Course Syllabus

ART 1040 2D Studio Art (non-majors)

Course Description

This general education course is designed for students who wish to expand their creative ability, sensibility, and vocabulary in the visual arts. Course content will introduce students to the visual language through lectures and discussion of history, theory, and criticism. Emphasis is on the creation of art through studio practice in various two-dimensional media including design, digital media, drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking. A program fee is required.

Justification

This hands-on introduction to the visual language exists an alternative offering to the lecture-based, general education course, ART 1010 Introduction to the Visual Arts. Content is aligned to provide each student with a theoretic knowledge and focuses on practical application within various two-dimensional visual arts disciplines and mediums. This course exists in a similar format in general education and art education programs throughout the country. It also provides an offering to local and regional public educators to acquire points toward re-licensure through the State Office of Education.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. This course is designed to provide non-art major GE students an experience to engage with the creative process. It will include a series of 2D works executed in various artistic mediums and processes that will be critiqued for formal and conceptual merit. The evolution of these processes will be traced through various human cultures and influenced by phenomena from the natural world. Historical context, the linkage of the past to the modern world, will be articulated and contextualized during lectures and discussions and will be applied in the creation of unique work. This awareness and appreciation of the visual world will promote literate patrons of the visual arts.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will be responsible to read and conduct research for both written responses and for creative insight. Artists derive inspiration from all aspects of human existence and problem-solve from a variety of points of view. This multimedia research will be evident in multiple opportunities for written synopses and embedded in creative work accomplished both in analog processes and in the digital environment.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Visual art is an interdisciplinary reaction to the human experience. This course fosters the complex process of creative problem-solving. A creative person is curious about the world around them and looks to a variety of disciplines to answer questions that arise during the critical dialog between form and content. Students will inform their visual experiments and critically analyze the complexities of the visual language with a multidisciplinary approach.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Critical evaluation of a work of art is extremely important to artistic growth and to the development of dynamic creative discourse. This course will teach strategies for responding to a work of art in an informed manner during peer group and self-critiques. Both oral and written critiques will be conducted throughout the duration of the course to further each student's ability to reason and problem-solve in the visual arena. These sessions will be moderated by the instructor to extract the most effective insight from students as they articulate informed opinions. It then becomes each student's responsibility to filter this feedback to improve current work and inform future work.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. This course will teach compositional theory utilizing the formal elements and principles of design. Application of these fundamental concepts will culminate in the creation of works of art in various two-dimensional media. Each work will be critiqued to take notice of successes and to offer suggestions for improvement. Ultimately this verbal articulation of the creative process is designed to foster growth in future creative endeavors and promote the development of a lifetime sensibility as a patron of the visual arts. This course will teach compositional theory utilizing the formal elements and principles of design. Application of these fundamental concepts will culminate in the creation of works of art in various two-dimensional media. Each work will be critiqued to take notice of successes and to offer suggestions for improvement. Ultimately this verbal articulation of the creative process is designed to foster growth in future creative endeavors and promote the development of a lifetime sensibility as a patron of the visual arts.
2. Provide an informed synopsis of the performing and/or visual arts in the contexts of culture and history through reading and interpreting pertinent information using a variety of traditional and electronic media. Lectures, demonstration, and research will trace the historical development of artistic mediums, processes, and aesthetics and consider the contributions of both eastern and western cultures. Historical context will link the visual arts to greater historic developments of modern society. This understanding will be assessed through exams, writings, critiques, and application of this knowledge be embedded into each student’s creative work.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the conceptual and elemental principles fundamental to the creation of various forms of artistic expression. This course privileges the creation of works of art. Through a series of exercises utilizing the formal elements and principles of design and creative problem-solving, students will learn to compose on a two-dimensional surface. Conceptual prompts will also be provided to promote effective visual communication. With practice, this collaboration of form and content will promote more meaningful works of art.
4. Exhibit an ability to critically analyze artistic works using appropriate techniques, vocabulary, and methodologies. Each student will demonstrate the process of critical analysis, including informed interpretation of works of two-dimensional art in both oral and written form. This feedback will examine context, content, and formal qualities. Critiques will foster the use of proper terminology and language appropriate to the visual arts ultimately creating informed viewers and aware makers.

Course Content

Through demonstrations, slide lectures, readings, practical application, and critiques, students will integrate theoretic knowledge of composition and media into original creative work. These teaching methods are tailored to accommodate unique learning styles that will culminate with a variety of rigorous experiential, creative projects. Prompts for projects are designed to engage students to explore as they begin to communicate within the visual language. This course will include study of the following: • Illustrated lectures and discussions on various facets of the visual language including, the dynamics of two-dimensional composition, historical context,theory, and criticism;• Studio explorations using various two-dimensional media, including, but not limited to, design, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and digital media;• Demonstrations of each creative process covered in the studios, including individual and group mentoring;• The compilation of a series of hands-on studio explorations, using a variety of two-dimensional media, to be presented as a final professional portfolio;• Individual and group critiques, designed to promote constructive analysis of each student's own work, the work of their peers, and historical works of art;• Internal assessment of each student's competence in the theory and practical application of each of the topics covered through written quizzes and exams;• Written critical evaluations analyzing contemporary works of art and a formal artists’ statement designed to assist in each student’s ability to articulate their own creative process.