All Studio Courses Require A Lab Fee ARTX 100 Introduction to Visual Fundamentals This course explores the basic elements (line, shape, repetition) and principles (figure/ground relationships, emphasis) of visual art and design. Basic color theory is also covered. Critical discussion accompanies a sequence of hands-on studio exercises and projects, which include work in collage, drawing, painting, and digital imaging. Offered Twice Annually ARTX 101 Introduction to Documentary Video Production Designed to introduce students to the basics of documentary storytelling and production. Students will individually produce, write, shoot and edit several video projects that are intended to develop their narrative and technical skills. They will also watch various documentary films and critique them as to style, content, and narrative structures. Ethical issues pertaining to the films’ subjects and approaches will also be examined. While technical skills on camera and editor operation will be taught, emphasis is on the development of ideas, artistic approach, and storytelling. Offered Twice Annually: Fall, Spring ARTX 105 Basic Drawing A study of drawing fundamentals, with emphasis on line, value, and shape organization as instruments of precision and expression. Students planning to major or minor in art should take this course by the spring quarter of the sophomore year. Offered Twice Annually: Fall, Winter ARTX 110 Digital Art This course examines new media via digital imaging software and basic web art. Course themes include photo-montage, collage, narrative sequence, non-linear reading and linking, image/text, appropriation, and webpage organization. Technical, formal, and conceptual aspects of art production are emphasized during the creation of a small body of work. ARTX 116 Photography The objective of this studio art course is to provide the student working knowledge of, and experience with, the fundamental creative tools used in fine art photographic practice. In addition to producing artwork, participants learn to analyze and discuss the work in critiques. When regarding the images produced in this course, discussion will be centered on technical, formal, and conceptual characteristics - along with issues of subject matter and content. In this critical "reading" of images, like that of a text, we will explore the basics of visual literacy. We will be working with both analog ad digital tools - a traditional (film) or digital single-lens-reflex camera is required (point-and-shoot cameras are not sufficient). Offered Twice Annually: Fall, Spring ARTX 120 Ceramics: Hand Building I Introduction to and development of hand building techniques, including modeling, slab construction, and coil building. Assignments geared towards skill development, problem solving, and issues relevant to sculptural ceramics. Glaze technology, kiln firing, and clay making are also taught. Service-learning sections at the introductory level of the hand-building sequence use art as a vehicle for work within the Kalamazoo Community. Students in the course participate in planning and workshops with a variety of community partners. Past partners include Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes, Ministry with Community, the Michigan Commission for the Blind, and Woodward School. Readings and discussions address issues and debates about public art and social responsibility of the artist. Offered Biannually: Even Numbered Years, Spring ARTX 125 Ceramics: Wheel Throwing I Introduction to and development of pottery forms using the potter’s wheel as the primary forming tool. Assignments geared towards issues of craft and function, as well as problem solving. Glaze technology, kiln firing, and clay making are also taught. Offered Annually: Fall, Winter (Odd Years) ARTX 128 Painting: Traditional Practices This course is designed for students that have little or no training in art or who have an interest in traditional painting techniques. In this course students will explore some of the traditional techniques of oil painting that have been used from the Renaissance into the modernist period. Students will be required to work directly from life whenever possible and will have the opportunity to work from still life, landscape and the human figure. This course will emphasize painting techniques and working methods that stress critical judgment, mark making, space, color, light, and composition from direct observation. Offered Annually: Fall ARTX 135 Sculpture I Introduction of a variety of fabrication techniques; practices may include, but are not limited to, some woodworking and metal welding. Assignments geared towards simultaneous development of technical skill and critical thinking. Discussion and critiques focus on issues prominent in contemporary art. Offered Annually: Fall and Winter or Spring ARTX 200 TV Production Designed for students with significant involvement in producing Kalamazoo College TV productions and production studio work. Students must meet a minimum 30-hour commitment within one term to receive ¼ unit of credit. Various activities may include: studio equipment operator, producer, director, writer, and talent. There is no limit on how many times a student may repeat the course, but a student may only receive credit for one unit. Offered each quarter ARTX 201 Advanced Documentary Video Production Designed for students to do advanced documentary storytelling and production, the class will meet in a seminar setting at least once per week. Students will individually produce, write, shoot and edit several short documentaries that are intended to develop their narrative and technical skills. In addition, they watch various documentary films and critique them as to style, content, and structures. Ethical issues pertaining to the films’ subjects and approaches will also be examined. Prerequisite: ARTX 101 Offered Annually: Spring ARTX 203 Figure Drawing Figure Drawing focuses on drawing issues related to working from the nude model while emphasizing proportion, foreshortening, and planar structures of the figure. Students will work from very short poses to extended poses, creating drawings with approaches uniquely designed for drawing the figure. This course continues the process begun in Basic Drawing of building a solid foundation in drawing skills through observation. Students aim to develop sensitivity to the structure, anatomy, and expressive qualities of the human form. Homework is assigned for each class period and there is an evening drawing session on Wednesday nights for the purposes of completing assignments. Prerequisite: ARTX 105 ARTX/SEMN 204 Drawing Today—Uncommon Visions “Drawing Today” introduces current themes in drawing and provides an innovative approach to basic skill development required to produce images in a contemporary context. Students will read and discuss issues related to art and visual culture from around the world. Class time will be divided between discussion of important issues in contemporary art and hands on drawing instruction. Homework will include daily readings and weekly drawing projects that will allow students the opportunity to reflect upon theory and their assumptions of what drawings is and who it is that produces it. This course is designated as a Sophomore Seminar. Offered Biannually: Spring, Even Numbered Years ARTX/SEMN 206 Ceramics: World Pottery World Pottery is a hands-on studio course with a significant research component. This course is intended as a pre- or post-study abroad seminar. Class time will be used to introduce students to a variety of clay bodies and clay-forming techniques from historical and regional perspectives. Creative assignments ask students to consider and critique the role of cultural exchange and image appropriation within historical ceramics and in their own creative work. Projects will also investigate the roles of different types of pottery within contemporary American society, as a point of reference and departure. Each student will propose, execute, and present a research project related to their study abroad site. Lectures, critiques, and discussions will focus on individual and societal assumptions about pottery. This course is designated as a Sophomore Seminar. Prerequisites: ARTX 120, ARTX 125, or permission Offered Annually: Winter ARTX/SEMN 214 Framing Difference—Documentary Practices in Fine Art Photography This course will combine research and studio components, split more or less evenly. The research topic, broadly painted, will be fine art documentary practices, grounded with an entry-level hands-on studio component (using both film and digital photography). There are two motivations for this course: to give students creative control of photographic tools (technical, formal, conceptual) prior to their leaving for study away, but also to explore the issues and ethics of photographic documentary practice. While the broad research topic is documentary practice (theory/tradition), this course will place particular emphasis on the ethics of photographing outside of one's own group. This course is designated as a Sophomore Seminar. Offered Annually: Winter ARTX 216 Photography II Photography taught as a creative and expressive medium from a fine art perspective. In this course, the student will expand their knowledge, skills, and experience in the medium by focusing on an individual project for the duration of the term. The student can use either analog or digital tools to create this small body of work. Critiques will be held and a written component will be due as well (structured reflection and artist statement). A camera with manual exposure capabilities is required. Prerequisite: ARTX-116, ARTX-214, OR SEMN-214 ARTX 220 & ARTX 225 Intermediate Ceramics The intermediate levels of Ceramics: Hand Building and Ceramics: Wheel Throwing are taught as a combined course in the same time slot. Concept-based and technical assignments are designed to be accessible and applicable for both sets of students. Assignments help students question what it means to choose clay as a medium while developing a more advanced body of work. Lectures and discussions focus on the expanding role and definition of ceramics within contemporary art, with an emphasis on the development of American ceramics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Basic clay, glaze, and firing technology are covered through a series of technical labs. Prerequisite: ARTX 120 or ARTX 125 (both are preferred) Offered Biannually: Spring, Odd Numbered Years ARTX 228 Painting: Contemporary Practices This course is designed for students who have had some previous studio art experience in painting, drawing, or design. Some knowledge of drawing and composition will be expected of students enrolling in this course. Students will learn about modern and contemporary issues in art and will be asked to produce work that investigates some of these themes. Students’ primary medium will be acrylic paint, but they will also be encouraged to experiment with mixed media and alternative materials. In addition to technical experimentation students will address complex conceptual issues. Students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of styles and approaches to painting. Prerequisite: ARTX 100 or 105 or 128 Offered Annually: Spring ARTX 233 Printmaking An introduction to and development of basic techniques in intaglio and relief processes. Linoleum cut, wood cut, etching, and soft ground techniques will be some of the print methods explored. Prerequisite: ARTX 100 or 105 Offered Biannually: Winter or Spring, Even Numbered Years ARTX 235, 335 Intermediate & Advanced Sculpture The intermediate and advanced levels of sculpture provide an opportunity for students to work at an advanced and primarily independent level. Students develop working questions and self-directed assignments that provide direction for their work. A contract with project proposals and anticipated due-dates is due at the first class. Students may propose to take this course any time after the winter of their junior year. Students are expected to attend all meetings of an introductory section of Sculpture I or Hand Building I to participate in demonstrations, critiques, and discussions. Prerequisite: ARTX 135 & ARTX 237 or ARTX 120 (both 120 and 237 are preferred) Offered Biannually: Spring, Odd Numbered Years ARTX 237 Sculpture: Mold Processes A ceramics and sculpture course focusing on the many techniques of mold-making as a means to create and reproduce forms. Assignments and discussions geared towards the use of multiples and repeated forms in art. Materials include wax, clay, plaster, and non-traditional materials. Prerequisite: ARTX120 or ARTX135 or both ARTX100 & ARTX105 Offered Biannually: Spring, Even Numbered Years ARTX 240 Watercolor An exploration of basic watercolor techniques to help assist students in developing the necessary skills to work independently in this medium. Technical experiments, wash painting, and wet-into-wet techniques teach students to control the medium and layer color. Students learn to work for an extended period of time on one piece, eventually developing their own subject matter and content. Prerequisite: ARTX 100 or 105 Offered Biannually: Winter, Even Numbered Years ARTX 316 Photography III Photography taught as a creative and expressive medium from a fine art perspective. In this course, the student will continue to expand their knowledge, skills, and experience in the medium by focusing on an individual project for the duration of the term. The student can use either analog or digital tools to create this small body of work. Critiques will be held and a written component will be due as well (structured reflection and artist statement). A camera with manual exposure capabilities is required. Prerequisite: ARTX-116, ARTX-214, OR SEMN-214 ARTX 320/325 Advanced Ceramics Students may register for Advanced Ceramics in their junior or senior year, once they have completed at least 3 other ceramics courses, including Intermediate Ceramics. Each student designs his/her own project assignments/goals that build on concepts and skills developed in earlier courses/SIP, in consultation with the faculty. Emphasis will be placed on portfolio development and learning to function as an independent artist, including being responsible for one's own clay, glazes and firings. Advanced students are expected to attend meetings for an introductory or intermediate course in ceramics throughout the term where they participate in critiques and help mentor lower-level students. Prerequisite: Permission ARTX 328 Painting II This course builds upon the conceptual approach to painting that began in Painting: Contemporary Practices and will emphasize individual direction and innovation. Most assignments will begin with an introduction to a broad contemporary theme in the visual arts and will ask students to respond to some aspect of the topic by generating artwork. The last three weeks will be given over to a series of works that address one of the topics covered earlier in the quarter or a topic that a student has a particular interest in investigating. Prerequisite: ARTX 228 Offered Annually: Fall, Winter ARTX 335 Advanced Sculpture Students may register for Advanced Sculpture in their junior or senior year, once they have completed at least 3 other sculpture courses. Each student designs his/her own project assignments/goals that build on concepts and skills developed in earlier courses/SIP, in consultation with the faculty. Emphasis will be placed on portfolio development and learning to function as an independent artist. Advanced students are expected to attend meetings for an introductory or intermediate course in sculpture throughout the term where they participate in critiques and help mentor lower-level students. Prerequisite: Permission ARTX 428 Painting III The objective of Painting III is to help students develop direction in their art and to produce a coherent body of work. Students will be considered independently working artists responsible for developing the content and methodology that they feel fits their own personal objectives as artists. Placing their own work in the context of current trends and art history will help students produce artwork that is both personally satisfying and artistically significant. This course is intended for students who are considering graduate school or a career in studio art. Prerequisite: ARTX 328 Offered Annually: Fall, Spring ARTX 450 Advanced Studio This course gathers experienced studio art students together, regardless of preferred media, for a rigorous study of contemporary practice and theory. One day per week will be dedicated to multi-disciplinary critiques, where both assigned exercises and, later, larger projects will be discussed, while the remaining day each week will be used as a seminar to study contemporary work and theory via readings, videos, and presentations. Prerequisites: Senior art majors or permission. Offered Annually: Fall ARTX/SEMN 496 S.P.A.C.E. Socially-Engaged Practices in Art A senior-level service-learning course that explores the relationship between art and activism, social justice, community and/or civic engagement. Students from both art AND non-art disciplines/majors will work together in small groups similar to mini "think tanks" to develop ideas for interdisciplinary artworks and/or events that could be created with community partners like Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes and Education for the Arts, among others. Project design is primarily theoretical--groups will draft (as their final product) a formal proposal and/or project grant based on their project concept. Among the questions students will investigate during the term are: How can art facilitate our experiences in public and private spaces? Who has access to a space? How do we share space and interact within it? Class and project workspace is housed off-campus in the Park Trades Center. Professional skills such as responsible partnering, grant seeking/writing, and project design will also be covered. This course is a Shared Passages Senior Seminar.
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