Information found in this online edition of the 2008-09 catalog is unofficial and for informational purposes only. By authority of the dean of the College, some factual corrections to the printed version may appear here. The official document of record is the printed edition of the 2008-09 Catalog. For more information, please contact the Office of the Registrar.
Art
Chair: Benjamin David
The Department of Art offers a curriculum that is equally appropriate for those who plan serious careers in studio art or art history and for those who want to expand their knowledge of the visual world.
Students majoring in studio art or in art history acquire the background required to attend graduate school or to become professional artists. Students develop the creative and critical skills necessary to pursue a life of making art or to undertake a life of scholarship and teaching. Students are also well prepared for careers in gallery, museum, and arts administration.
The Major Programs
The department offers two majors: studio art and art history. Students are not permitted to double-major in studio art and art history.
Students majoring in studio art must choose a medium in which to specialize. Studio areas are ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture. Because an introductory-level studio course is fundamental to more advanced work, the department encourages studio art majors to take Art 102 (Two-Dimensional Foundations) or 103 (Three-Dimensional Foundations) in their first year and before taking any other 100-level courses. Majors are required to take Art 102 or 103 no later than the end of their sophomore year. To allow for the planning required in the junior and senior years of the art studio major, students must declare the major and select a faculty advisor by the end of their sophomore year. Art studio majors must present examples of their work, including foundation work, for review to the entire department faculty at the end of the sophomore year or the beginning of the junior year. Before beginning work on the required senior project, art studio majors must complete at least two semesters of work in their chosen medium in addition to Art 102 or 103.
Art history majors must take a variety of courses in different areas and complete one of the relevant introductory-level prerequisites before undertaking more advanced work. Art history majors are encouraged to take History 300 before taking Senior Seminar.
Studio Art
102 Two-Dimensional Foundations
103 Three-Dimensional Foundations
113 Sculpture I
213 Sculpture II
313 Sculpture III
115 Drawing I
215 Drawing II
315 Drawing III
116 Ceramics I
216 Ceramics II
316 Ceramics III
117 Painting I
217 Painting II
317 Painting III
120 Photography I
220 Photography II
221 Alternative Photographic Processes
222 Digital Photography
227 Special Topics in Studio Art
320 Photography III
321 Advanced Alternative Photographic Processes
411 Senior Seminar
490A and 490B Senior Project: Studio
499 Independent Study
Art History
101 History of Western Art: Ancient to Medieval
111 History of Western Art: Renaissance to 20th Century
152 History of East Asian Art: China
153 History of East Asian Art: Japan and Korea
201 Modern European Art
207 Pre-Columbian Art
254 History of Buddhist Art
256 Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art
302 History of Photography
304 History of American Art
305 Early Renaissance Art and Architecture
306 High Renaissance Art and Architecture
309 Art of New York
333 Dante and the Visual Arts
355 Early Modern Art in Asia and Europe
401 Art After 1945
451 Special Topics in Art History
493 Senior Project: Art History
499 Independent Study
Major Requirements: Studio Art
A minimum of 44 semester credits, distributed as follows:
- Three courses, 12 semester credits, in art history: one from Art 101 or 111, one from 152 or 153, and at least one art history course at the 200 level or higher.
- One course in 2-D or 3-D basic design to be taken before the junior year: Art 102 or 103.
- One course in drawing or painting: Art 115 or 117.
- One course in sculpture or ceramics: Art 113 or 116.
- Senior seminar: Art 411.
- Senior project: Art 490A and Art 490B.
- Three elective courses in studio art.
Major Requirements: Art History
A minimum of 44 semester credits, distributed as follows:
- Any three courses from the following list: Art 101, 111, 152, 153, or 207.
- Any two studio courses.
- One course from the following list: History 300, Sociology/Anthropology 245, or Philosophy 203.
- Four elective courses in art history, at least two of which must be at the 300 or 400 level, and at least one of which must be in East Asian art or pre-Columbian art at the 200 level or higher.
- Senior seminar: Art 493. Must be taken in the fall semester before graduation.
Minor Requirements: Art And Art History
A minimum of 24 semester credits (six courses), distributed as follows:
- Two courses in art history: one from Art 101 or 111, and one from Art 152, 153, or 207.
- One course in 2-D studio art: Art 102, 115, 117, or 120.
- One course in 3-D studio art: Art 103, 113, or 116.
- Two elective courses in studio art or art history.
Honors Program
All honors students must have a 3.500 GPA overall.
After the Senior Art Exhibition, honors in studio art are awarded to those students whose final projects are judged by the department faculty to be of superior quality.
In art history, faculty may nominate students for honors on the basis of exceptional work in the major. Students who accept nomination may undertake an honors thesis by expanding the senior seminar paper. The completed project is evaluated by a three-member faculty committee, which includes the student's faculty supervisor. Projects deemed worthy earn the award of honors on graduation.
Resources For Nonmajors
Most art courses are available to nonmajors, and the art and art history minor is exclusively for nonmajors. Students without previous exposure to art history or studio art should begin with any of the 100-level art history or art studio courses. These introductory courses may be taken in any sequence.
Facilities
The Fred W. Fields Center for the Visual Arts houses student gallery space, painting and drawing studios, graphic design area, photography lab, ceramics and sculpture studios, a large classroom, and conference rooms. Art studio and art history classes frequently visit exhibitions at local art galleries and use the facilities and collections of the Portland Art Museum. Students also make use of the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art across the Alumni Circle from the Fields Center. The year-end show of senior projects is held there each spring.
Faculty
Debra Beers, senior lecturer. Drawing.
Benjamin David, associate professor. Late Medieval and Italian Renaissance art history.
Matthew Johnston, assistant professor. Modern art history.
Robert Miller, senior lecturer. Photography.
Dawn Odell, assistant professor. Early modern East Asian and European art history.
Mike Rathbun, visiting assistant professor. Sculpture.
Cara Tomlinson, assistant professor. Painting.
Theodore W. Vogel, assistant professor. Ceramic sculpture.
Heather Watkins, visiting assistant professor. Foundations.
ART 101 History Of Western Art: Ancient To Medieval
David, Johnston
Content: Painting, sculpture, and architecture from the ancient world through the Middle Ages. Offers a sociohistorical and interdisciplinary perspective, situates key monuments in a variety of contexts: the role of art in religious practices, power and politics, and the relations of literary and visual culture. Exploration of themes and skills essential to art historical analysis.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 102 Two-Dimensional Foundations
Watkins
Content: Studio course that introduces fundamental principles and elements of design, which are essential for all disciplines of two-dimensional art. Vocabulary of composition emphasized through practice, theory, and critical analysis with reference to historical and contemporary art. Complex problem-solving skills mastered through the implementation of various black-and-white and color media.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 103 Three-Dimensional Foundations
Watkins
Content: Studio course that introduces fundamental elements of design and their progression from no dimension to at least three dimensions. Consideration of these elements as tools for giving thoughts and ideas physical existence. Recognition, manipulation, and organization of visual elements and gaining skills in critiquing these processes. Understanding and interaction with material and space, and gaining an appreciation of materials as a realm for problem solving and decision making.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 111 History Of Western Art: Renaissance To 20th Century
David, Johnston
Content: Painting, sculpture, and architecture from the beginnings of the Renaissance to the 20th century. Offers a sociohistorical and interdisciplinary perspective, situates key monuments in a variety of contexts: the role of art in religious practices, in the rise of the social status of the artist, in power and politics, and in representations of gender. Exploration of themes and skills essential to art historical analysis.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 113 Sculpture I
Rathbun
Content: Three-dimensional form explored through a variety of media and techniques--wood, stone, plaster, metal, assemblage. Short exercises to suggest the possibilities and complexities of three-dimensional form, followed by more complex techniques and materials.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 115 Drawing I
Beers
Content: Working from a variety of subject matter, students develop hand-eye coordination, and the ability to see and organize drawings. Various materials and concepts are explored through line, shape, value, gesture, texture, composition.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 116 Ceramics I
Vogel
Content: Ideas and basic techniques exploring clay as an art material: pinch, coil, slab, modular construction, and wheel throwing, with focus on nonfunctional art. Introduction to glaze techniques, kiln loading, firing, and basic concepts of three-dimensional design. The aesthetics of form, visual thinking, the history of ceramics.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 117 Painting I
Tomlinson
Content: Fundamentals of using oil paints in a representational and abstract manner. Emphasis on gaining technical proficiency with color and paint handling, finding self-direction, and identifying precedents in the history of painting. Topics explored include representation, abstraction, postmodernism, collage. Students will develop and use critical language that addresses the inherent issues in painting.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 120 Photography I
Miller
Content: Photographic equipment, materials, processes, philosophy. Experimenting with paper and film, small camera operation, roll-film processing, enlarging, finishing, mounting. Fundamental principles and elements of design, historical and contemporary trends, development of individual expression.
Prerequisite: None. Students must have a 35mm film camera.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 152 History Of East Asian Art: China
Odell
Content: Painting, sculpture, and architecture of China from the Neolithic period to the present day.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 153: History Of East Asian Art: Japan And Korea
Odell
Content: Painting, sculpture, and architecture Japan and Korea from the Neolithic period to the present day.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 201 Modern European Art
Johnston
Content: Developments in the European tradition, 1860 to 1940, that culminate in experiments in abstraction in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Realism, impressionism, postimpressionism, expressionism, fauvism, cubism, dada, surrealism.
Prerequisite: None. Art 111 recommended.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 207 Pre-Columbian Art
Johnston
Content: Overview of the art of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca civilizations, other major early Central and South American cultures. Examination of architecture, sculpture, ceramics, painting; how the arts played a key role in developing a sense of continuity within these societies across time and distance.
Prerequisites: Core 106 and 107.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 213 Sculpture II
Rathbun
Content: Advanced assignments in specific materials. Focus is on creating a limited number of projects displaying advanced conceptual and technical proficiency.
Prerequisite: Art 113.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 215 Drawing II
Beers
Content: Further development of drawing skills to communicate complex structural and conceptual problems. Advanced control over the major facets of drawing through experimentation with diverse drawing materials and contexts related primarily to the human figure.
Prerequisite: Art 115.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 216 Ceramics II
Vogel
Content: Intermediate study of clay and its properties as an art material. Students may pursue handbuilding, wheel throwing, glazing techniques, and kiln firing, with focus on nonfunctional art. Emphasis on design, form, visual thinking.
Prerequisite: Art 116.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 217 Painting II
Tomlinson
Content: Consideration of directed questions and topics in painting. Students develop a body of work while clarifying personal sensibilities to subject matter, identifying sources pertinent to their subject, strengthening technique and material knowledge, understanding their personal working process, expanding their critical language.
Prerequisite: Art 117.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 220 Photography II
Miller
Content: Emphasis on the relationship between exposure, film development, and finished print. Exploration of other film formats, scale, and refinement of the print to develop a consistent portfolio of finished work. Techniques and concepts address historical and contemporary issues. Introduction to color and digital photography.
Prerequisite: Art 120 or consent of instructor. Students must have a 35mm or larger film camera.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 221 Alternative Photographic Processes
Staff
Content: Introducing the intermediate student to nonsilver photographic processes, with emphasis on combining a variety of media to form one-of-a-kind photo-based images. Historical and contemporary trends.
Prerequisite: Art 120 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 222 Digital Photography
Staff
Content: Introduction to contemporary art photography produced through digital imaging. Emphasis on the integration of composition, subject, concept and text manipulation, and output. Basic technical skills of digital software and application of them in creation of digital artwork. Techniques and concepts studied and practiced through lectures, readings, assignments, and critical analyses that address contemporary issues in the digital arts. Experience on Macintosh computers desirable.
Prerequisite: Art 120 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 227 Special Topics In Studio Art
Content: Select and study a topic or medium in studio art that is not addressed in the currently listed courses.
Prerequisite: 100-level studio course.
Taught: Alternate years.
ART 254 History Of Buddhist Art
Odell
Content: The artistic tradition engendered by the Buddhist faith as it originated in India and migrated to China, Japan, and Korea. Discussions of architecture, sculpture, painting, and illustrated books documenting transformations in Buddhist doctrine. European responses to Buddhism in the period of colonization.
Prerequisite: None. Course in art history or East Asian studies recommended.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 256 Modern And Contemporary Chinese Art
Odell
Content: Key movements and artists in China and the Chinese diaspora from the 19th century through today. Exploration of "Chinese" cultural identity as expressed in global economies of art production and performance. Consideration of painting, prints, calligraphy, photography, and sculpture, as well as mixed-media installations, performance art, video, and Web-based art.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 304 History Of American Art
Johnston
Content: American art and architecture from the colonial period until the Great Depression. Cultural traits revealed through various art forms.
Prerequisite: Art 111 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 305 Early Renaissance Art And Architecture
David
Content: Advanced introduction to the art of the early Italian Renaissance. Consideration of key works of painting, sculpture, and architecture from 1230 to 1500. Examination of the role of narrative painting, the relationship of art to the intellectual movement of Renaissance humanism, representations of gender and sexuality, Renaissance color theory.
Prerequisite: Art 101 or 111 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 306 High Renaissance Art And Architecture
David
Content: Examination of the art of 16th-century Italy. Special attention given to the works of Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, and to the artists associated with "mannerism," which will be explored as a period and a concept. Consideration of themes including working practices, the changing social status of the artist, developments in artistic theory, the cultural engagement with classical antiquity, the crisis in religious art in the context of the Reformation, controversies of conservation (for example, the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel), different articulations of visual narrative.
Prerequisite: Art 101 or 111.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 307 History Of Photography
Johnston
Content: The history of photography from its invention through contemporary practice. Major technical developments, changes in perceptions of the social role, and meaning of the photographic image. Examination of the manner in which photography has served as a tool for creating art in other media, the nature of its documentary status, and what kind of unique aesthetic experience it provides on its own.
Prerequisite: Art 111.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 309 Art Of New York
Staff
Content: Art and art history through the cultural resources of New York City. Exploration of how art gets made, how it reaches the public, and the process of its interpretation and display. Art majors may participate in the New York program only during their sophomore or junior year, because they must be on campus during the senior year.
Prerequisite: Art 111 or 201 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Annually, on New York program, 4 semester credits. Taught in New York.
ART 313 Sculpture III
Rathbun
Content: Projects designed by the student in consultation with the instructor. In-depth exploration of advanced technical and aesthetic problems of students' choice.
Prerequisite: Art 213.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 315 Drawing III
Beers
Content: Advanced exploration of drawing, including nontraditional means and contemporary practices in the field.
Prerequisite: Art 215.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 316 Ceramics III
Vogel
Content: Advanced aesthetic, technical, and conceptual problems in clay.
Prerequisite: Art 216.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 317 Painting III
Tomlinson
Content: Development of a significant informed body of work through advanced problems and self-directed study.
Prerequisite: Art 217.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 320 Photography III
Miller
Content: The interrelation of subject matter, concept, and technique. Experimentation with aesthetic and technical considerations including camera formats, scale, sequence, color or alternative processes, portfolio presentation.
Prerequisite: Art 220. Students must have a 35mm or larger film camera.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 321 Advanced Alternative Photographic Processes
Staff
Content: Introducing the advanced student to nonsilver photographic processes, with emphasis on combining a variety of media to form one-of-a-kind photobased images. Historical and contemporary trends.
Prerequisite: Art 221.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 333 Dante And The Visual Arts
David
Content: Dante's Divine Comedy and visualizations of the poem created in a variety of media from the 14th century to the present. Exploration of how Dante's poetry was influenced by the art and visual culture of his time, and how artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, Blake, Delacroix, Ingres, Rodin, and Rauschenberg have engaged the complex world Dante created. Examination of contemporary film and popular culture as well as high art. Consideration of the implications of Dante's concept of "visible speech."
Prerequisites: Core 106 and 107.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 355 Early Modern Art In Asia And Europe
Odell
Content: Comparative analysis of developments in East Asian and European art of the 17th and early 18th centuries. Emphasis on the exchange of artistic influence through global trade, religious missions, diplomacy, war. Examination of oil and ink painting, calligraphy, sculpture, prints, and objects of the "China Trade," including ceramics, lacquer, textiles.
Prerequisite: Art 152, 153, or 111.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 356 The Art Of The Print In Early Modern East Asia
Odell
Content: The study of prints as objects of everyday use in early modern Japan and China, with an emphasis on how printed pictures circulated and inculcated norms and normative practices in urban milieux.
Prerequisite: Art 152 or 153.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 401 Art After 1945
David, Johnston
Content: Art and art criticism from 1945 to the present, facilitated through exploration of current work, museums, galleries.
Prerequisite: Art 111 or 201.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ART 411 Senior Seminar: Studio
Tomlinson
Content: Examination of critical issues in contemporary art for developing artists. Practical and theoretical questions artists face today: how art is defined and understood (or misunderstood) in our culture, varieties of theoretical practices, and the artist's relation to the institutions of art.
Prerequisite: Art majors with senior standing.
Taught: Annually, during fall semester only, 4 semester credits.
ART 451 Special Topics In Art History
David, Johnston, Odell
Content: Reading and critical analysis organized around themes or problems in art history. Focus varies depending on instructors teaching and research areas.
Prerequisite: One 100- or 200-level art history course or consent of instructor.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits. May be taken twice for credit.
ART 490A Senior Project: Studio
Beers, Miller, Rathbun, Tomlinson, Vogel, Watkins
Content: Independent project in student's area of specialization, culminating in an in-depth series of artwork.
Prerequisites: Senior standing. Declared art majors who have completed at least two courses in their area of specialization. Consent of advisor. Students must spend both semesters of their senior year on campus. Students must contact their advisors in the spring of their junior year to discuss their senior projects.
Taught: Annually, during fall semester only, 2 semester credits.
ART 490B Senior Project: Studio
Beers, Miller, Rathbun, Tomlinson, Vogel, Watkins
Content: Independent project in student's area of specialization, culminating in an in-depth series of artwork.
Prerequisite: Art 490A. Students must spend both semesters of their senior year on campus.
Taught: Annually, during spring semester only, 2 semester credits.
ART 493 Senior Project: Art History
David, Johnston, Odell
Content: Advanced research seminar and introduction to theoretical problems and perspectives central to art historical analysis. Exploration of themes, tools, and important issues in the field, including formalism, style, iconography, historiography, authorship, "offensive" art, narrative, gender, mechanical and digital reproduction, structuralism, and poststructuralism. Investigation of key problems and differences of opinion in the discipline. Development of skills essential to the practices of art history: writing, researching, oral presentation, intellectual dialogue. Culminates in a 40-minute oral presentation and a 25-page thesis.
Prerequisites: Three of the following five: Art 101, 111, 152, 153, or 207. Two upper-division art history courses. History 300 strongly recommended.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ART 499 Independent Study
Staff
Content: Independent projects designed in consultation with department faculty.
Prerequisite: The 300-level course in the medium or art historical period.
Taught: Annually, 2-4 semester credits.