Undergraduate Foundations Program

The Foundations program introduces practices in the visual arts, including the crafting of concepts and images, the use of formal language, the use of materials and tools, strategies of documentation, critique processes, critical writing, and the study of current and historic contexts of visual culture. Students develop an interdisciplinary, intermedia approach to research, image making, and materials.

Formal Language Students investigate and experiment with formal concepts and principles. Basic Design: Fundamentals addresses color, space, form, frame, volume, weight, line, image, text, time, rhythm, sequence, and continuity. Basic Design: 3D emphasizes three-dimensional design, including position, direction, open/closed form, positive/negative space, repetition, gradation, junctions, balance, and grouping.

Visual Communication Students investigate the particular expressive/intellectual/theoretical opportunities and capabilities offered by visual image making. Students examine a range of communication systems, including language, gesture, images, code, and silence to transmit meaning.

Form & Function Students design forms as they relate to specific functions. "Function" is discussed in the context of the cultural production of meaning, cultural symbols, and re-definitions of meaning.

Crafting of Concepts Students record and describe the development of a concept, including strategies used to research and investigate their process.

Crafting of Objects Students articulate and describe both the physical production of an object and the design considerations as they relate to concept.

Critical Processes Students present analyses/evaluations of images verbally and in writing. Students will responsibly articulate their points of view and will describe why they have those points of view. Students participate in a variety of critique formats and processes.

Work Ethic Students pursue the development and completion of their work to a high standard in which a concept is fully developed and realized. The course will emphasize the importance of learning and doing whatever each investigation requires.

Recording and Documentation Students develop and record their processes in a sketchbook/journal/concept book format.

ART 101 Understanding Contemporary Media
Examines contemporary developments in specific media of visual arts. Emphasizes process and practice in ceramics, fibers, metalsmithing and jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and design.

ART 115/116 Basic Design
An exploration of design issues through studio practice. Includes formal language; visual communication; form and function; the crafting of concepts; the crafting of objects; critical processes; recording and documentation. Basic Design: Fundamentals is conceived as an intermedia laboratory for communication design. Basic Design: 3D stresses development of visual vocabularies through investigation of space and structure.

ART 233 Drawing
Introduces students to the relationships between seeing and making, which are central to artistic practice. Through an exploration of many drawing modes and materials, students investigate ways of seeing, visual problem solving, the construction of space, and how meaning is experienced through visual language.

ARH Art History courses are also a component of the Foundations program, providing an important extended context for inquiry.