Mar 29, 2024  
2009-2010 UMass Dartmouth Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2009-2010 UMass Dartmouth Undergraduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]

Fine Arts- Painting and Sculpture


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BFA degree

The Department of Fine Arts offers two majors: Painting/2D Studies and Sculpture/3D Studies. Students who choose one of these disciplines enter a rigorous, four-year program. As its foundation, each major has a structured, sequential drawing requirement which provides a rich visual vocabulary and a basis for visual problem solving. The department teaches the fundamental principles and skills of each discipline, enabling students to acquire the knowledge needed to produce a coherent, personal body of creative work.

Painting/2D Studies and Sculpture/3D Studies students have space, facilities and equipment which place the programs among the more desirable ones in the country. Juniors and seniors work in private studio areas. Each student receives individual attention from faculty committed to teaching excellence as well as the critical support that comes from working within a group. Students know that their instructors are active and respected artists who bring first-hand, up-to-date knowledge to their studios. Academic excellence is recognized annually by department and college awards.

Fine Arts also has an active Visiting Artist Program that brings well-known artists to the university on a regular basis to discuss their work, conduct workshops, and assess developments in the art world. The Department and College host or participate in many on and off-campus exhibitions. These experiences prepare students to enter the competitive, exciting world of the visual arts with confidence.

Specific Requirements for the Different Majors

All Fine Arts Majors are required to take one 300-level Art History elective in addition to the ARH 125, 150 and 200 requirements. Students are urged to take as much Art History as possible or to earn an Art History Minor.

*Studio Support: Painting/2D Studies Majors are required to take one 200-level sculpture course and one 200-level printmaking course.
Sculpture/3D Studies Majors are required to take one 200-level painting course and one 200-level printmaking course.

Studio Electives: Credits are fulfilled by taking studio courses offered by the following departments: Art Education, Artisanry, Design and Fine Arts.

Free elective: Any course will satisfy this requirement.

Foundation Studio Arts Program


Required of All Majors (except Art History and Music)

Foundation Studio Arts is a rigorous two-semester program. It is designed to promote creativity, to develop technical and conceptual skills, and to provide an essential awareness of our visual culture. Its drawing, two-dimensional and three-dimensional courses serve as prerequisites-requisites for all 200 or higher-level courses in Fine Arts, Artisanry, Visual Design and Art Education. Its art history components, Renaissance to Modern Art and Modern to Contemporary Art, serve as prerequisites for the higher-level Department of Art History study that is demanded by each of the studio art departments.

Except where transferred or advance placement examination credits are accepted in lieu of requirements, first-year students may expect to take seven courses, totaling 17 credits, in each of their two freshman semesters: One drawing course, one two-dimensional studio course, one three-dimensional studio course, one art history course, one English course, one single-credit Foundation Studio Arts lecture course (Visual Arts Colloquium I and II) and one non-studio class are taken each semester.

The successful completion of the Foundation Studio Arts program is a required of all candidates for a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
 

Requirements


First Year


Second Year


First Semester: 15 credits


  • Major Studio - 3 credits
  • Studio Support - 3 credits
    See * Specific Requirements for the Different Majors above.
  • Literature elective - 3 credits

Second Semester: 15 credits


  • Major Studio - 3 credits
  • Studio Support - 3 credits
    See * Specific Requirements for the Different Majors above.
  • Humanities or Social Science elective - 3 credits
  • English Elective - 3 credits

Third Year


First Semester: 15 credits


  • Major Studio - 6 credits
  • Studio Elective - 3 credits
  • Art History Elective - 3 credits

Second Semester: 15 credits


  • Major Studio - 3 credits
  • Science Elective - 3 credits
  • Mathematics elective - 3 credits

Fourth Year


First Semester: 15 credits


  • Major Studio/Visual Thesis - 6 credits
  • Hum or Soc Sci elective - 3 credits

Second Semester: 15 credits


  • Major Studio/Visual Thesis - 3 credits
  • Hum or Social Science elective - 3 credits
  • Science Elective - 3 credits
  • Studio Elective - 3 credits
  • Free Elective - 3 credits

Total credits: 124


General Education Departmental Requirements


Students majoring in a Fine Arts major will meet their departmentally-determined General Education requirements as follows:

Area E


Satisfied by any course from the approved list of Area E courses

Area I, Tier 2


Satisfied by:

Area W, Tier 2


Satisfied by:

Area O


Satisfied by any one of the following courses:

 

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