Spalding University Catalog Creative Arts

Creative Arts | Spalding University Catalog

Creative Arts

Mission
The Spalding Creative Arts program offers a dynamic curriculum in visual arts with a professional and community focus. Immersion in the techniques of both traditional and cutting-edge media, and the encouragement of exploration, collaboration, and critical thinking skills transform students into creative problem solvers prepared to engage with and contribute to the world.

The Creative Arts curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the times, to bridge the gap between creative and professional development, and to prepare students to use creative skills to engage in the community and to make a difference in the world.

Program Overview
The Creative Arts program offers a Bachelor of Fine Art in Studio Art. Students in the program will be required to take 120 credits total: 71 credits in Studio Art and Art History, and 49 credits in University Studies courses.

All students pursuing a BFA degree begin their majors with a rigorous 24-credit Foundation Program and 9 credits in Western Art History. These courses introduce students to the Elements and Principles of Design, Design Thinking, Drawing, Painting, 3D Design, and Digital Media, as well as the history of art, and its contemporary practices and theories.

The University Studies courses enrich students’ artistic trainings with studies in the Humanities and Sciences, giving a broad base for the critical assessment of the artist’s role in society.

Admission
The BFA degree engages and accommodates students with varying amounts of art experience. Students may declare a major at any time.

Requirements
Students pursuing the BFA in Studio Art must choose from five distinct concentrations:
• Digital Media
• Graphic Design
• Interdisciplinary Sculpture
• Painting/Drawing, and
• General Fine Arts

Each concentration has a series of required courses and a selection of electives to choose from, offering a broad range of approaches to the discipline. The variety of course offerings within each discipline provides both the breadth and depth for each student to investigate a unique approach to visual art.

The General Fine Arts concentration affords students opportunities for enhanced interdisciplinary exploration by allowing for two areas of concentration. Students select two areas of focus from Digital Media, Interdisciplinary Sculpture, Graphic Design, and Painting/Drawing, Illustration, and Pre Art Therapy.

Any student may choose to add an additional concentration in Illustration, and/or they may choose to add the Pre Art Therapy track to their degree, which provides a foundation for graduate study in art therapy.

Minor
Students in the BFA program can add a Minor in Creative Entrepreneurship offered in conjunction with the School of Business. The ability to be creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial are vital skills across many fields. The Creative Entrepreneurship interdisciplinary minor exposes students to entrepreneurial thinking skills that can be applied to designing new creative ventures, adding value to existing creative organizations, and developing opportunities for individual creative professionals.

The Foundation Program
All students pursuing a BFA degree begin their majors with a rigorous 24-credit Foundation Program. The Foundation Program provides students with a rigorous and intensive experience in the fundamental issues of art and design. It exposes students to a wide range of ideas and concepts, preparing them to advance in one of the five majors. The range of Foundation courses exposes students to the fundamentals within each of the five designated majors (Digital Media, General Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Interdisciplinary Sculpture and Painting/Drawing), helping to lead students to their chosen program of study. Students may take foundation courses in any sequence. A passing grade of "C" is required in all Foundation classes.

Additional Program Requirements
All BFA students will be required to take additional required courses at the Junior and Senior level to solidify and deepen their personal focus while gaining independence. These courses are Internship, Professional Seminar, Junior Focus, Senior Thesis I and II. The one major that will deviate from this is Graphic Design.

A 3-credit Internship during the Junior or Senior year. Students will be required to take part in a workplace internship providing hands-on experience and valuable exposure to a professional art-related field of their choice. In addition to a minimum of 50 contact hours, the internship will require students to keep a regular journal and produce a written reflection. Site supervisors will provide evaluations and reviews. A full-time faculty member will be assigned as Intern Supervisor and will be responsible for administering the internship and awarding the grade.
A 2-credit Professional Seminar taken during the Junior or Senior year will help students prepare to succeed as professional artists after graduation. Students will be taught to write resumes, grants, cover letters, and other documents relevant to marketing themselves and to producing a portfolio of professional quality images that will be required for graduation. This course will be taught by studio faculty and will integrate presentations by professionals from a variety of fields.
Junior Focus, a 3-credit course taken during the Junior year, encourages the development of personal process and direction as an artist through a combination of written and studio work. Regular class meetings will engage students in writing exercises that will help them explore, understand, and explain their ideas and work while independently developing a series of projects relevant to their chosen major. Throughout the course, students will receive scheduled critiques culminating in a final project that they will present to faculty, classmates, and a visiting artist(s). This course prepares students for the independent exploration of ideas and materials, and the work ethic that it is required for Senior Thesis.
Senior Thesis I & II, an intensive 6 credits taken sequentially during the Senior Year. Senior Thesis will help students to develop an independent studio practice over the course of a year; they will cultivate a project that culminates in a Senior Exhibition and a comprehensive oral defense in front of a panel of faculty. Students will work closely with two faculty members, one of which must be from within the major, who will manage the oral defense and administer the grade. The panel critique will constitute 50% of the grade. The Senior Thesis will challenge students to exercise their work ethic, develop and resolve concepts to completion, exhibit, and ultimately prepare them to work as professional artists.