Class Schedules

This studio course is an introduction to fundamental drawing materials and techniques. Students explore a variety of themes and subjects, including still life, architecture, figure drawing, portraiture, and imagination. Formal elements covered include: line, value, volume, space, proportion, perspective, mark-making, and composition. Context for assignments is given through frequent slide lectures, which cover both historical and contemporary use of drawing. In group critiques and discussions, we consider composition, representational accuracy, creative expression, content, and intention. Two three-hour periods per week. (4 credits)

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This studio course is an introduction to fundamental drawing materials and techniques. Students explore a variety of themes and subjects, including still life, architecture, figure drawing, portraiture, and imagination. Formal elements covered include: line, value, volume, space, proportion, perspective, mark-making, and composition. Context for assignments is given through frequent slide lectures, which cover both historical and contemporary use of drawing. In group critiques and discussions, we consider composition, representational accuracy, creative expression, content, and intention. Two three-hour periods per week. (4 credits)

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This introductory course will provide a supportive studio environment for the exploration of diverse approaches to the ceramic field, ranging from investigation of utilitarian object making to sculptural practice. Techniques and applications for both handbuilding and wheel throwing will be presented. Emphasis is placed on development and understanding of strong three-dimensional forms as well as the relationship with surface decoration. Content-based assignments allow for individual expression through creative problem solving. The course goal is to present students with a historical perspective and the understanding of contemporary ceramics, building an appreciation for the spirit of the hand-made object as well as preparing students for upper level self-directed work. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and gallery/museum visits will supplement studio work. Learning will be assessed primarily through portfolio production and review, along with class participation. Three two-hour periods per week. $100 materials fee is required.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course surveys artists and art movements that are generally perceived to be crucial in the development of Western art from the 14th through the 20th century. The course introduces students to art periods such as  Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and a wide spectrum of modernist art movements, including Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism. The course examines visual culture of this broad period of Western art within political, socio-historical and philosophical context in which it was produced. (4 credits).

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course examines the art, architecture, and visual culture of Japan, spanning a broad temporal frame from the ancient Neolithic era to our own contemporary moment.  We will discuss a diverse array of art and objects from ancient Jomon pottery, Shinto shrines, and print media to Buddhist sculpture, painting practices during World War II, anime (cartoons) and manga (comics). In addition to learning methods of formal visual analysis, students will gain insight into how these artworks, spaces, and objects articulated complex artistic, social, economic, political, and religious trends. Through this course, students will develop skills to reflect critically on the production of narratives of Japanese culture, interrogating concepts such as tradition, hybridity, authenticity, commodity, sexuality, nationalism, and militarism.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course introduces, through studio projects, the basic principles regarding the use of color in the visual arts. Students explore a range of topics, including the historical uses of color, the interactions between colors, and the psychology of color. The class will be comprised of a series of small color studies with more involved studies to follow. Some projects will be completed using paint while others will use media chosen by the student. The class will include painting/color demonstrations, color assignments, image presentations, readings, museum visits, individual and group critiques.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course introduces the conceptual, technical, and historical aspects of photography within a fine-arts context. The emphasis throughout is on photography as a creative and narrative medium and will introduce strategies and methods related to this goal through assignments and class activities. Students will learn the foundational aspects of digital photography from manual camera operation to the editing of images through Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Along the way, students will be introduced to digital workflow, color managment, and how to take their images from screen to print. Historical presentations and assigned readings will help students develop the critical skills needed to understand how photographs function in society and culture. $75 materials fee charged for course. Note: A digital SLR camera is required for this course.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

An introduction to the studio practice of painting, using oil paint on a variety of supports ranging from paper, board and canvas to non-traditional painting surfaces. Exploration of the practical techniques and mechanics of painting as well as a consideration of content and meaning. Readings and class discussions of historical and contemporary painting practices and issues will develop a visual vocabulary as well as critical/theoretical knowledge to complement technical skills. Slide lectures, critiques and a gallery/museum visit will supplement studio work. Three two-hour periods per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

We begin with an exploration of the nature of vision, creating life-size clay portrait heads of a partner. We move on to the exploration of the tools and processes available in the new sculpture studio, including woodworking tools for both carving and fabrication. Sculpture I introduces students to case metal work in our new foundry, where we will learn a lost wax ceramic shell casting system. The range of form which can be explored is infinite and starts with a wax form which is eventually replaced with 2100-degree bronze. Like my other course offerings, Sculpture I will include off-site projects that includes a class trip to my farm/studio in Western Wisconsin. $150 materials fee charged. Prerequisite(s): ART 130 is recommended as an introduction to the studio courses in the department

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

A hands-on introduction to original printmaking in the media of relief, etching, lithography and handset type. Included are discussions of aesthetics, the impact of printed imagery on our society, printmaking practices from around the world and field trips to local exhibits and museum collections. Emphasis is on individual expression and appropriate techniques for the content. Two three-hour periods per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

What defines Sacred Art or makes a Sacred Space? What roles do material practices play in fostering a religious experience? This course contemplates answers to these questions by focusing on religious visual culture in Asia and examining how intangible concepts of the divine have become tangible in art and architecture. To better understand the multilayered functioning of devotional objects and spaces associated with religious doctrines such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shintoism, the class will explore foundations in iconography and then compare different religious objects and spaces through concepts such as gender, state power, the body, nature, the grotesque, and death. The meaning of such imagery is not static, however. Therefore, we will also reflect on how the significance of religious objects change in the space of a museum. Ultimately, this course allows us to contemplate the multifaceted ways religious beliefs have been visualized and how these manifestations exemplify systems of cultural exchange in Asia.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will survey the art and architecture of ancient Greek and Roman worlds from the Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1200 BCE) to Late Antiquity (ca. 5th century CE). We will examine concepts of design and representation in Greco-Roman art and architecture and explore the uses of art objects and monuments in daily life, politics, religion, state cults, and private rituals. We will examine the developments and changes in artistic forms and practices in their social, economic and historical contexts, taking into consideration the interaction between Greece and Rome as well as the influences from contemporaneous cultures in the Near East and Egypt. Lectures and class discussions will explore topics such as portraiture, art and mortuary practices, art and imperialism, narrative representation, monumental public art and architecture, domestic objects and decorative arts.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

From ancient Mesopotamia to Early Modern Europe, people attacked and destroyed images with motivations influenced by religion, politics and other ideological conditions. Most recently, international community witnessed ISIL’s destruction of archeological sites, and historic and religious monuments in Iraq and Syria, but such attacks took place throughout history in numerous cultures with different ethnic, political and religious backgrounds such as ancient Assyria, Rome, Byzantine Empire or the 16th century Europe. This course will explore the dynamics of such iconoclastic attacks on images by examining case studies from ancient, medieval and early modern contexts. How and why have images been perceived as a threat by monarchs, invading armies or religious zealots? What were the reasons for image destruction? By focusing on these main questions, we will explore the function and power of images in pre-modern and early modern societies.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Building on the tools and techniques learned in the Photography I course, Photography II highlights how photographs are constructed in contemporary art & media and is designed for self-driven students wanting to pursue advanced fine-art photography projects. This semester we will focus on lighting & the constructed image. Students will learn both continuous and strobe photography. We will study both historical and contemporary examples of photomontage and composite photography to create scenes that blend documentary fact & cinematic fiction. Students will produce digital portfolios and create work for a group exhibition. Class time consists of demonstrations, lab time, field trips and critiques.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course, students build upon and expand the basic technical skills acquired in Sculpture I, and work to develop more sophisticated, individually-designed projects in a variety of media. Basic welding is taught, allowing students to develop strength and scale in their projects. the new foundry provides the means for an individual or a small group to cast bronze components which can become part of larger sculptural pieces. The foundry process includes working with dangerous materials, requires wearing of funny outfits, and offers the potential for dramatic moments. Students in Sculpture II will create a piece for transport and installation at the farm/studio. A typical project which could be shown at the farm might be a wind-powered kinetic sculpture. Prerequisite(s): ART 235 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is a continuation of ART 236, focusing on individually generated projects. There is an introduction of new techniques appropriate for content such as monoprint, collograph, screenprint, photo-printmaking and computer-based processes. Field trips, and arranged meetings.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is for students with a passion for clay! Designed to engage and build on students' previous ceramic experiences, advancing their knowledge, techniques and concepts of contemporary ceramic art. Course content will be both assignment based and self-directed whether created on the wheel or through handbuilding. Through thoughtful discussion, critical examination and evaluation of concepts and ideas the class encourages students to develop a better understanding of their relationship to the rich tradition of ceramics and ceramic sculpture. Students will develop an understanding of glaze and clay materials while also taking on responsibilities for electric, gas and raku kiln firings. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques and gallery/museum visits will supplement studio work. Learning will be assessed primarily through portfolio production and review, along with class participation. May be taken without an introductory class with instructor's review and approval. Can be taken for credit multiple times. Three two-hour periods per week. $100 materials fee is required. Prerequisite(s): ART 131, ART 133, or approval of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

We begin with a trip to the farm where we will fell an Ash tree with an axe. In the studio, we will saw and split the wood into billits with wedges and gluts. In this class, we will learn a bit about various species of trees and how their unique characteristics suggest different uses. We will explore tools, materials and processes which have applications well beyond traditional woodworking. Much of what we do in the class will take advantage of our woodshop, in an investigation of the intersection between hand and power processes. Finally, one of the goals of the class is to illuminate a fundamental toolkit that a beginning maker would be able to acquire cost effectively, and use and maintain with basic competence. Most importantly, you will learn how to sharpen knives and chisels and other cutting tools.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is designed for graduating art history majors and it exposes them to methods and theories of art history, with a particular focus on the transformation of the discipline that began in the 1970s and continues to the present. The course will expose the students to both conventional methods of art historical analysis (style, form, iconography) and to the so called "revisionist" perspectives of "new" art history. The course surveys a wide range of approaches used in the discipline, beginning with writers such as Vasari, Riegl, Panofsky, Gombrich, and ending with the more recent art historical studies informed by Marxism, feminism, and postmodern and postcolonial theories. Students must enroll in a 2-credit independent study course in the spring semester of their senior year to do additional preparation for the successful completion of their capstone requirement, which culminates in a public oral presentation. Prerequisite(s): Art History seniors only.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course provides a setting in which art studio majors complete their capstone projects, including mounting a professional exhibition of recent work. It provides a look ahead to post-Macalester opportunities and the challenges of graduate school, jobs, and career opportunities in art. Arts professionals make presentations to the class and readings provide theoretical grounding for putting contemporary art in context. Students prepare artist statements, professional resumes and learn grant and application writing techniques. Two three-hour sessions per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials