Class Schedules

This course is an introduction to fundamental drawing materials and techniques. Students explore a variety of themes and subjects, including still life, architecture, figure drawing, portraiture, and imagination. Formal elements covered include: line, value, volume, space, proportion, perspective, mark-making, and composition. Context for assignments is given through frequent discussion of both historical and contemporary artworks. In group critiques and discussions, we consider composition, representational accuracy, creative expression, content, and intention.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Learn about fundamental drawing materials and techniques while immersing yourself in the vibrant urban and natural environments of the Twin Cities. In this FYC variation on the Drawing 1 course, we will focus on portable materials and drawing on location through numerous field trips. We'll cover graphite, charcoal, marker, and ink drawing, primarily in sketchbooks but with a few larger scale assignments thrown in. This course counts for the Drawing 1 requirement for the Studio Art major and minor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This introductory course will provide a supportive studio environment for the exploration of diverse approaches to the ceramic field, ranging from investigation of utilitarian object making to sculptural practice. Techniques and applications for both handbuilding and wheel throwing will be presented. Emphasis is placed on development and understanding of strong three-dimensional forms as well as the relationship with surface decoration. Content-based assignments allow for individual expression through creative problem solving. The course goal is to present students with a historical perspective and the understanding of contemporary ceramics, building an appreciation for the spirit of the handmade object as well as preparing students for upper level self-directed work. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and gallery/museum visits will supplement studio work. Learning will be assessed primarily through portfolio production and review, along with class participation. Three two-hour periods per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course examines material and symbolic practices through myriad visual culture forms, from standards of fine art such as painting and sculpture to mass media including TV, film, advertising, and the Internet. Students will learn different theoretical paradigms and techniques for visual analysis in order to understand how visual culture mediates numerous social, economic, cultural and political relationships. We will investigate these diverse practices through lectures, guest speakers, film, historical art and media and, of course, those proliferating images that define our daily experiences. Offered every Fall.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course examines material and symbolic practices through myriad visual culture forms, from standards of fine art such as painting and sculpture to mass media including TV, film, advertising, and the Internet. Students will learn different theoretical paradigms and techniques for visual analysis in order to understand how visual culture mediates numerous social, economic, cultural and political relationships. We will investigate these diverse practices through lectures, guest speakers, film, historical art and media and, of course, those proliferating images that define our daily experiences.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

​This course surveys the visual and material culture of Europe, the Middle East and the broader Mediterranean world from prehistory through the late Medieval period, including early Christian, Jewish and Islamic cultures. We consider the artistic and archaeological remains from the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece, Etruria, Rome, and western Europe from a contextual perspective in order to understand each culture's ideologies, and the diverse social and artistic purposes for which art and architecture was created and used.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will examine the developments of contemporary art beyond traditional centers of gravity in Europe and the United States. Using a series of case studies, it will examine how globalization impacts artistic production in different parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, India, Latin America, Russia, Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. While analyzing a diverse range of artistic practices in these regions, the course will critically explore key discourses around the topic of globalization, including hybridity and diaspora, from post-modern and post-colonial perspectives. No background in art history necessary.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This studio course introduces the basic principles of color in the visual arts and wider culture.  Students explore a range of topics, including the historical uses of color, the psychology of color and the formal elements of color including: value, temperature, color interaction, afterimage and color as a design element. The class will be comprised of a series of small color studies advancing to more involved studio assignments. Some projects will be completed using paint while others will use media chosen by the student. The class will include painting/color demonstrations, color assignments, image presentations, readings, museum visits, individual and group critiques.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course introduces the conceptual, technical, and historical aspects of photography within a fine-arts context. The emphasis throughout is on photography as a creative and expressive medium and will introduce strategies and methods related to this goal through assignments and class activities. Students will learn the foundational aspects of digital photography from manual camera operation to the editing of images through Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Along the way, students will be introduced to the digital workflow, the critique process, and how to take their images from screen to print. Presentations and assigned readings will help students develop the critical and creative skills needed to understand how artistic photographs function in society and culture. $75 materials fee charged for course to cover printer paper and ink. Note: A digital SLR camera is required for this course--students may be able to rent one from the department on a first-come, first-served basis.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

An introduction to the studio practice of painting, using oil paint on a variety of supports ranging from paper, board and canvas to non-traditional painting surfaces. Exploration of the practical techniques and mechanics of painting as well as a consideration of content and meaning will be studied. Topics that will be studied include: paint-mixing, color matching, composition, design and a variety of painting styles. Readings and class discussions of historical and contemporary painting practices and issues will develop a visual vocabulary as well as critical/theoretical knowledge to complement technical skills. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and a gallery/museum visit will supplement studio work.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This hands-on studio class serves as an introduction to the rich and diverse field of inquiry we call sculpture. Over the course of the semester we will investigate a variety of concepts, materials, and fabrication methods employed in the realization of sculptural works. Examples of fabrication methods may include basic woodworking techniques, carving, basic sewing techniques, "non-traditional" techniques, and others. The early part of the semester is devoted to brief exercises that introduce materials, processes, techniques, tools/equipment, and ways of thinking/unthinking. The latter part of the semester is devoted to fully realized individual projects. Final projects are self-assigned and self-directed via prompts. In addition to the formal and spatial aspects of the sculptures we create, we will consider their symbolic, sociopolitical, ethical, material, and tactile dimensions. Slide presentations, short readings, critiques, group discussions, and gallery/museum visits supplement our studio research. The goal of this class is to conduct a serious and sustained - yet playful - inquiry into the question of sculpture while nurturing individual expression. This class is appropriate for any and all curious students interested in play, thinking with the hands, and reflecting on the results. $150 materials fee charged.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

A hands-on introduction to original printmaking in the media of relief, intaglio, lithography and handset type. Included are discussions of esthetics, the impact of printed imagery on society, the political power of prints, printmaking practices from diverse cultures and from around the world. Learn hand printing technologies as well as use of printing presses and tools in the service of developing your ideas in printed form. Trips to local exhibits and museums frame contemporary and historic understanding of the field. Emphasis is on personal expression and appropriate techniques for the content. Students edition one print at the end of the semester to trade in a portfolio with classmates. Contact the instructor directly for more information.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This studio art course will examine the precarious position of Ceramic art at the intersection of Fine Art, Craft and Design and provide students with the tools and skills to make ceramic objects for daily use. Course content will consider the role of form, function and skill in ceramic art theory and practice, and evaluate how these categories are supportive or unsupportive of artists and makers. Hands-on projects will focus on design, and analysis of three dimensional forms. Students will consider the relationship between pottery and hospitality, food and the vessel in domestic and social life. Readings and discussion will provide historical/cultural context; touching on the American Studio Craft movement, Mingei folk art and the Warren Mackenzie legacy in Minnesota.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this foundations course we explore the fundamentals of two-dimensional design through a series of hands-on and digital projects. Topics such as the design process, pattern development and application, typography and branding are explored through both fine-art and commercial design projects. Demonstrations, presentations, and artist talks are included in addition to lab time and class discussions.  Students will finish the semester with a sketchbook full of ideas, a self-directed final project, and a well-rounded design portfolio. Software introduced includes Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Three two-hour periods per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This hands-on, studio class serves as an introduction to the fundamentals of organizing forms in three dimensions. Over the course of the semester we will work both independently and collaboratively to solve basic formal and spatial problems encountered in fields such as sculpture, architecture, and industrial design. We will develop a technical working vocabulary and think critically about the formal, spatial, structural, tactile, and ethical dimensions of the forms we create. This class is appropriate for any and all curious students interested in design, thinking with the hands, and reflecting on the creative process. Slide presentations, short readings, critiques, group discussions, and gallery/museum visits will supplement our studio research.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Grounded in critical race theory, intersectionality, and queer theory, this class draws on primary texts and a range of visual and material sources to trace the histories, experiences, and representations of marginalized identities in the medieval world. We will consider gender, sexuality, and race in the context of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic cultures during the Middle Ages. This class will examine topics including transgender saints, miraculous transformations, demonic possession, female artists and patrons, the “monstrous races” of travel accounts, and gender-affirming surgeries. In contrast to misconceptions of a homogenous white European past, the reality of medieval Europe was diverse and complex, and its boundaries—geographical, cultural, bodily, and otherwise—were in flux, as reflected in its visual and material culture.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will explore global cultural dynamics during the early modern period through focusing on various global empires. Empires are by their very nature multi-cultural and constantly negotiating how these various cultures are positioned hierarchically, which is commonly manifested in the visual culture produced. Students will engage with various political and economic networks that spurred cultural production across the globe, starting from a European point of departure. How did Aztec feather painting impact Spanish artistic production? Conversely, how do indigenous artistic techniques get reworked to create or reveal new forms of knowledge in the face of cultural contact? What impact do new materials have on painting and sculpture? This course seeks to guide students through these questions and more as we consider how cultures are displaying themselves and others, how art historians have understood these conversations across cultures, and who gets left out or unconsidered within the discourse.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course addresses the art and visual culture of Japan from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century, a period of Japanese history marked by dramatic cultural, political, and social change. The concepts of ‘modernism’ and ‘modernity’ were crucial elements in this change, sparking revolutionary shifts in the conception of art, empire, and identities (both personal and national) in Japan. Our class will discuss at length the visual arts from the 1850s to 1945, a time that saw foundational cultural, political, and social transformation in Japan as the nation developed from fledgling global power into a ultranationalist military hegemon in Asia; we will also consider artistic practices in the postwar era to understand the “crisis of the modern” that developed in the decades after the war as artists struggled to find their individual and national voices. Drawing on a diverse array of artistic forms and visual media, including painting, prints, sculpture, architecture, fashion, anime (Japanese cartoons), film, and photography, we will explore how themes such as trauma, nationalism, imperialism, war, protest, hybridity, and performativity have intersected with shifting notions of modern, artistic, and national identities inside and outside Japan. No prerequisites. First Years are welcome.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course explores techniques and concepts commonly used in illustration for publication and mass media. Studio projects will investigate a variety of illustration categories, including editorial illustration (magazines/newspaper), scientific illustration, and book illustration. Projects will emphasize conceptual problem solving, creative interpretation, clarity of visual communication, and the development of a personal style. Illustration skills are valuable for careers in advertising, publishing, graphic design, product design, animation, fine art, and more. We will meet with professional illustrators working in a variety of specialties throughout the semester. Materials will be both traditional (such as pen and ink, watercolor and gouache on paper) as well as digital tools (Wacom tablets, drawing software). Digital tools will be provided: your own laptop is helpful but not required. No prior experience with these specific materials is necessary. Prerequisite(s): ART 130

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

A continuation of ART 234, expanding both technical and critical/theoretical knowledge through projects which demand the development of each student's individual interests. Required projects will encourage increasing self-direction and development of the students' own artistic vision. Readings will supplement students'  critical and theoretical understanding of historical and contemporary art practices. Frequent group discussions and critiques, as well as museum/gallery field trips. Three two-hour periods per week. Offered every other semester. Prerequisite(s): ART 234 .

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is a continuation of Printmaking I, with the introduction of new techniques appropriate for the content. Advanced printers can explore known media in more depth and learn new processes such as photo polymer relief, laser stencil cuts, collagraphs, pronto plate lithography or photo screenprint. Individually generated concepts are explored with expanded forms such as monoprinting, printing on unusual surfaces, or installation and performance work involving printed components. Trips to local galleries, printshops and museums add depth to understanding the diverse contexts in which contemporary prints are made, as well as the vital role prints play in social movements. In addition to exchanging prints within the class, students research and identify an external opportunity to share their prints. Contact the instructor directly for more information.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to fundamental drawing materials and techniques. Students explore a variety of themes and subjects, including still life, architecture, figure drawing, portraiture, and imagination. Formal elements covered include: line, value, volume, space, proportion, perspective, mark-making, and composition. Context for assignments is given through frequent discussion of both historical and contemporary artworks. In group critiques and discussions, we consider composition, representational accuracy, creative expression, content, and intention.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This introductory course will provide a supportive studio environment for the exploration of diverse approaches to the ceramic field, ranging from investigation of utilitarian object making to sculptural practice. Techniques and applications for both handbuilding and wheel throwing will be presented. Emphasis is placed on development and understanding of strong three-dimensional forms as well as the relationship with surface decoration. Content-based assignments allow for individual expression through creative problem solving. The course goal is to present students with a historical perspective and the understanding of contemporary ceramics, building an appreciation for the spirit of the handmade object as well as preparing students for upper level self-directed work. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and gallery/museum visits will supplement studio work. Learning will be assessed primarily through portfolio production and review, along with class participation. Three two-hour periods per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course introduces students to the history of art from Renaissance to Modern Art. The course focuses on the developments in art in Europe and the United States but within a larger global context in order to de-center privileges of Western artistic traditions. The course will introduce students to art periods such as Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and a wide spectrum of modern art movements, including Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Post-Modern Art but always with a critical interpretive lens that reveals deeply entrenched cultural, social, and political hierarchies in the art word and complex relationships between diverse cultures and artistic traditions. This course will provide students with tools how to look at art and interpret meaning in individual works of art.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course introduces the conceptual, technical, and historical aspects of photography within a fine-arts context. The emphasis throughout is on photography as a creative and expressive medium and will introduce strategies and methods related to this goal through assignments and class activities. Students will learn the foundational aspects of digital photography from manual camera operation to the editing of images through Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Along the way, students will be introduced to the digital workflow, the critique process, and how to take their images from screen to print. Presentations and assigned readings will help students develop the critical and creative skills needed to understand how artistic photographs function in society and culture. $75 materials fee charged for course to cover printer paper and ink. Note: A digital SLR camera is required for this course--students may be able to rent one from the department on a first-come, first-served basis.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

An introduction to the studio practice of painting, using oil paint on a variety of supports ranging from paper, board and canvas to non-traditional painting surfaces. Exploration of the practical techniques and mechanics of painting as well as a consideration of content and meaning will be studied. Topics that will be studied include: paint-mixing, color matching, composition, design and a variety of painting styles. Readings and class discussions of historical and contemporary painting practices and issues will develop a visual vocabulary as well as critical/theoretical knowledge to complement technical skills. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and a gallery/museum visit will supplement studio work.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This hands-on studio class serves as an introduction to the rich and diverse field of inquiry we call sculpture. Over the course of the semester we will investigate a variety of concepts, materials, and fabrication methods employed in the realization of sculptural works. Examples of fabrication methods may include basic woodworking techniques, carving, basic sewing techniques, "non-traditional" techniques, and others. The early part of the semester is devoted to brief exercises that introduce materials, processes, techniques, tools/equipment, and ways of thinking/unthinking. The latter part of the semester is devoted to fully realized individual projects. Final projects are self-assigned and self-directed via prompts. In addition to the formal and spatial aspects of the sculptures we create, we will consider their symbolic, sociopolitical, ethical, material, and tactile dimensions. Slide presentations, short readings, critiques, group discussions, and gallery/museum visits supplement our studio research. The goal of this class is to conduct a serious and sustained - yet playful - inquiry into the question of sculpture while nurturing individual expression. This class is appropriate for any and all curious students interested in play, thinking with the hands, and reflecting on the results. $150 materials fee charged.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

A hands-on introduction to original printmaking in the media of relief, intaglio, lithography and handset type. Included are discussions of esthetics, the impact of printed imagery on society, the political power of prints, printmaking practices from diverse cultures and from around the world. Learn hand printing technologies as well as use of printing presses and tools in the service of developing your ideas in printed form. Trips to local exhibits and museums frame contemporary and historic understanding of the field. Emphasis is on personal expression and appropriate techniques for the content. Students edition one print at the end of the semester to trade in a portfolio with classmates. Contact the instructor directly for more information.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Contemporary Ceramics is an expansive art form. This hands-on studio course will reach beyond functional pottery and examine experimental approaches to working with clay that prioritize content, emotional impact and aesthetic experience. Slab building and solid building techniques will be introduced to provide a deeper understanding of the physical properties of earthenware clay. Students will study the work of key innovators in the field of ceramic sculpture including Peter Voulkos, Jun Kaneko and Arlene Shechet. Slide presentations, group discussions and a field trip will supplement studio work and provide context for deeper understanding of the diverse and expanding field of contemporary Ceramic Art.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this foundations course we explore the fundamentals of two-dimensional design through a series of hands-on and digital projects. Topics such as the design process, pattern development and application, typography and branding are explored through both fine-art and commercial design projects. Demonstrations, presentations, and artist talks are included in addition to lab time and class discussions.  Students will finish the semester with a sketchbook full of ideas, a self-directed final project, and a well-rounded design portfolio. Software introduced includes Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Three two-hour periods per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will examine the key developments of the modernist period in visual arts, tracing different avant-garde practices and the key players in art movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, German Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism as well as Minimalism and Pop Art, and analyze them in the context of philosophical, artistic, social and political developments. These include the catastrophes of World War I and World War II, and the ever-increasing powers of capitalism and mass culture. Throughout the semester, we will look at modernism from multiple perspectives, critically examining its "master narratives" and re-evaluating its various "oversights" with regards to class, ethnicity, race, and gender. We will discuss how the tropes of Orientalism and Primitivism functioned within the modernist discourse and consider tensions between nationalism/ internationalism/cosmopolitanism as well as "avant-garde" and popular/mass culture.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course examines the art and visual culture of China from the Neolithic era to the twenty-first century. Lectures and readings will teach methods of formal visual analysis as well as provide the opportunity for students to think critically about how scholars write the artistic history of the region. Through this class, students will engage with a broad array of media, from jade carvings, Buddhist cave painting, architecture, calligraphy and monumental landscape paintings to ceramics, imperial palaces, and contemporary installations. While examining the intended meanings and functions of these objects and spaces, we will discuss the varied contexts and value systems that have informed visual production in China.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course examines the art, architecture, and visual culture of Japan, spanning a broad temporal frame from the ancient Neolithic era to our own contemporary moment.  We will discuss a diverse array of art and architecture from ancient Jomon pottery, Shinto shrines, and print media to Buddhist sculpture, painting practices during World War II, anime (cartoons) and manga (comics). In addition to learning methods of formal visual analysis, students will gain insight into how these works articulated complex artistic, social, economic, political, and religious trends. Through this course, students will develop skills to reflect critically on the production of narratives of Japanese culture, while considering concepts such as tradition, hybridity, value, authority, authenticity, sexuality, commodity flows, nationalism, and militarism.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will focus on interactions between artist, viewer, and object with special attention to time, place and the situated body. Students will engage with a multi-disciplinary sculpture and design practice while exploring the potential for activation of this work. This may include kinetic and immersive sculptural installations, sound, site specific durational performances, socially engaged activities and more. Classes will include discussions of readings, embodied warm-up exercises, demonstrations of technical skills, field trips and class critiques of student work.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

In this team-taught, creative writing/studio art hybrid course, students will contribute to the rich medium of graphic novels by writing, drawing, and inking their own original comic book story. The stories will then be mass-produced into individual zines, and collected into a class-wide graphic novel anthology and ebook. This course has two fundamental goals: To help students work individually on a graphic storytelling project of their own devising: from the cultivation of an initial idea, to the further exploration of that idea through multiple drafts and storyboards, and then finally to sending it out into the world as a “completed” project, which is to say a project that is “good enough for now.” Our second, equally important goal, is to work collectively to build a mutually supportive artistic community dedicated to helping everyone achieve their best work. Along the way, students will also strengthen their technical drawing and design skills, view and analyze examples of visual storytelling from diverse artists, investigate a range of storytelling structures, learn how to communicate more effectively through images, and gain hands-on experience in the publishing process. Prerequisite(s): ART 130 or ENGL 150.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course explores the art, architecture, and religious institutions produced in Iran, broadly conceived, from the Dalma culture of the 5th millennium BCE to the end of the Sasanian empire in the 7th century CE. We will explore topics such as the evolution of trade relations between the Mediterranean basin, Western Asia, India, and Central Asia along the Silk Road, the rise and spread of Iranian religions like Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and the cult of Mithras, as well as the exchange and development of visual culture between the great empires that existed from the first millennium BCE to the first millenium CE. This course requires no prior knowledge of art, archaeology, religion, or of Western Asia and is open to all students wanting to learn about the land between the Nile and the Indus.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Today the city of Naples is largely known within the American consciousness for its food, its ruggedness, and its links to organized crime. Yet during the Medieval and Renaissance eras, it was one of the largest cities in Europe, home to diverse populations, and the seat of a kingdom whose riches compelled France, Germany, and Spain to invade Italy and compete amongst each other for control of the center of the Mediterranean. Historically biased narratives that center Italian art in Rome, Florence, and Venice, have largely ignored the importance of the only kingdom on the Italian Peninsula. This class will explore the layered history of Southern Italy; one that includes Muslim Kingdoms, Norman Conquests, and Spanish colonization. We will also explore the historiography of Southern Italy to address why it has been ignored by international scholars for so long, and how its location, surrounded by three seas, is critical to understanding the culture of the region. In addition to painting, sculpture, and architecture, this course will consider the porous nature of the sea to include the presence of Catalan, Venetian, and Genoese maritime interests that saw goods and peoples of all kinds pass through the many ports of the south.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course will investigate the works of some famous and not so famous artists working in Italy from c. 1350 - 1600. We will investigate cities like Rome, Florence, and Venice and examine how different communities employed images for the expression of identity, status, and as a strategic means of producing consensus or exploiting social division. We will consider the role that images occupied in political and religious culture as well as in private life, bearing in mind the competing interests of those who commissioned works of art and those who encountered them as beholders. We will also consider how artists working in Italy and its environs engaged in and responded to an expanding cultural world. From this multiplicity of uses and responses emerged highly varied conceptions of the nature of images and the role of the artist. The artists we will study include: Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello, Botticelli, Titian, Danti, Carpaccio, and Brunelleschi, among many others.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

In Motion is an introduction to modern African American History from slavery to contemporary times. In Motion emphasizes the idea that both African Americans and the stories of their lives in the United States are fluid, varied and continually being reinterpreted. Rather than a strict chronological survey, this course is organized thematically. Some of the important themes include movement/mobility/migration; work/labor; resistance to systems of oppression; gender/sexuality/culture/performance; politics/citizenship; and sites of (re)memory. While the course is geographically situated in the United States, we will also consider African American life, culture, thought and resistance in global perspectives. In this course, students will read important historical texts, both primary and secondary, engage in discussion, write essays, and make and analyze creative work in digital and traditional art media to critically engage the history of African Americans in the US. Note for Art and Art History majors/minors: this course will count as a Studio Art Elective if taken as ART 294: please ask the Art and Art History Chair to submit a note in Degree Works upon successful completion of the course.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

A continuation of ART 234, expanding both technical and critical/theoretical knowledge through projects which demand the development of each student's individual interests. Required projects will encourage increasing self-direction and development of the students' own artistic vision. Readings will supplement students'  critical and theoretical understanding of historical and contemporary art practices. Frequent group discussions and critiques, as well as museum/gallery field trips. Three two-hour periods per week. Offered every other semester. Prerequisite(s): ART 234 .

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Sculpture 2 offers a hands-on studio experience that builds on the tools, processes, concepts, and conversations introduced in Sculpture 1. This class supports the development and creation of individually-designed sculptural projects and research, with an emphasis on experimentation and ideation. Students will have the opportunity to explore both contemporary and traditional fabrication methods such as carving, assemblage, mold-making, and casting, and well as engage sculptural concerns such as context and display, materiality, mimesis, and ephemerality. Slide presentations, short readings, critiques, group discussions, and gallery/museum visits supplement our studio research. $150 materials fee charged. Prerequisite(s): ART 235

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is a continuation of Printmaking I, with the introduction of new techniques appropriate for the content. Advanced printers can explore known media in more depth and learn new processes such as photo polymer relief, laser stencil cuts, collagraphs, pronto plate lithography or photo screenprint. Individually generated concepts are explored with expanded forms such as monoprinting, printing on unusual surfaces, or installation and performance work involving printed components. Trips to local galleries, printshops and museums add depth to understanding the diverse contexts in which contemporary prints are made, as well as the vital role prints play in social movements. In addition to exchanging prints within the class, students research and identify an external opportunity to share their prints. Contact the instructor directly for more information.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is for students with a passion for clay! Designed to engage and build on students' previous ceramic experiences, advancing their knowledge, techniques and concepts of contemporary ceramic art. Course content will be both assignment based and self-directed whether created on the wheel or through handbuilding. Through thoughtful discussion, critical examination and evaluation of concepts and ideas the class encourages students to develop a better understanding of their relationship to the rich tradition of ceramics and ceramic sculpture. Students will develop an understanding of glaze and clay materials while also taking on responsibilities for electric, gas and raku kiln firings. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and gallery/museum visits will supplement studio work. Learning will be assessed primarily through portfolio production and review, along with class participation. May be taken without an introductory class with instructor's review and approval. Can be taken for credit multiple times. Three two-hour periods per week. $100 materials fee is required. Prerequisite(s): ART 131 or approval of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Photo Books are a dynamic and intimate way to create and share art work. This course explores the use of multiple photographic images arranged in series and book form. Students will learn to select and sequence photographs that convey narratives across time and place and deepen their relationship to images, while cultivating an understanding of visual and conceptual ideas. They will also use photography and design principles to explore layout, typography, and color theory as methods to enhance the visual impact of their work. In this course students will divide time between taking photographs, designing, editing, and creating a variety of book formats. We will experiment with analog and digital methods from handmade books to print on demand while utilizing creative programs such as Photoshop, InDesign, & Illustrator. Through lectures, demonstrations, and creative assignments students will learn about historical and contemporary uses of photo based art books and how their own discovery and understanding of the medium can result in a meaningful extension of the practice of photography. Previous photography experience is strongly recommended.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course is designed for graduating art history majors and it exposes them to methods and theories of art history, with a particular focus on the transformation of the discipline that began in the 1970s and continues to the present. The course will expose the students to both conventional methods of art historical analysis (style, form, iconography)  and to the so called "revisionist" perspectives of "new" art history. The course surveys a wide range of approaches used in the discipline, beginning with writers such as Vasari, Riegl, Panofsky, Gombrich, and ending with the more recent art historical studies informed by Marxism, feminism, and  postmodern and postcolonial theories. Prerequisite(s): Art History seniors only.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course provides a setting in which art studio majors complete their capstone projects, including mounting a professional exhibition of recent work. It provides a look ahead to post-Macalester opportunities and the challenges of graduate school, jobs, and career opportunities in art. Arts professionals make presentations to the class and readings provide theoretical grounding for putting contemporary art in context. Students learn professional practices for studio artists, how to write artist statements, professional resumes and applications for grants, residencies and graduate school. Two three-hour sessions per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials