Art Education (BFA)

Learn about the materials, tools, and techniques of the past and present. You'll explore art and the art-making process through hands-on studio work, theoretical investigation, weekly written assignments, and a final research paper focusing on a particular material/technique.

Understanding the full breadth of a program can help you prepare for success. Get insights into the history of art education, pedagogy, visual arts standards, advocacy, managing a classroom, and professional readiness.

Effective teaching starts with healthy psychological principles. Explore educational practices, student development and characteristics, learning processes, and teaching strategies to better understand your students and yourself. (This course is cross-listed with ARE 600, GLA 600, and LA 305.)

Create lessons and curriculum for art classrooms, museums, and community settings. To support your Midpoint Review, you will organize your artwork, lessons, and journal reflections into an Art and Process Portfolio.

Learn to engage your students' critical thinking in a variety of settings. As part of your required fieldwork, you'll gain experience leading engaging discussions about art in classrooms, museums, or community settings.

Students in this final Art Education course will synthesize knowledge from previous coursework with comprehensive field experience in an art education setting, i.e., turn theory into practice. Students will develop their own personal Art Education philosophy and mission statement as well as an advocacy plan. The course will also support preparation for their Final Review which will highlight their accomplishments as both an artist and an educator.

Explore the full array of curriculum-based technologies being used in today's art education settings. 21st-century teachers need to be fluent in technology literacy. This course fulfills a California Art Teaching Credential requirement. (This course is cross-listed with ARE 615.)

Learn the indication of form, color, light and shadow through still life painting. Create interesting compositions along with various concepts relating to all majors.

Know your print mediums. You'll learn traditional printmaking processes like etching, silkscreen, monotype, book arts, lithography, and relief printing to produce a portfolio and a book of prints.

Explore the nature of three-dimensional form. You'll create a sculpture to gain technical skills, hands-on experience, and a knowledge of sculptural materials.

In-depth study of classical drawing principles on achieving heightened realism in imagery. Learn how to incorporate accurate geometrical construction and use the five-value system to analyze light and shadow on forms. Gaining skills in perspective, composition, and rendering of various textures and materials.

Learn to draw the human figure with accuracy. You'll draw from the nude model to develop an understanding of gesture, proportion, rhythm, balance, structure, and musculature.

Color is a powerful tool. Discover how color psychology, simultaneous contrast, proportion, desaturation, atmospheric depth, light temperature, composition, and harmony can greatly enhance imagery. You will utilize various color schemes to explore color harmony using digital media.

Unlock your creative potential by harnessing the power of the creative process. You will generate ideas to solve physical and conceptual design problems. Learn from faculty across different disciplines and engage with your peers to create innovative solutions through collaborations.

Combine essential camera and digital imaging skills to augment your imagery. Using a camera for reference, inspiration, and digital imaging to manipulate photo images, you'll learn to create narrative content, increasing your skills in a fun yet challenging environment. Phone camera or digital camera and computer access are required.

Video editing can be a very powerful visual storytelling tool. Using Adobe Premiere Pro, you will use montage, screen direction, continuity, and stylistic concepts to edit a narrative scene.

Designed for all majors interested in photography, students will be presented an inspired approach to using photography across mediums. Topics include proper exposure, lighting, composition, and optimizing photos for a digital workflow. A smartphone or digital camera is required for this course.