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Art

Alicia Henry, M.F.A., Discipline Coordinator

The academic discipline of art exposes students to a rigorous program of undergraduate courses that are designed to prepare majors for advanced study and professional careers. Many graduates undertake careers in teaching, lecturing, studio, museum studies, film animation, editorial cartooning, architecture, fashion design, and graphic illustration. Also, theatrical and motion picture set decoration, urban design, interior design, industrial design, computer graphics, museum conservation, museum education and administration, gallery entrepreneurship and other related areas. The discipline's curriculum is in keeping with the mission of Fisk University as a liberal arts institution and is taught in the spirit of the traditional academy wherein solid foundational training and sound philosophical values are highly prized.

The goals of the art discipline are:

  • To promote the fundamentals of visual communication, observation, and analysis;

  • To provide an understanding of works of art within a diverse historical and cultural context;

  • To promote and cultivate a lifelong commitment to the arts; and

  • To equip and prepare students for graduate and professional schools, and for careers in the arts.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of required and elective art undergraduate major courses, the student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate competency in a broad range of media and skillfully create artistic forms using techniques, tools, and methods appropriate;

  • Demonstrate competency in design principles common to all discipline;

  • Develop and complete a final project in their area of concentration;

  • Demonstrate an understanding of major artist’s works, historical movements, and contemporary art trends;

  • Demonstrate and understanding of the social, business, political, and gender specific dynamics that influence the making and interpreting of art; and

  • Demonstrate competent oral and written communication skills.

In addition to the major, the Department of Arts and Languages offers two formal minors: interior design and film studies and a concentration in graphic design in collaboration with Watkins College of Art, Design & Film.