2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Art
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 Return to: Meadows School of the Arts
Associate Dean Ira Greenberg, Division Chair
Professors: Barnaby Fitzgerald, Ira Greenberg, Philip Van Keuren
Associate Professor: Brian Molanphy
Assistant Professors: Courtney Brown, Melanie Clemmons, Lisa McCarty, Sarah Nance, Nishiki Sugawara-Beda
Lecturer: Nyugen Smith
Visiting Lecturer: Tamara Johnson, Tabatha Trolli
The study and practice of art offers a unique experience for the exercise of imaginative freedom, the opportunity for the independent organization of work, and the promise of self-knowledge and personal satisfaction. Art is also a source of knowledge about the world and, for many, an active agent in the transformation of social life. The Division of Art embraces these values in its art courses leading to the B.A., B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees.
At the heart of the student’s experience is the acquisition of skills, concepts and strategies relevant to an expanded notion of studio culture in contemporary art. Students are encouraged to explore and develop art in a challenging environment that rewards experimentation and risk-taking. The Division of Art offers a program of study that prepares students for the successful continuation of professional practice as an artist, the pursuit of graduate study in art or the application of visual art to other fields of study.
The program is marked by its wide range of supporting resources: studio courses that offer grounding in techniques and concepts; courses in the critical and historical study of art; well-equipped workshops, galleries and exhibition areas that provide ample opportunities for the public presentation of student work; field trips to public and private collections of art and to artists’ studios; and a lively series of lectures and seminars by distinguished contemporary practitioners, critics and curators. Small class size coupled with an approach that takes full advantage of the division’s setting within a distinguished school of the arts of a major university offers a transdisciplinary educational experience that few, if any, specialist colleges of art can match. More information is available at www.meadows.smu.edu/art.
Facilities for the study of art include well-lighted studios, individual work spaces and excellent equipment to support all media taught, as well as individual experimentation. Facilities span both new and traditional approaches to studio art, including digitally based studios for photography, video, computer-generated imaging, 3-D imaging and rapid prototyping (3-D printing), and physical computing (microcontrollers/Arduino boards and sensors). Art students work as broadly and as experimentally as they wish within an environment of open artistic exchange, surrounded by artists in dance, music, theatre, film and communications. Additional facilities comprise a variety of spaces for the installation of artwork, including the Pollock Gallery – the art exhibition space of the Division of Art located in Expressway Tower. The Pollock Gallery provides students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community with opportunities to experience a wide and thought-provoking array of exhibitions representing diverse artists, time periods and cultures, as well as the B.F.A. and M.F.A. qualifying exhibitions. The Meadows School and SMU offer excellent library and technological resources, including the Hamon Arts Library (incorporating the Meadows computer center), the Center of Creative Computation (an interdisciplinary research center open to all Meadows’ undergraduate and graduate students), as well as specific facilities within the Division of Art.
The division runs an extensive visiting artist program, ranging from visiting artist lectures and workshops to the Meadows distinguished visiting professor. Through these programs, artists, critics and curators of note are brought to campus to teach, lecture and conduct upper-level undergraduate and graduate critiques.
The division also offers a special program of importance to graduate and undergraduate students, the New York Colloquium (a winter interterm program in New York). During the New York Colloquium, students visit a range of museums, galleries, artists’ studios and other venues appropriate to the development of their critical and professional studies in art.
The Dallas/Fort Worth area has a large artistic community with rich and varied resources. These include many internationally and nationally significant museums and contemporary exhibition spaces: the Dallas Museum of Art, SMU’s Meadows Museum, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Dallas Contemporary, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Latino Cultural Center of Dallas, the Kimbell Museum, the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art and the Amon Carter Museum. There are also vibrant, artist-run alternative and cooperative galleries, and a growing commercial gallery system.
In addition to meeting University admission criteria, students wishing to pursue the B.A. in art or B.F.A. in art degrees must submit a portfolio for admission to the degree program.
All students admitted to the University and to the B.A. in art or B.F.A. degree program are considered for artistic scholarships based on artistic merit as they enter the University. The deadline for incoming portfolios to be reviewed for artistic scholarships is February 1 of every year for scholarships beginning in the fall term, and November 15 for early admission/early action candidates. Portfolios must be submitted through Slate, the online digital portfolio system, for full consideration. A guide to aid the student in the preparation of the portfolio of images is available through the Division of Art and on the division website. In addition, the Division of Art hosts regularly scheduled portfolio review days for prospective students where faculty critique and discuss student work in an open review. More information is available at www.meadows.smu.edu/art.
In addition to meeting University transfer admission criteria, students wishing to transfer to the B.A. or B.F.A. degree program from another university must be accepted by portfolio review prior to admission to study. For more information, students should contact the Division of Art.
Art students who were not dually admitted prior to matriculation must take three 1300-level courses and then meet with their pre-major advisor in order to declare the B.A. in art. Art students who were not dually admitted prior to matriculation must take four 1300-level courses and then meet with their pre-major advisor in order to declare their B.F.A. in Art.
Financial aid from the Division of Art for entering and continuing students is based upon artistic accomplishment. Continuing scholarships are reviewed each year based on satisfactory progress toward the degree. To receive an award for artistic merit, students must submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (www.fafsa.ed.gov) or a waiver, and a CSS/Profile (www.collegeboard.com).
The Division of Art offers two undergraduate degrees – the B.F.A. in art and the B.A. in art – and minors in art and photography. In addition, the Division of Art contributes to the continuous development and delivery of interdisciplinary courses throughout the Meadows School of the Arts.
ProgramsMajor(s)Minor(s)CoursesArt-General
Studio courses generally require six hours per week of in-class work and critical discussion. Students should enroll with a firm commitment to regular attendance and should expect to spend an additional four to six hours per week, per class, to complete their coursework.
Prerequisites and Course Fees. In enrolling for courses in art, it is necessary that the course number be preceded by the appropriate subject code prefix for credit to be properly recorded. Many courses at the 3000 level and all courses at the 5000 level have prerequisite coursework required. All directed studies courses require instructor approval before enrollment. All courses in studio art, except lectures and seminars, have a laboratory fee of $30 per credit hour, which is added to the tuition and fees assigned at the time of enrollment. Certain courses in art require an additional material or tool expense in addition to fees.
Foundations and Art, General Studio
Foundations courses are ASAG 1300 , ASAG 1304 , ASAG 1308 and ASAG 1312 . This sequence of courses is for art majors or any student who seeks an intensive study of the visual arts. The remaining ASAG courses are organized thematically to explore a range of assumptions and practices – from the historical to the contemporary – that inform the making and display of art; these general studio courses have been designed to provide students with intensive training in studio practice, exposure to a range of materials, processes and research methods, and an introduction to the theoretical issues that frame contemporary art.
Ceramics
Drawing
Digital and Hybrid Media
Photography
Printmaking
Painting
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