Studio Areas } Sculpture
The Sculpture and Extended Media curriculum objectives provide students with a solid introduction to these studio art practices. An understanding of three dimensional design is a crucial part of any studio program and an appreciation for contemporary interdisciplinary practices is grounded in both sculpture and combined-media explorations emphasized in Extended Media.
Emphasis at all levels of Sculpture and Extended Media is on contemporary art practices. Exposure to artists working in these media is regularly provided by slide lectures, videotapes, student seminar presentations and gallery visits.
The Sculpture Foundation course provides an overview of 3-dimensional work in fine art, architecture, design and craft; the principles and elements of design are discussed and explored in a series of studio projects. Instructor-guided projects continue to form the basis for experimentation in the 200-level courses, witha focus on exposing students to a range of materials, techniques and conceptual considerations. At the 300-level students may choose to follow instructor-led projects or propose their own plan of study. Students at the 400-level most frequently work on self-designed proposals. Group critiques are held on a regular basis throughout the semester to provide students with feedback from both the instructor and their peers.
Teaching in the Extended Media courses encompasses a variety of studio practices that do not fit conventional disiplinary categories. These have included collaborative and site-specific works, public art interventions, bookworks, performance, installation, video and audio works.
The facility for Sculpture is located in a recently renovated space across campus from the rest of the Department's undergraduate facilities. The studio consists of one large open workspace and four smaller separate rooms and supports woodworking, plaster-casting, sandblasting, waxworks, welding, kilns for firing clay and bronze casting, in addition to classroom, office and storage space. The studio is managed by faculty instructors and a technician.
Audio/visual production equipment is available to Extended Media courses, which utilize a number of non-specific spaces in addition to the Sculpture facility.