Learning Outcomes & Objectives

Kerry James Marshall, Better Homes and gardens, 1994. Oil and acrylic on canvas.

In the core curriculum, students will analyze, interpret and critique works of art, considering the role of formal methods and techniques, and historical contexts. In addition to intellectual engagement with the arts, students will also creatively engage with the arts through practice. 

Learning Outcomes

  1. Create a self-directed, self-selected painting project with a coherent concept;
  2. Develop effective project organization with the use of an appropriate method and a clear sense of audience;
  3. Identify technical weaknesses and work towards the refinement of technique in painting;
  4. Write a concise concept statement to rationalize artwork made;
  5. Understand more fully the effect of different media within any artwork made through experimentation;
  6. Participate in group critique by contributing productive, constructive critical commentary focused on the conceptual premise and technical quality of peer artwork;.
  7. Produce a body of paintings that show evidence of effort, progress, and creativity.

Course Objectives

  1. Exhibit knowledge and use of discipline-specific vocabulary;
  2. Gain the ability to engage an artmaking process that spans the conceptual and practical;
  3. Greatly increase knowledge of the history of painting through assignments and lectures on the interconnections between painters and paintings over the centuries;  
  4. Appreciate the educative value of risk-taking and failure in a creative discipline;
  5. Gain the confidence of expression both within painting practice and critique;
  6. Fully grasp how and why artworks are reflected in art theory, & why theory comes after art.