Printmaking Courses

Propaganda: Media, Dissemination, Technique

Course No. PRI 240-340-440  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Maggie Denk-Leigh

From punk bands to political rallies, different techniques have been used to create attention- grabbing graphics. Through a variety of projects in this course, students will explore a range of techniques including approaches to screen-printing from simple stencil making methods; direct drawing on the screens; to a variety of ways to use photo emulsion, including the integration of digital imaging software. The emphasis of this class is the development of rich personal imagery and the relationship of form working with content to effectively communicate ideas. This course is for students from all levels and majors. Notes: Open Elective. Encouraged for Third/Fourth year students as an Elective Studio. Required for fourth-year Print Majors.

Role of the Artist as Producer (EP)

Course No. VAT 400  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Lane Cooper | Sarah Paul

Contemporary artists have a multitude of ways they can engage with the larger world, beyond the realm of the gallery or museum. Students enrolled in this course will explore various models of artistic production including, but not limited to, performer, activist, curator and provocateur. The relationship between method of creation and idea, or the handmade versus the industrial, will be investigated. Additionally, assignments will challenge students to analyze the content of their artwork within local, national, and global contexts. Coursework will include studio work, readings, discussion, and critiques. Required for VAT seniors in all majors. Open as an elective with approval of instructor. Offered fall.

Silkscreen

Course No. PRI 270-370-470  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Jessica Pinsky

Students will investigate surface, mark, and materiality from both a technical and conceptual point of view. The silkscreen can accept a wide variety of printing substances (pigments, inks, dyes, mud, talc, honey, etc), and can be applied to an equally diverse range of surfaces. Lectures, readings, and critiques will help students understand the historical role of screenprint and how it relates to their own work. Open Elective for all students above the Foundation level.

The Artist's Practice in Context

Course No. VAT 200X-300X-400X  Credits: 1.5

As a complement to the Professional Practices course, “The Artist’s Practice in Context” is specifically designed for Visual Arts majors. The course takes an intimate look at the professional practices of artists working in major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles or Berlin. As part of the course students examine the realities of maintaining a professional practice within the context of this focus community. Students, guided and directed by faculty, are immersed in that community through such activities as studio visits; meeting with area arts professionals and at art venues. Open to all. Students must be 18 years old or over and must sign a waiver to travel with the group. Course may be taken more than once for additional credit.

The Liberated Print: Investigation of Alternative Methods

Course No. PRI 277-377-477  Credits: 3.0

This course creates a context for students to negotiate the challenging and complex issues embedded in the making of contemporary printed images. Projects and techniques complement and extend methods of traditional processes, allowing students room to invent, arrange, analyze and create connections through more immediate printmaking methods to their major fields of study. This class will concentrate on the intuitive, spontaneous and fluid approaches in printmaking such as: monoprint, collagraph, transfer drawing, Xerox litho, and wood intaglio, instigating the dialog between the limited edition vs. singular print, and the original versus a copy. We will consider formats that bridge other disciplines working with color, installation and three-dimensional/sculptural constructions with considerations to work on paper. The course will offer experiences that provide the tools to understand print media within a contemporary framework. Encouraged for third and fourth year students with a painting and drawing emphasis as an elective studio. Required for third-year Print majors.

Visual Arts: Aesthetics, Style + Content

Course No. VAT 300  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Amber Kempthorn | Christian Wulffen | William Lorton

Focuses primarily on the acquisition of creative and technical skills in the context of the development of original ideas and personal style. Studio work will consist of the practical exploration of the relationship between formal, technical, aesthetic, and stylistic issues relative to the personal, and thematic subjects of the student’s own choosing. Relative to this, in the seminar portion of the course the students are given critical, theoretical, and philosophical background to issues surrounding the subjects of style, aesthetics and content. In the studio the students are encouraged to think of their work as an integrative whole consisting of these various components. In this context they are required to engage in independent critical research on topics relevant to their work. The research takes the form of both archival and studio work and is presented in both visual and written form. This course is required for all junior students in Visual Arts. Offered spring.

Working Collaboratively + Group Dynamics

Course No. VAT 354-454  Credits: 3.0

Though the image of the artist is that of the solitary individual striving to express their vision Ð the contemporary practice of art is peppered with numerous examples of artists collaborating. This course will focus on how the presentations of images, and objects have been effected by changing social and cultural perspectives and the technologies of reproduction. These extend form something as simple as organizing a group exhibition, to the type of social interventions practiced by the Guerrilla Girls or the work of such entities as Gilbert and George, or the collective N55. This course through projects, readings, and critiques will explore the dynamic of working collaboratively. Each exercise will address different processes, skill-sets and interpersonal relationships. Through classroom discussion, lectures, and studio assignments the social, historical, cultural, technological context that gave rise to the current practices of collage, assemblage and installation will be elaborated. This course is open to majors from all disciplines and students will be encouraged to apply their area of expertise to assignments and classroom readings and discussion. This course is open to students from all disciplines and is not media specific.