ART§CHOOL conforms to the CAA guidelines and requires the completion of 90 semester credits of course work for the B.F.A. It is anticipated that being more mature than a great many matriculating BA/BFA students, the ART§CHOOL student body will have life experience that can speak for itself. Accordingly, ART§CHOOL requires slightly less credits than many other schools for the completion of the BFA.
All ART§CHOOL classes break down into three areas of research: Studio, Theory and Criticism. Classes will alter over time, due to both the tenure limit and the input of students during the semester. Such interactive responses are encouraged in the hope to engender a participatory role for the education offered at ART§CHOOL.
CORE [REQUIRED]
COURSES: (50 credits)
STUDIO:
Painting
Sculpture
Video & Audio
Drawing (see sample syllabus)
Digital Media
Installation
Social/Community Art
•BFA Studio classes are offered in the main areas of concentration,
and any student may take any studio class they feel is relevant to their research,
but there must be at least 5 different core studio classes taken to
qualify for completion of studio requirements.
•To achieve the most appropriate mix of classes for each semester, it
is the students' responsibility to make themselves aware of the professional
practice and background of Professors and visiting
faculty operating particular studio classes. This information can be researched
this through the ART§CHOOL website.
•All students are assigned a studio that
will accommodate their needs, and from this point students are expected to
manage their time effectively.
•For BFA, the classes help focus the interests
and skills of the students. To this end, if a student feels the need to ramp
up materials expertise, they may seek this type of technique/craft course at
an external insititution (as they will with thier electives), upon approval
with the advisor.
•Classes
may be completed as independent study or via participation in the syllabus,
this however cannot proceed without the approval of the students’ advisor
and the classes’ professor.
•Studio classes at ART§CHOOL follow a very open and loose format. However,
If a student feels the need for additional input, their advisor can always
be reached.
•ART§CHOOL students will have several opportunities per semester
to discuss their work in a tutorial with a visiting artist. These visits will
be augmented by tutorials with advisors/faculty.
•Students will react to this
critique by creating a log or diary, which will be submitted to their advisor.
This helps students appreciate what may be gained through tutorial, especially
with an artist unfamiliar with their work. In addition it gives students the
opportunity to reflect upon their working progress and identify patterns, errors,
etc.
•There are 2 reviews with advisors per semester, and end of year
exhibitions mounted by all students. •Graduation shows are for 6 weeks (May
to June, annually).
THEORY:
A Non-linear History of Art (1) - this class positions art as the backbone of ‘culture’. Rather than taking students through a chronological narrative of art history, students will study the connections between artists that in some cases span centuries. This method will be alluded to as a pedagogic formula throughout the course to inform the students about the implicit effect of presenting a narrative to students. Taking this route, the professor will introduce to students an holistic view of the history of art.
Introduction to Arts Education Research - This class introduces students to theories and methodologies of educational research. Students will gain an insight to the important perspective of reflective practice within arts educational research. A topographic approach composes qualitative and quantitative approaches to research methodology and design. There is extensive reading associated with this class, in addition students will design a research study connected to their field of interest.
Art Historical Education – students delve into the extensive background of art education and the range of theories that have over time come to promote the vitality of the arts to other disciplines. Students will take forays into an array of applications through case studies, and will use this form of analysis to present their own case study of an art-education situation.
Theories and Philosophies of Art – the theoretical interconnections of artwork are examined in detail; students delve into aesthetics, semantics and related discourses that continue to affect artists production. The connection of visual art to philosophy is constantly highlighted throughout the course.
Introduction to Art Education Curricula for Higher Education - ART§CHOOL is very concerned with arts curricula being divorced from the reality of contemporary art. As a subject, art curricula hold as much promise for the future of art as does even the practice of artists. This BFA class asks students to compare various methods of arts education via theoretical analysis, in essay form.
Introduction to New Media Art from a Theoretical Perspective – students examine how the existence of post-modernism has confused the development and status of new media arts. During the course theoretical ideas such as digital democracy, digital aesthetic specificity, the non object-artwork conundrum, are traced to preceding theoretical/philosophical conditions to provide a solid founding for a subject still establishing itself. Reading assignments are heavy for this course; Students write a full length essay.
Community Artworks: Advocate or Adversarial? – Is there really any validity or purpose or need for artists to create their work with altruistic intent? How does this position them and their resultant works within a wider appreciation of the disciplines of art? Is the artwork of a ‘higher value’ because it has from the outset an integrated, overt ethical position? The ability of art to change lives is undeniable, but does that mean that it should? This class takes into account the political, social and psychological impact of community-based artworks in an effort to introduce students to the form.
CRITICISM:
This module explores the history and current positions of contemporary analysis and critique of art. Criticism classes are delivered seminar style, although the exact details of each syllabus will be determined by the professor. Criticism courses will give students the opportunity to contemplate the various discourses that focus on both the fabrication of contemporary art, and the attendant issues of viewing and teaching art. It is intended that students will benefit here by training their focus on the ways which art practices are understood in wider critical and cultural contexts, including social art and associated pedagogy.
Some examples from this component:
Criticism in Context – this class will take students through weekly meetings in galleries and/or museums and discuss the work seen whilst in the gallery space. Professors will help students by creating a critical backdrop through which the work may be examined that illuminates an historical context. Students will write responses after visits, and these will be uploaded to the class discussion group for further development.
An Ethnographic History of Art in Education – (this class has a pre-condition that is familiarity with all major developments in the westernized history of art. A short survey must be completed by all students before being allowed to register). Students navigate this seminar-style class via an exposition of concurrent historical and art-historical episodes and events. The feeds of information multiply as critical theory proliferates through history. Using this structure of simultaneous data sources students will be exposed to a range of critical and social issues, theories in the social sciences, particularly drawing attention to post-modernism, post-structuralism and critical realism and providing examples of their uses from the wide literature in education and education policy research.
A History of Critical Thought – students investigate the application of critical thought to visual art objects and trace this aspect of arts legacy from devotional art upwards. A full length essay is preceded by a short statement of intent mid semester.
The Critic vs. The Artist – are critics and artists necessary for contemporary art to be what it is? Does one hinder the other? Or rather do they help? How often does an artist succeed as a critic and vice-versa? Is it necessary for each to understand the other? Questions such as these are surveyed in depth by students to help situate themselves within these two practices. Students write weekly responses to readings and current or archived exhibitions (via catalogue).
Concept and material within a critical framework – through this course, students examine artists of their choice and investigate the resonance of their chosen materials and its critical implications. The semester includes several lecture/seminars discussing various artworks via their media in its time and place, amongst its peer group. An emphasis is placed upon the historical, progressive import of an artists’ conceptual accommodation of particular media as an artists’ communicative device. Students critique several artworks in essay form.
A Social Dimension for Contemporary Art Practice – given that art’s basic structure is engineered to communicate, art as a discipline is very closely allied with contemporary pedagogical practice, and actually it has been historically concurrent. The educative aspect of art often invokes the spirit of social artworks, and this class examines the relevance and affect of such artwork/artists upon the demographic of the art-world and the wider population within which the work is installed. The theoretical basis for this form of art is inserted into lecture and seminar classes. Students will examine a social artwork and ruminate upon the potential of this form in the future.
SPECIALIST/ELECTIVE
COURSES: (40 credits)
Although this component only represents 30% of the graduation requirements, it embodies an extremely important element of the ART§CHOOL operating principle. As ART§CHOOL requires students to be self-motivated individuals as a pre-qualifier to matriculation, the management of elective courses is largely the students’ responsibility.
Each new location ART§CHOOL settles in will be a city, naturally comprising existent well established Universities/Colleges. ART§CHOOL will view this as a facility of the host city, and will expect students to divine which school runs courses most applicable to their research and interests. These issues will of course be discussed and approved by the students’ advisor.
The intention is for the students to be able to transport this self sufficiency into developing their career as an artist, which will demand ingenuity and resourcefulness in addition to a mind open to external influence. All courses taken externally will be processed by the ART§CHOOL admin staff, and credit will be applied to the students’ transcript accordingly.
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