The Core Program can be summarized as a two-year course of study that educates, exposes, and builds a student’s technical, conceptual, and aesthetic skills. The courses emphasize building awareness, competence, and confidence through the studio experience. Expressive growth, new skills, and analytical development are all by-products of this experience. The Core Program should successfully build a solid backbone of knowledge for students to build on and strengthen as they move into their majors.
Core Level I (First year)
Freshman courses are designed to provide a skill-based, formal, and technical experience. Broad goals are given, while specific course material and project assignments are determined by the faculty teaching them. Courses are typically assignment-based; students must demonstrate a working knowledge of the specified principles for assignments to be considered successfully completed.
Courses for the first year include:
Drawing (2 semesters)
2-D Design, 3-D Design
Academic Electives
Writing I
Core Level II (Second year)
Courses are grouped around significant systems that organize visual experience. Students develop an understanding of these organizational concepts by investigating a range of processes, materials, and questions that will equip them as they progress toward major study.
Courses for the second year include:
Critical Frameworks in the Visual Arts
Material Systems
Color Systems
Anatomy/Figure Structure
Typography and Letter Form: The Design of Language
Art and Art History Electives
Academic Electives
