Majors

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At the end of your second year of study, you declare the area in which you would like to focus. There are six majors to choose from:

Digital Imaging & Photography
Fashion Design
Painting
Printmaking/Drawing
Sculpture
Communication Design

The Split Major

If you have a grade point average of a 3.0 or better, you may pursue two majors within the College of Art, such as one in painting and one in printmaking/drawing. To do so, you must have permission of the Associate Dean for Student Services (Bixby Hall, Suite 1), and you must consult with your major faculty advisers. Although the split major is a rigorous program, it does not require additional credit units for graduation.

The Second Major

As an art student, you may earn a second major in the College of Arts and Sciences, the John M. Olin School of Business, or the School of Engineering and Applied Science (Computer Science) while completing the requirements for the B.F.A. degree. If you choose to take advantage of this option, you will graduate with a B.F.A. degree with two majors, one in art and one in another school. You must successfully complete all of the degree requirements for the B.F.A. and all of the requirements for the second major. Unlike a combined degree program, you do not need to complete the distribution requirements necessary for a second degree. The second major option can be completed within four years if careful planning begins during the first year. If you are interested in this option, you should consult with the Associate Dean of Students of the College of Art.

Dual Degree

As an art student, you may earn a second degree the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Architecture, the John M. Olin School of Business, or the School of Engineering and Applied Science. To do so, you must fulfill the minimum degree requirements for a major and the distribution requirements for both schools, earning at least 150 credit units. If you are interested in earning a second degree, you should contact the Associate Dean of Students and a dean in the second school as early as possible, as Combined Studies requires careful advance planning.

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MFA alumna explores perceptions of masculinity in Jamaican dancehall culture

Island Identity

Posted by Courtesy of Jamaica Gleaner News 05.5.09, 11:06
Tagged
Untitled Disciple Rayo, 2009. Mixed media on paper with wallpaper, shelves, toy guns, and toy bullets.

The CAG(e), the Edna Manley College Art Gallery, recently presented Gangstas, Disciplez + the Doiley Boyz, an exhibition of mixed media works by Ebony G. Patterson. The opening function was held on Tuesday, March 31, with guest speaker, Donna Hope Marquis, PhD, lecturer in reggae studies, Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of the West Indies. The exhibition closed on Friday, April 24.

Patterson earned an MFA in printmaking and drawing from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St Louis, and is a 2004 graduate in painting of the Edna Manley College. She is currently assistant professor of painting and drawing at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Her major exhibitions thus far include Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art at the Brooklyn Museum in 2006 and Curator's Eye III: Ceremony in Space, Time and Sound at the National Gallery of Jamaica in 2008.

Gangstas, Disciplez + the Doiley Boyz represents the most recent direction in Patterson's work and explores perceptions of masculinity in Jamaican dancehall culture. The set of works, which are currently mounted as a site-specific installation in the CAG(e), consists of portrait-like images of Jamaican males, which are glamorized with glitter, paper doilies, and elaborately patterned wallpapers and fabrics. The works are related to contemporary Jamaican realities with ironic components such as gilded painted toy soldiers and brightly colored toy guns. Patterson thus probes the contradictory interplay between the hard-core masculine posturing of the "gangsta" and the feminized personal aesthetic that is the norm among many males in the dancehall culture and exemplified by such practices as skin bleaching, eyebrow shaping, and the wearing of flamboyant 'bling' jewelry.

Patterson's work is inspired by life experiences. She believes it is her responsibility to illuminate pressing social issues and facilitate discourse about them. "The artist has a major role," she said. "We have a responsibility to document, think, educate ... impart knowledge, be provocative and force people to think. In essence, we are educators, thinkers, and documenters of life."

This story is from the Jamaica Gleaner News

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