinter field trip to Amsterdam, attached to both fall and winter term art history courses, is offered every other year, and a studio art seminar in New Zealand and Australia is offered every other year.
Art history introduces students to artistic images, artifacts and architecture, the conditions of their production and viewing their functions and meanings, and the roles they play in shaping people, perceptions, events and cultures.
Can I major in it? Yes, a major is offered in this field.
Topics explored: Architecture, art as a political tool, race and gender in art, techniques and styles, art in a religious context, and art theory.
How to get started: Students interested in the art history major should take one or both of the introductory courses, ARTH 101 and 102, during their first year. Other courses appropriate for first-year students are ARTH 165: Japanese Art & Culture, ARTH 170: Printmaking: The first media revolution and ARTH 172: Modern Art, ARTH 140: African Art.
Art history introduces students to the artistic images and artifacts themselves and to the conditions of their production and viewing, their functions and meanings, and the roles they play in recording and shaping people, perceptions, events, and cultures. Like studio art, the art history program serves majors as well as students who want to take courses as part of their broad liberal arts education. Majors and non-majors alike gain valuable skills in observing, discriminating, analyzing, and interpreting.
Students interested in the art history major should take one or both of the introductory courses, ARTH 101 and 102, during their first year. These courses draw their subject matter from artistic traditions around the world and introduce students to general issues in understanding art and artists in their relationship to their historical cultures.
Courses also open to first-year students are: ARTH 166: Chinese Art, ARTH 182: South Asian Art, and ARTH 172: Modern Art. Other courses open to first-year students concentrate on the art of specific periods, traditions, or media, and are numbered at the 100 level.
Follow this link for information on the senior year Integrative Exercise (comps)
For information on the art history program, contact Katie Ryor. For studio art, contact David Lefkowitz. Many art majors spend a fall term in Florence with the ACM Florence Program, which is offered each year. A studio art seminar in New Zealand and Australia is offered every other year.