This core course is designed to help students explore their artistic vision and begin to plan the way they would like to construct their own version of the general fine arts major. New GFA majors are assisted in forging a personal approach to visual exploration and expression. Virtually all media are acceptable. This course is strong on personal attention via frequent one-on-one discussions.

Students are introduced to the basic principles of using the body in time and space in relation to an audience in order to convey meaning. Students gain a perceptual understanding of the history of performance art through readings, film and video, and develop the vocabulary with which to discuss and critique performances. Exercises help students explore the use of the body in space and time, along with the use of materials in order to create meaning and content. Students may work with autobiographical material, dreams, text and personas, as well as visual and sound elements.

Humans are fundamentally connected to water. On an individual level and as a civilization water permeates all aspects of our lives. This course is an opportunity for students from majors to deepen their understanding of water and to apply their developing skills as artist to this subject. Through readings, film, guest lectures and field trips we will immerse ourselves in the science, history and esthetics of water. It is also an overview of how historical and contemporary artists have approached water as a subject in their work. Students focus on their current relationship with water and how rapidly changing climate is resulting in a massive redistribution of this substance. The impacts of drought, sea level rise, storm intensity and polar ice melt are rapidly becoming major factors shaping our lives.

Collage has been described as the primary medium of the 20th century. The multi-layering of images and materials reflect the cultural and technological flux of the modern age. This mixed-media course explores the 2D and 3D possibilities of working with collage and assemblage. Course content examines the formal narrative and conceptual issues of the collage process and form. Weekly slide lectures and materials examine artists working within these media. Students are encouraged to develop a personal direction.

This course focuses on a variety of contemporary book forms and emphasizes the freedom to develop the content within. Structures are created by experimenting with scale from the small and intimate to the large and expressive, to the sculptural, with a look at installation. Students also create with a variety of materials, exploring the relationship between the book form and materials selected. Some areas explored include trace mono-prints, contemporary paper cutting, wet and dry media, embroidery drawing, alternative surfaces, and dipped paper encaustics for transparent books.

Aimed at developing conceptual and philosophical ideas in each individual’s work. A range of thoughts in different disciplines from science to religion and literature is discussed to provoke deeper exploration into individual points of view. In-class work facilitates exploration of the day’s topic and students work in any medium.

Throughout history some of the most eloquent responses to events of the times were images. From Goya and Daumier to Sue Coe and Mel Chin, artists have shown the significance of events in ways that words can't. Beyond just illuminating important relationships and power structures, art points to significance on an emotional level and reveals what it's like to be alive in this time. Each class begins with a discussion of the week's events, linking them to ongoing issues and looking at ways that our different backgrounds and personal life story influence the way we view current events. Students then develop a piece based on the discussion. Out of class time is devoted to completing a series on an area of particular interest.

Students are assisted in developing a personal direction in any fine arts medium or combination of media. This course provides the opportunity to explore the initiation of a sustained body of work in preparation for the senior independent program. Attendance at all critiques and at least 12 hours of committed effort per week are mandatory. Instruction through regularly scheduled individual and group critiques.

Our climate is rapidly changing due to the effects of human industry. Climate change is presenting the global society with the necessity for new criteria of industrial and social production. How will this include the production of art and design? The goal of this course is to present students with the challenge to examine, investigate, confront, and potentially apply what these criteria are. This course focuses on the theoretical, practical, and aesthetic issues of sustainability. Beginning with an overview of the history of the science of climate change, students look at global movements responding to this event. Students who are considering entering some aspect of this field are welcome as well as those who are seeking to extend their art practice to address the many issues encountered in the massive change toward global sustainability.

Variations of this course will engage students and faculty in focused project work based upon partnerships and/or topical research in conjunction with studio output.