Art (B.A. / B.F.A.)
Courses
FA 141 Art and the Self: Awakening the Transcendental Basis of Artistic Genius by Expressing the Full Range of Life in a Self-Portrait
Students delve into the creative process with focus on the self-portrait. To learn about the history of the self-portrait, they view some of the most famous self-portraits in Western art by Dürer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Anguissola, Vigee-Lebrun, Kollwitz, Escher, and others. Then they create their own. Through lectures and readings on art by Maharishi, students come to appreciate art from the deepest perspective — that all art originates within the Self of the artist, and they verify this from their own experience as artists. Topics include —principles of design and drawing. Students learn to use and combine the simple elements of line, shape, tone, and change of direction to foster self-expression. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 201 Art and Nature: Expressing Art from the Source of Natural Law through Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Beauty and Wonder of Nature
Students gain an appreciation for the mechanics of creation as experienced in the natural world and within the realm of one’s own awareness as they engage in creative expression and the making of art. Through the experience of an ongoing interdisciplinary project, inspired by their observation of nature, students prepare a unique aesthetic presentation. Topics include —drawing from nature, photographing nature, design and camouflage, math in nature, music in nature, the language of nature — Sanskrit, perceptual exercises, bird-watching, and earth and environmental artists, including Goldsworthy, Long, and the Harrisons. Materials fee: $35. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 203 Understanding Art: Culturing Aesthetic Sensibility by Appreciating and Creating Art as an Expression of the Heart, Mind and Universal Self
Art is a celebration of life. This course cultures an appreciation for art through both intellectual knowledge and the experience of creating art. Slide lectures, discussions, readings, and studio workshops reveal that art is structured in the multilayered consciousness of the artist and the audience, and in the collective consciousness of the culture. The greatest art works give glimpses of the goal of all creativity — the universal Self in higher states of consciousness — and thus continue to inspire people throughout time. Topics include —the fundamentals of art— form, function, and symbolism as seen in art from many eras and cultures; the great achievements of sacred art; the range of contemporary approaches to interpreting art; and creativity in art and the cosmos. Course includes field trips to art museums, galleries, and artists’ studios. Field trip fee: $20. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 205 Principles of Design: The Quest for Balance and Unity in Art and Life
This course provides the knowledge and practical experience of how visual elements are organized by principles universal to the fine and applied arts. Topics include —examining and applying design principles and vocabulary such as figure/ground, interdependence, symmetry, rhythm, shape, and texture; understanding how these principles and their components apply to the scope of the visual arts, including drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography, graphic design, architecture, fabric design, and landscaping; and understanding and expressing how design principles can be correlated to the balance and order of the universe and to individual life and living. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
MC 282 Video Production: Understanding and Applying the Aesthetics of Motion Pictures and the Technologies of Digital Video to Transform the World with a Vision of Unbounded Possibilities
Students learn the basic skills of video production by participating in the production of a variety of different scenes and subjects. Students will learn to handle and care for production apparatus including lights, cameras, and sound equipment, and will learn the different roles to be played in the process of shooting a video, including director, director of photography, gaffer, grip, electrician, art department, assistant directors, and production assistants. Lab fee: $150. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
MC 284 Video Editing: Utilizing Digital Tools for Capturing, Cutting, Sequencing, and Compositing Sound and Image to Create Artistic Wholeness
Video editing requires the students to be able to synthesize all the different elements of their video into a greater whole. Students produce and direct video productions, and then complete them in the Department’s nonlinear digital video editing lab with a particular emphasis on creative approaches to editing. For inspiration, students analyze examples of great camera work, lighting, mise-en-scene, and montage. Topics include —the language of the moving image, the 180 degree system, Murch’s Rule of Six, and principles of dramatic unity; shot selection, cutting techniques, sound mixing, and color correction; special effects, filters, keys, and key frames. Lab fee: $150. (4 credits) Prerequisite: MC 282
FA 291 Video and Time-Based Art: Using Contemporary Digital Video Technologies to Depict Subtle Expressions of Consciousness in Motion
Video as a medium and form of artistic expression goes beyond narrative story line and/or documentary video/filmmaking, into fourth dimensional time-based art. Since the 1960s, video has been adopted by visual artists who have taken their work out of the studios into everyday life. Students will gain theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in digital video technologies. They will apply this knowledge and experience to create works that make use of the layered possibilities in video as a unique art form in the electronic age, a medium with the potential to inspire and uplift the world. Topics include —the history of video as time-based art, its transition into the digital/interactive domain, and its crossover into other disciplines including conceptual art, performance, sculpture and multi-channel video installation. Lab fee: $150. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 301 Drawing 1 — Drawing from Within: Engaging the Principles of Observation through the Action of Drawing
In this course, students develop powers of observation and imagination, abilities that are vital for all the arts. Students focus on establishing the use of principles of drawing through observational methods. Topics include —still life, figure drawing, interior and landscape. Art and design majors take drawing courses as they advance through the curriculum. Can be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. Materials fee: $35. (1-4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 302 Drawing 2 — Drawing from Within: Exploring New Materials and Possibilities for Self-Expression
Students learn to use the power of drawing to convey a story, thus revealing in a visual narrative the sequential unfoldment of consciousness. Students engage the fundamental principles of drawing while introducing a variety of methods and materials; this sustains aesthetic unity while encouraging diversity in the discovery process and the resulting image. Taught in an open studio situation, the course allows the teacher to address both the general needs of the group and the specific needs of the individual student to advance in the experience of drawing as a means of self-expression. Materials fee: $35. (1- 4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 304 Drawing Studio: Exploring Alternate Viewpoints
Students explore drawing with an emphasis on process, and its result, as a response to nature and the environment. Different applied viewpoints may include: illustration, graphics, animation, architecture, site-specific sculpture, industrial design, painting, sculpture. The theme of the course depends on the instructor. Materials fee: approximately $75, which includes field trips. Prerequisites: FA 301 or FA 201 or FA351 or FA 532 or FA 205
FA 311 Painting 1: Growth of the Artist through Refinement of Perception and Enhancement of the Ability to Discriminate and Integrate
FA 312 Painting 2: Growth of the Artist through Refinement of Perception and the Expansion of Flexibility, Subtlety, Expression, Spontaneity, and Evenness by Means of the Brush (Prerequisite: FA 311)
FA 316 Painting 3: Growth of the Artist through Refinement of Perception and the Expansion of the Methods and Materials of Painting
Painting expresses the artist’s connection with the deep laws fundamental to seeing and creating visual images. Students are immersed in the fundamentals of drawing and painting from nature and a variety of other subject matter. The curriculum addresses the students’ development of formal and technical skills along with a conceptual and critical understanding of the language of painting as preparation for independent studio work. Can be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. (1–4 credits each) Prerequisite: FA 311, 312 or consent of instructor
FA 331 Photography 1 — Capturing Moments of Light: Learning the Essentials of the Darkroom and Appreciating Photography as a Tool for Refined Artistic Expression Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 332 Photography 2 — Capturing Moments of Light: Developing Photography as a Tool for Refined Artistic Expression
Students learn to use the photographic medium as a tool for exploring and expressing the finest values of awareness. Students develop their work by learning basic camera techniques and darkroom procedures, while they are also introduced to a broad range of fine art photography. Students must have access to a 35mm camera. Can be repeated for credit (with more advanced projects) with permission of the instructor. Lab fee: $150–$200 per course. (1–4 credits) Prerequisite: FA 331 or consent of instructor
FA 335 Digital Photography: Unlocking the Power of Light
Digital photography helps strengthen the connection between the photographer’s vision and the resulting images by providing nearly instant feedback and furnishing ever-subtler tools for self-expression. In this course, students learn foundational principles that underlie commercial digital photography, while using principles of consciousness to consolidate both the experience and understanding of digital photography. Topics include —mastering the digital camera, managing a digital work flow, color management in theory and practice, visualizing light and how to control it in the digital darkroom. Lab fee: $150. (1–4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 341 Ceramics 1 — Shaping the Unmanifest: Clay Forming, Glazing and Firing through Handbuilding Methods
Students learn the entire process of ceramics from making clay to firing pottery, providing them with the basic skills necessary to express consciousness in matter in this medium. Topics include —addressing the vessel with handbuilding methods such as pinch, coil and slab construction; basic glazing methods; earthenware, stoneware, and raku firing methods. Lab fee: $45. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 342 Ceramics 2 — Shaping the Unmanifest: Throwing Pottery Forms on the Wheel
Wheelthrowing opens a new dimension of experience for the student potter. The challenge to center and form a pot while the clay is spinning through the hands leads to a synchronicity that powerfully connects potter and pot, consciousness and matter, in the process of creation. This intensive course focuses on establishing the student’s basic wheelthrowing skills with simple forms. Topics include —addressing form, glazing and function in wheel work. Lab fee: $45. (4 credits) Prerequisite: FA341 or consent of instructor
FA 343 Ceramics 3 — Shaping the Unmanifest: Integration of Surface and Form through Enlivening Color and Pattern
The integration of surface and form is a further development of the connection of inner and outer aspects of the ceramic form. Students continue to develop and integrate handbuilding and wheelthrowing methods of forming. Topics include —specific focus on exploring glaze, and surface possibilities such as drawing, color, texture, and their relation to the aesthetic and functional components of ceramics. Lab fee: $45. (4 credits) Prerequisite: FA341 and 342 or consent of instructor
FA 344 Ceramics 4 — Shaping the Unmanifest: Developing Sculptural Possibilities in Ceramic Form
Sculpture has a natural relationship with the development of ceramics in that it extends the 3-dimensional play and enriches the possibilities of storytelling — consciousness revealing its process of unfoldment — in clay forms. Topics include —focusing on the various visual, functional and conceptual considerations (including tile, bas relief, freestanding form, and installation) that take ceramics in a sculptural direction. Lab fee:
$45. (4 credits) Prerequisites: FA 341 and FA 342 or consent of instructor
FA 351 Sculpture 1 — Bas Relief: Breathing Life into Matter
By exploring organic forms and creating designs from imagination, students make original sculptural surfaces that emerge from a two-dimensional plane. Exercises that expand the capacity to envision and create give students a deeper appreciation of the nature, creation, and function of sculpture, and thus the opportunity to express the fundamental laws that structure form in the natural world. Topics include —low, middle and high relief; organizing principles of two and three-dimensional design (balance, rhythm, economy, etc.); light and shadow; transforming clay reliefs into plaster reliefs; the history of relief sculpture. Materials: paper/cardboard, clay and plaster. Materials fee: $40. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 352 Sculpture 2 — The Portrait: Mirroring the Self
Students continue the exploration and expression of form on a more personal level —they have the opportunity to mirror the different layers of their own consciousness in lifelike self-portraits. Students experience the controlled creation and evolution of their portrait as they sculpt in clay, transform the portrait into plaster, and cast the finished work in porcelain. Topics include —drawing the portrait (contour and tonal); sculpting the portrait; working from observation; organizing principles of three-dimensional design; proportion; form relationships; making plaster molds; slip casting; photographing sculpture; and the history of portrait sculpture. Materials: clay, plaster, and porcelain slip (liquid clay). Materials fee: $40. Prerequisite: FA 351 (4 credits)
FA 353 Sculpture 3 — The Figure: Embodying the Fullness of Consciousness
This course emphasizes sculpting the human figure, which has the potential to embody the fullness of consciousness within the cosmos. Students continue to explore the principles that structure form. In addition, they develop skills and gain the technological know-how for sculpting, mold-making, casting, making limited editions, and mass production. Topics include —drawing the figure (contour and tonal); principles of three-dimensional design; making an armature; sculpting the figure in clay; working from observation; form/space relationship; proportion; anatomy (skeletal and musculature); mold-making, casting slip (liquid clay); the history of figure sculpture. Materials: clay, plaster and slip. Materials fee: $40. Prerequisites: FA 351, FA 352 (4 credits)
FA 361 Digital Imaging and Graphic Design 1: Exploring the Nature of the Image, Imagination, and Reality Using Advanced Tools for Digital Image Creation and Manipulation
Students explore the digital image, the visual world and imagination in a series of image creation and manipulation projects. Goals of the course are to gain comfort and develop expertise with digital imaging tools, and to apply this expertise by developing a portfolio that explores the nature of visual reality. Topics include the digital camera, the scanner, and the printer; composition, light and shadow, depth of field, and color; image creation strategies, digital painting, digital 3-D modeling and rendering, and digital photography; selection tools, transformations, filters, layers, and masks. Lab fee: $150 per course. Prerequisites: basic computer skills. (4 credits)
FA 362 Digital Imaging and Graphic Design 2: Bringing Art to Life by Integrating Photography, Typography, Graphics, and Illustration
Students work on multifaceted projects that bring art to life by integrating illustration, photography, typography and graphic design. Projects include poster design and book design (which may have either a commercial art or fine art orientation), and stationery design, brochure design and advertising design (which have a more purely commercial orientation). Topics include digital painting and drawing, vector graphics manipulation, and digital page layout; drawing and illustration techniques, typography, and principles of graphic design; letter form design, logo design, and page design. Lab fee: $150 per course. Prerequisite: FA 361 or equivalent experience. (4 credits)
MC 363 Web Design and Web Animation 1: Creating Digital Art in a Self-Interactive Universe
Students undertake study of XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets, and principles of design for dynamic media, which they apply in the creation of a portfolio of beautiful, highly functional, standards-compliant, and highly usable Web pages. Topics include —creative approaches to Web design; XHTML syntax, tags, attributes, entities, DTDs and validation; CSS; creating hierarchies with color, type, and imagery; principles of usability for interactive media; using a visual lexicon for designer-client communication; examples of outstanding Web design studios; homesteading the noosphere. Lab fee: $150. Prerequisite: MC 260, FA 361 or equivalent experience. (4 credits)
MC 365 Web Design and Web Animation 2: Integrating Interactive Vector Graphics, Animation, 3-D, Video, and Audio to Create Illuminating User Experiences
Students learn to use advanced tools for Web design and interactive animation, 3-D, and video, to build richly interactive Web sites that inspire the viewer. Topics include —Web 2.0; conceptualizing the user experience; creating innovative and elegant user interfaces; interactive vector graphics animation; content management systems; 3-D animation for the Web; streaming video; creating cinematic user interfaces. Lab fee: $150. Prerequisites: MC 363 or equivalent experience. (4 credits)
FA 373 Visiting Artist Studio: Exploring the Relationship of Parts to Whole in the Work of Art
This is an opportunity to study with visiting faculty who present topics in two-dimensional, three-dimensional, time-based and/or new media disciplines. The course is tailored to all levels — beginning through advanced. Topics include formal and conceptual approaches, contrasting contemporary with historical viewpoints, exploring materials, tools, and methods, and developing the creative process. This course will emphasize the development of a broad comprehension and the ability to focus — the relationship of parts to whole in the work of art. (1-4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 381 Prehistoric to Medieval Art: Discovering the Eternal Quest for Immortality in Western Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture
Students explore the great achievements of art and architecture in prehistoric cultures and in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and the European Middle Ages. In each of these cultures, the quest for immortality created art that continues to inspire human consciousness. Students examine how contemporary artists have been influenced by art from these periods. Topics include —sacred sites that connected humanity with the cosmos, the Mother Goddess in art and culture, the development of styles in Egyptian and Greek art and how they mirror stages in the unfoldment of consciousness, and the creation of a heavenly kingdom on Earth in Christian art and architecture. A highlight of the course is a 4-day field trip to a major art center such as New York, St. Louis or Kansas City. Field trip fee: $175–$225 (or more). (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 382 Renaissance to Contemporary Art: The Search for Fulfillment in Art and Life from the Renaissance to Modernism, Post-Modernism, and an Emerging Art of Expanded Awareness
Students focus on the most inspiring creations of Western art and architecture from the 1400s to the twenty-first century. They discover how artists have expressed both sacred and secular values in their quest for perfection in art and fulfillment in life. This epoch’s vast amount of art is comprehended in terms of cultural paradigms — a paradigm is both an era’s ideal of art and a world-view. The four major paradigms covered are: Renaissance, Modernism, Post-Modernism, and an emerging contemporary paradigm—an art of expanded awareness. Topics include —the transformation of art and consciousness in each paradigm; the integration of spirit and matter in Renaissance art; how the art of the past has influenced modern artists; and the artists, styles, symbols cultural values, and aspects of consciousness expressed in the major paradigms. A highlight of the course is a 4-day field trip to a major art center such as Chicago. Field trip fee: $175–$225. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 383 Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Art: Awakening to the Search for Self-Realization
Students focus on major movements in art from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, and also examine the influence of Japanese and African art on artists of this period. Students explore how modern art and culture express a quest for self-realization in higher states of consciousness. Topics include —the search for transcendence in the art and theories of modern artists; the phase transition from traditional art to modern art, post-modern art and a visionary art of the future; the styles of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Non-Objective Art, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Environmental Art, an art of refined perception, etc. A highlight of the course is a 4-day field trip to a major art center such as Chicago. Textbook fee: $20; field trip fee: $175–$225. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 384 Traditions of World Art: Exploring Ancient Art that Transcends Time and Place by Embodying the Wholeness of Life
Students journey through the glorious traditions of world art, including Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Islamic, African, and Native American art. All traditions reflect both unique cultural values and universal values, such as the aspiration to embody the wholeness of life in higher states of consciousness. Students also explore how the arts of these cultures continue to inspire modern artists. Topics include —The world views of traditional cultures compared to the world view of the modern West; the nature and functions of sacred art; the embodiment of forces of nature in Indian art, Taoist and Buddhist painting and sculpture, Islamic design and architecture, African masks and ritual objects, and Native American art and artifacts. A highlight of the course is a 3–4 day field trip to a major art center such as Chicago, St. Louis or Kansas City. Field trip fee: $175–$225. (4 credits)
Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 398 Fieldwork: Applying Studio Knowledge in Practical Situations to Strengthen Action, Achievement, and Fulfillment
Students study or apprentice with an artist or art-related professional or facility, with the approval of their major advisor. Students document their experiences in sketchbooks and journals, and connect what they are learning to their knowledge and experience of consciousness. Fieldwork must be completed at least two months before graduation.
Prerequisite: consent of the Art faculty. (1–4 credits)
FA 470 Visual Culture Seminar: Deepening Artistic Experience and Intellectual Understanding for Creative Growth
Students examine the vocation, role, and responsibility of the contemporary artist and art critic in the light of their own artistic aspirations. This seminar focuses primarily on art criticism to develop the integration of intellectual understanding and studio practice. The concentrated experience of reading and writing about art cultures the habit of going more deeply into the substance of works of art, which nurtures the ability to more clearly apply and realize the highest values of visual expression. A highlight of the course is a field trip to a major art center, such as Chicago, Los Angeles or New York. Field trip fee: $250–500 (or more). (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109
FA 485 Advanced Studio in Painting and Drawing: Finding a Personal Voice in the Language of Painting and Drawing
Students have the opportunity to build on the experience of previous painting courses through the further development and deeper understanding of their own expression with paint. The focus of this course is to allow the student to form a strong personal direction and develop a personal conceptual framework in their studio exploration in painting. Topics include — exploring different methods and materials in painting, research in the history and current developments in the field of painting. Lab fee: $45. Prerequisites: FA311, FA312, FA 313. May be repeated for credit. (4 credits)
FA 486 Advanced Studio in Sculpture: Finding a Personal Voice in the Language of Sculpture
Students have the opportunity to build on the experience of previous sculpture courses through the further development and deeper understanding of their own expression in three-dimensional form. The focus of this course is to allow students to form a strong personal direction and develop a personal conceptual framework in their studio exploration of 3D media. Topics include —exploring advanced methods and materials in clay, plaster, wax, resin, etc. Students will also be engaged in researching the history and current developments in the field of sculpture. Lab fee $35 (Prerequisites: FA 341, 342, 343). May be repeated for credit. (4 credits)
FA 487 Advanced Studio in Ceramics: Finding a Personal Voice in the Language of Ceramics
Students have the opportunity to build on the experience of previous ceramics courses through the further development and deeper understanding of their own expression in clay. The focus of this course is to allow the student to form a strong personal direction and develop a personal conceptual framework in their studio exploration in ceramics. Topics include —exploring advanced methods and materials in clay and glaze, firing kilns, research in the history and current developments in the field of ceramics. Lab fee $45. (Prerequisites: FA 341, 342, 343). May be repeated for credit. (4 credits)
FA 488 Advanced Studio in Digital Media: Convergence of Imaging, Video, Animation, Graphics, Art, Computers, and Creativity
Students focus on advanced investigation of digital imaging, video, animation, graphic design or Web design, according to their chosen area of specialty, with a particular emphasis on creating strongly integrated works in which each detail contributes to the theme of the whole. Through workshops, students also develop practical skills that are useful to a career as an artist/designer, and that include portfolio preparation, writing a resume, and developing good relationships with clients or employers. Lab fee: $150. (4 credits) (Prerequisites: 12 credits of MC 282, MC 284, FA 335, FA 361, FA 362, MC 363, MC 365, MC 260, MC 311, MC 312, MC 313, MC 316, MC 321, or MC 322, lab fee up to $75. Ideally a student would have at least 12 credits of video or at least 12 credits of digital arts/digital photo/graphic design/Web design) May be repeated for credit.
MC 300 Narrative: Unifying and Unfolding the Full Range of Human Experience
This course examines the essential role of narrative in the creation of all forms of media. From the very beginnings of human records, whether it is mythology, scripture, literature, or the earliest cave paintings, the creators of these works have always told their audience a story or imparted a message by the use of narrative. In order to work in any creative medium, understanding the various ways in which narrative is used is a great advantage. This course will examine the range of narrative forms and narrative devices that have been used since the dawn of time right up until the modern day. We will discover that although the forms and types of media used might have changed as technology has advanced, in fact, most of the essential forms of narrative used in creative works have been with us for ages. Understanding why will reveal how narrative reflects both the universal and unique aspects of the experience of human life. As part of the course students will be required to undertake projects that aid the development of their own narrative skills. (4 credits) Prerequisite: STC 108/109 (4 credits)
MC 313 Documentary Filmmaking: Developing the means to explore human life in all its diversity and underlying unity
Documentary films have their basis in the real world. They are made for a variety of purposes but fundamentally they explore the entire range of human experience. This course will examine the role of documentary filmmaking and all the various forms of the documentary. It will be a fascinating journey that will take students all over the globe and throughout history dealing with a wide range of issues both past and present. In this course students will also examine how to make a documentary. It is therefore very practical in its focus. The first requirement to any documentary is knowing what the story is and what kind of story makes a good documentary. Having chosen a story, there is then the realization of it. This course will teach students the process of securing a commission from a TV channel or potential funder. Students will learn what is required to make the all-important pitch. They will then choose some stories and make short documentaries about them. Lab fee: $300. (8 credits) Prerequisites: MC 300, and either MC 282 or MC 284.
The content of this page was reviewed in August 2010.
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