Briar Cliff University (Art Department)

Art Department
About

Art is more than a four-year program of study at Briar Cliff University. It is the beginning of a lifetime of experiences, growth, ideas and expression...

You will develop appreciation and understanding of various art forms through in depth criticism leading to artistic and intellectual growth. A strong foundation in art history and philosophy of art is also stressed. Courses introduce you to great artists and philosophies of the past and present.

Critical awareness is encouraged through exposure to art works in local and national galleries. Each year, the department visits art museums and galleries in Chicago and other cities. The art department provides space for you to work with painting, pottery, sculpture, drawing, and any other traditional or non-traditional technique or form. The new Student Gallery in the Stark Center is a "working gallery," that enables you to view your own work in a gallery setting.

Tuition scholarships are available to first-year art majors and are renewable for four years. An art portfolio is required for first-year scholarships. (The portfolio can be: actual works, slides, or digital images.) The Don and Nadine Meis Scholarship is available for Junior or Senior art majors.

The art major includes studio activity and production in painting, sculpture, ceramics, drawings and crafts. With the exception of pottery, these areas of work are not listed as courses, but are pursued on an individual basis with the instructor in the junior and senior courses of Art I through VI, and Independent Study. The Independent Research program for Term I of the junior year focuses study and discussion on the techniques related to various areas of studio work.


Program

The Briar Cliff University Art Department
The Department of Art pursues an approach to the visual fine arts that focuses on the development of the individual creating artist. The mission of the Department of Art is to prepare artistically competent and liberally educated individuals. Students will develop their intellectual abilities and technical skills through studio production, art history courses and critical theory seminars. Students may prepare for careers as a practicing artist, an elementary or secondary art teacher, or continue with advanced graduate study for careers in studio art, art therapy, architecture or arts administration.

The Department of Art teaches the studio areas of drawing, design, painting, sculpture, mixed media and pottery; the history of art from ancient through modern; and art theory and criticism. Art Education methods courses are offered for the elementary and secondary art education student.

The student begins their artistic development with the foundations of drawing, design, art history and theory. This is followed by a progressive studio experience which is individualized for the purpose of developing each student’s core sensibility. The studio experience is based on a sequence of seven courses, during which the student progresses from an elemental stage of artistic thinking and forming to one in which they are able to comprehend the current aesthetic issues in the visual arts and produce and defend their own innovative forms, culminating in a final thesis work.

This studio sequence begins with initial ideas, models and studies, and progresses to completed works which demonstrate facility in media and techniques. Direction and criticism is provided at all levels of development. This process supports the needs of each student as they pursue their own creative and artistic direction. The media selected for each project is determined by the needs of the form; the student has the freedom at all levels of the studio experience to employ methods and materials that are relevant to their concepts and ideas. The major studio experience begins in the second term of the sophomore year and culminates with the Thesis course in the senior year, which includes the production of a thesis and a senior exhibit.

Upon graduation, students majoring in art will be able to produce basic visual forms, use an electronic image portfolio of their works upon graduation, understand the history of western art, understand and apply media and techniques as an integral component of their art works, develop an understanding of contemporary and avant-garde issues in art, encounter critical and historical works of art, independently produce critical, creative and personal works of art using appropriate media and techniques, relate their work to critical theories and art history and pursue professional and career options in art such as graduate study in painting, sculpture, museum studies, architecture, teaching and/or pursue areas of special interest.

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Art Department Art School Location

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