Foundations

Composed of a series of classes designed to give you a solid background in the visual arts, the Foundation Program’s goal is to prepare you, the student, for whatever artistic path you choose to pursue. Instructors help guide beginning students toward an understanding of the language used to see, discuss, and create art.  The foundations year is a time of growth, both intellectually and artistically. Students find the skills they develop in their first year are utilized again and again in their daily practice as professional artists.

Foundations studio courses meet for 6 hours per week in which intensive hands-on work; one-on-one instruction and classroom critiques take place. Within their first year students are enrolled in: two-dimensional design, three-dimensional design, drawing I and II as well as an Introductory Visual arts lecture course. Studio Coursework is project driven in which students respond to specific assignments that are designed to highlight essential concepts and skills. Experimentation is encouraged within a structured program fostering an environment that supports both technical and conceptual problem solving and individual expression.

The Faculty views the breadth and depth of a visual arts education applicable to many aspects of your life.  It is our hope that you will continue to draw from a skill set gained through intense and inspiring visual experimentation and to utilize your aesthetic judgment, not just within the boundaries of your college career, but in all that you do.

The culmination of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program is a Capstone project developed by the student in consultation with a faculty advisor. The student’s work on this project is shown in a Senior Exhibition in the school’s Birke Art Gallery or in another venue on the Marshall University campus.

 

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