2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
Art
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 Return to: Meadows School of the Arts
Professor Brian Molanphy, Claire Morris Spaht Chair
Professors: Brian Molanphy, Philip Van Keuren
Associate Professors: Melanie Clemmons, Nishiki Sugawara-Beda
Assistant Professors: Emily Budd, Frederico Câmara
Assistant Professor of Practice: Jer’Lisa Devezin
Visiting Professors of Practice: David Challier, Ian Grieve, Kerry Maguire
The making and study 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 a source of knowledge about the world and an active agent in its transformation. The Division of Art values this work and knowledge 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 for the dynamic evolution of art studio culture. Students are encouraged to explore and develop art in a challenging environment. 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, concepts and critical and historical study of art, studios, 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 https://www.smu.edu/Meadows/AreasOfStudy/Art.
Facilities for the study of art include specialized 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 woodshop, metal shop, foundry, ceramics studio, painting and drawing studios, darkroom and digital photography printers, video and computer-generated imaging, digital fabrication tools, virtual and augmented reality, and physical computing. 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 the Jordan Student Gallery and the Doolin Gallery for the installation of student artwork in Owen Arts Center, as well as the Pollock Gallery – the primary public exhibition venue of the Division of Art located in Expressway Tower. The Pollock Gallery provides students, faculty, staff and the 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 resources, including the Hamon Arts Library.
The division runs an extensive visiting artist program, ranging from visiting artist lectures and workshops to Pollock Gallery exhibitions. Through these programs, artists, critics and curators of note are brought to campus to teach, exhibit, and make artwork.
The division also offers a course to graduate and undergraduate students, the New York Colloquium (a winter interterm course 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: SMU’s Meadows Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Green Family Art Foundation, the Power Station, the Warehouse, the Latino Cultural Center of Dallas, the Dallas Contemporary, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Amon Carter Museum. There are also vibrant, artist-run alternative and cooperative galleries, and an established and 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 https://www.smu.edu/Meadows/AreasOfStudy/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 two 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. Art majors may not declare a minor in art or a minor in photography.
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
Digital and Hybrid Media
Drawing
Painting
Photography
Printmaking
Sculpture
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