The BA in Art Studio Practice concentration allows students to pursue a general study in the visual arts, or to create their own curriculum combining studies in visual arts with other fields. For students preferring a broad art background instead of an intense specialization, this program provides students with a variety of art experiences.

Students enrolled in the Studio Practice concentration are not necessarily preparing for a career in art or design, although many use the program as preparation for graduate level studies. The required studio work is intended to intensify awareness of visual art forms and introduce a variety of technical processes and theoretical approaches. Concentrations and emphases are designed to offer opportunities to study digital media art, photography, pictorial art and spatial art. Studio Practice also provides a basic program leading to a teaching credential in art.

Admission to the BA programs is open to all University students.

In addition to general education (GE) coursework, the BA degree in Art, Studio Practice Concentration requires coursework in core courses that constitute a general preparation for the major, concentration, or emphasis.

 

PLO1 (Art Knowledge) Graduates will be able to analyze and research visual and conceptual problems and both apply and explain their use of basic design principles, concepts, tools, techniques, media, materials, formats, and visual languages to solve those problems. We expect our students to bring their expertise in finding visual‐verbal solutions to problems as they embark on a lifetime of self‐ and professional employment in a variety of careers. As students they will demonstrate their development and application of art knowledge in a wide range of studio courses, culminating in a capstone course.

PLO2 (Art Skills) Graduates will be able to demonstrate increasing skills in the use of diverse materials, tools, and media, and be able to explain and evaluate success/failure in individual and group critiques. We expect our graduates to be lifelong problem‐identifiers and problem solvers, always on the lookout for new and better skills. Prior to graduation, they will demonstrate their making/evaluating skills in studio courses and their skills of self‐assessment and explanation in a sequence of interdisciplinary professional courses and in a capstone course.

PLO3 (Art Values) Graduates will demonstrate their commitment to valuing art’s role in offering cultural critique and addressing issues of social responsibility in a global society. As creative professionals, our graduates will, we hope, assume leadership roles in engaging with social and cultural change—as teachers, as critics, as spokespersons for important issues that cannot yet be imagined. As undergraduates, our students will demonstrate their understanding of the values of contemporary art in their visual and written responses to class assignments in studio courses and in the interdisciplinary core and capstone courses (where these qualities will be assessed), in their work on collaborative group projects, in the successful articulation of their ideas in exhibitions and artist statements.

PLO4 (History/Theory) Graduates will apply their knowledge of visual history and theory to their creative endeavors and to their professional practice. They will be able to speak and write clearly about art and global culture, using appropriate terminology and demonstrating their understanding of the contemporary art world. They will demonstrate their ability to place their own work within the broader context of historical and contemporary art and ideas. Our graduates will commit to continued personal engagement with intellectual issues in contemporary art and culture. As students, they will demonstrate their understanding of visual history and theory in assignments completed for their art history courses and their understanding of the intellectual context and historical precedents of their own work in assignments completed for their professional core and capstone courses.

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