Foundations Courses
Required of all majors (except Art History and Music)
Foundations Program: Curriculum Guide
FOU 101 - Visual Arts Seminar
Credits 3 Satisfies University Studies requirement: Learning through Engagement
Lecture / 3 hours per week
A forum to present contemporary themes in art and design. This course will focus on conceptual and formal themes in order to explore influences that define contemporary art and design. Students will develop a keener comprehension of issues in contemporary art, explore majors with in CVPA, and be introduced to the intellectual community of CVPA and the University. Students will practice writing, critical thinking, collaborative learning and social/civic activities. This course is designed for first semester art majors.
FOU 110 - Foundation: Structural Drawing
Credits 3 Studio / 6 hours per week
Requirements: Prerequisite: CVPA majors only; ARH and MUS majors by permission of the Foundation Studio Arts Director.
Introduction to the comprehensive visual language of drawing. Various projects and presentations expose students to numerous drawing approaches, including working with line, sighting, positive and negative shapes, value and composition. Students will apply these skills to idea generation, form and space development, experimental variations on design, and creative problem solving. Students are also introduced to the processes involved in planning, researching, and actualizing a major drawing project Critiques and lectures will help students develop an understanding of the critical issues of drawing and of its context within the history of art and design.
FOU 120 - 2D Form and Surface
Credits 3
Studio / 3 hours per week
Requirements: Pre-req: CVPA Students or permission of instructor
Fundamental principles of visual language, including formal, technical and conceptual aspects of image making in two-dimensions. Focus is placed on hand skills, observation, and implementation through a variety of materials, processes, and methodologies. Students will develop a visual and verbal language for analyzing, organizing, shaping, and communicating two-dimensional form and meaning. Course is designed for the first-year art student.
FOU 130 - 3D Form and Space
Credits 3
Studio / 3 hours per week
Requirements: Pre-req: CVPA Students or permission of instructor
Fundamental principles of the third dimension in art and design through the manipulation of materials. This course advances hand skills, accurate analysis of process, and a basic proficiency in a variety of methods. Students work with a range of materials to develop understanding of their character and appropriateness for particular solutions. Course designed for the first-year art student.
FOU 140 - Digital Essentials
Credits 3
Studio / 3 hours per week
Requirements: Pre-req: CVPA Students or permission of instructor
Fundamental digital media concepts and techniques in studio art and design practice. Emphasis is placed on the use of digital tools in all creative areas. Hands-on projects demonstrate and reinforce integration of computers in the creation of two, three, and four-dimensional work. Students will develop a visual and verbal language for developing, analyzing, and presenting work. Course is designed for first-year art students.
ARH 102 - Introduction to the History of Art
Credits 3
Satisfies University Studies requirement: Visual & Performing Arts
Lecture / 3 hours per week
A study of the history of art and visual culture from the ancient world to the present. This course consists of a chronological study of painting, sculpture and architecture as well as photography, film and digital media, with an emphasis on the historical, cultural and social forces that shape these artifacts.
ARH 200 - Theory & Criticism of Art & Design
Credits 3
Satisfies University Studies requirement: Intermediate Writing
Lecture / 3 hours per week
Requirements: Prerequisite ARH 102 or 125 or 150
A thematic approach to the systematic study of art and architecture. Through intensive reading and discussion, students will work with formal, iconographic, and contextual methodology to produce research papers which consider critically social, economic, political, and/or religious structures that influence and formulate visual art traditions. Objects selected for study will be determined by the instructor.