Studio Art Curriculum

Requirements for the Major | Requirements for a Minor | Courses

The curriculum in Studio Art provides an opportunity for students to expand their creative and conceptual awareness and to develop visual and technical abilities. Introductory and advanced-level courses are offered in drawing, painting, photography (including electronic imaging), sculpture, and ceramics.

All courses in Studio Art taken outside the Claremont Colleges for credit must be approved by the department in advance.

Requirements for the Major in Studio Art

The Studio Art major is intended to prepare highly motivated students for further work on a graduate or professional level. Students with a strong interest in the visual arts are encouraged to establish a solid foundation by taking Studio Art and Art History courses early in their college career. In keeping with the goals of a liberal arts education, art students at Pomona College are urged to explore related courses throughout the Claremont Colleges.

Portfolio Reviews. Prospective art majors should contact a member of the Studio Art faculty before declaring a major in Studio Art. After declaring, majors should establish a working relationship with a Studio Art adviser. In the fall semester of the junior year, all majors are required to present work before the full department in the form of a portfolio review. The purpose of the review is to establish a broader departmental dialogue about the student's work and curriculum. Again in the fall of the senior year, all majors are required to present their work before the full art faculty. The purpose of the senior review is the discussion of the development of the student's work for the senior exhibition.

Junior Exhibition. In the spring of the junior year all majors are required to present an exhibition of a body of work. Students will work toward the exhibition in consultation with their advisers.

Required courses are as follows:

Lower-division work: Two Art History courses, either 51a or 51b, and 51c; and two introductory Studio Art courses, one of which deals with two-dimensional and the other with three-dimensional art. In certain cases, upper-division Studio Art courses may be used to meet this requirement.
Upper-division work: Six courses in Studio Art; two upper-division Art History courses, one of which must be in 20th-century art. Studio Art classes offered at the other Claremont Colleges are fully accredited in the Pomona program. Check the catalogs of Scripps and Pitzer colleges for course descriptions and prerequisites.
Senior Project: Art 192 is required during both semesters of the senior year as majors develop individual Studio Art projects in consultation with a faculty adviser.

Final Exhibition. All senior majors are asked to present an exhibition of their work in the Pomona College Museum of Art as a final requirement of the degree. The progress of the senior project is guided and evaluated by the Studio Art adviser and the faculty coordinator of Art 192, while the final exhibit is reviewed by all of the Art and Art History Department faculty. All studio art majors are asked to document their senior exhibition and contribute one set of slides to the Art and Art History Department archives.

Requirements for a Minor in Studio Art

Required courses are as follows:

Lower-division work: Two introductory Studio Art courses, one of which deals with two-dimensional and the other with three-dimensional art.
Upper-division work: Three courses in Studio Art and one course in Art History that treats 20th-century topics.

Courses

Studio Art (ART) courses satisfy Area I of the Breadth Requirements of the College's General Education Program.

The following represents a listing of the courses offered in the program and does not represent what is offered each semester. Please check current course offerings for that information.

5. Drawing I. Ms. Teixido. Introduction to observational drawing with attention to the articulation of line, shape, form, gesture, value, and composition. Studio work introduces a range of traditional drawing materials and subjects while exploring a variety of conceptual approaches to image making and visual expression.

10. Painting I. Ms. Berman. Painting from observation to increase technical skills, visual sophistication, and critical awareness. Includes work from the figure, the self-portrait, sketches, and the still life. No experience necessary, but Art 5 recommended.

20. Photography I. Ms. Fermi, Ms. Pinkel. A basic photographic course emphasizing all aspects of black and white film exposure, development, and printing. Classes develop technical and conceptual expertise, knowledge of historic and contemporary directions in the field, and an ability to make extended, personal statements in the medium. Equipment needed: camera; tripod useful but optional.

21. Digital Art I. Mr. Allen. Introduction to creative and conceptual strategies for artists working in the area of digital art. Readings and lectures provide a historical, technical and conceptual framework, while studio practice introduces computer- and network-based methods of art production.

22. Electron Wrangling for Beginners. Mr. Allen. The human experience is increasingly influenced and controlled by technology. Electron Wrangling for Beginners aims to be the first step in transforming this influence into a space of creativity and exploration. Students will be instructed in the primary technologies, materials, and ideas of working with electronics within the framework of a Studio Art practice. Prerequisite: Art 21 or portfolio review by instructor.

25. Sculpture I. Mr. O'Malley. Addresses a wide range of materials and processes to investigate issues of form and presentation. Assigned projects introduce a variety of techniques while offering the student an opportunity to explore his or her own unique pragmatic, expressive, critical and intuitive sensibilities.

105. Drawing II. Ms. Teixido. An intensive course for students who wish to broaden their understanding of issues and practices in contemporary drawing. Directed class projects expand upon traditional approaches to observational drawing and experiment with a wide range of drawing materials and subjects. Outside assignments stress conceptual issues related to studio activities and discussion. Preqrequisite: Art 5 or portfolio review by the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

110. Painting II. Ms. Berman. An intensive painting course for students who wish to expand their understanding of the expressive, critical, and formal issues of painting. Aims at cultivating individual initiative and exploration. Students are expected to develop a body of work and a written statement about it. Critiques, readings, talks, and slide presentations broaden the reach of the studio work. Prerequisite: Art 10 (Art 5 recommended) or permission of instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

111. Topics in 20th-Century Painting. Staff. An intermediate painting class. Studio work is balanced with slide presentations, readings, and discussions of artists, themes, and issues surrounding the major movements in 20th-century painting. Prerequisites: Art 5 or 10 and permission of instructor.

122. Photography II. Ms. Fermi. Image making, using color photography and computer graphics; focus on traditional and non-traditional approaches to making art. Course is designed to build the student's creative and conceptual abilities, and includes field trips and readings in critical theory. Prerequisite: Art 20 or permission of instructor.

123. Photography III. Ms. Pinkel. Explores approaches to visual documentation through in-depth photo group/text projects. Includes black and white and color photography, computer generation of image/text pages, and practice in "reading" of photographic images in the news media, advertising, and the photographic essay. Prerequisite: Art 20 or permission of instructor.

125. Photography and the Politics of Representation. Ms. Pinkel. Photographic images, both historic and contemporary, will be studied to explore social, political, and gender implications. Students do projects, both photographic and computer-generated, to construct meaning in both traditional and non-traditional venues. Prerequisite: Art 20 or permission of instructor.

126A. Sculpture II - Fabrication and the Body. Mr. O'Malley. Expands the technical, conceptual and expressive skills through individually designed projects. In this course, students will learn specific technical skills inherent to fabrication processes. Emphasis on a range of additive processes, wood working, and welding. Reading, discussions, videos, slides and field trips introduce a visual and theoretical awareness of contemporary art. Prerequisite: Art 25 and/or permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit.

126B. Sculpture II - Casting: The One and the Many. Mr. O'Malley. Expands the technical, conceptual and expressive skills through individually designed projects. Students learn specific technical skills inherent to casting in a range of materials - plaster, wax, rubber, aluminum and bronze. Emphasis on pattern making and mold making. Introduces a visual and theoretical awareness of contemporary art. Prerequisite: Art 25 and/or permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit.

128. Installation: Art and Context. Ms. Teixido. Advanced seminar on the artistic practice of installation and other non-traditional art forms, e.g. performance art, earth art, and public art. Studio projects investigate elements of installation such as space, light, scale, context, and materials. Discussion, slides, videos, visits to art sites, and critical readings.

134. Life Drawing. Mr. Curtis. Intensive course for students with interest in drawing from the human figure. Begins with the study of academic drawing, emphasizing accuracy of representation and responsiveness to materials and supports. Exploration of additional approaches to drawing from the model in order to develop a firm structural understanding of anatomy, and examine issues of figurative representation in contemporary art. Prerequisite: Art 5 or portfolio review by the instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

180. Junior Seminar. Staff. The junior seminar is required for all Studio Art majors and meets weekly to discuss topics relevant to the production of artwork in preparation for the Junior Exhibition. Readings, visiting speakers, and visits to exhibitions. Half-credit.

192a,b. Senior Seminar/Project in Art. Ms. Berman. Seminar 192a,b meets weekly in the fall and spring semesters to discuss topics relevant to the Studio Art major and thesis exhibition. Includes visiting speakers, readings, oral and written reports, preparation and presentation of work in progress. The spring semester culminates in a public exhibition for which students are fully responsible. Half-credit.

199. Directed Problems in Studio Art. Staff. Special projects for advanced students by arrangement with individual instructors. Full or half-credit.

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