Art, Bachelor of Arts
Art Department Chair:
Kellie Bean, Assistant Provost (Acting Chair)
Faculty:
Elizabeth Ayer; Richard Barlow; Leah Frankel; Katharine Kreisher; Douglas Zullo, Adjunct Instructors: Erik Halvorson, Kevin Gray, Normandy Alden, Luke Dougherty
Majors
Art
Minors
Art
About
Producing art as a means of personal expression enriches the life of every student, and every person.
Art challenges each of us to discover and invent ways to communicate ideas through visual forms. Art speaks to us about the past, helps us to confront the present, and prepare for the future. Art encourages us to understand and explore a vast range of traditional and non-traditional ideas, materials and forms.
Students may choose from two majors in Art or in Art History. Both of these programs culminate in a Bachelor of Arts degree. The department also offers minors in Art, Art History, Documentary Photography, and Graphic Communications.
The Major in Art Hartwick offers a unique opportunity for art majors: a comprehensive “art school” approach within a small liberal arts college. Whether you’re looking for a career as a maker, educator, gallery owner, auction consultant, arts administrator, curator, or artist, as a Hartwick art student you will get the hands-on experience you need to succeed.
Foundations
The Art Major includes 5 fundamentals courses totaling 12 credits and five courses in Art History totaling 15 credits. A unique Foundations year consists of taking 2D Design, Drawing I and one Art History Survey in the fall semester and 3D Design, Time and Virtual Space and a second Art History Survey course in the spring semester. All foundation courses in Art and Art History should be completed by the end of the Sophomore year.
Additional Courses
All art majors will also complete one concentration of 12 credits with one 200, 300, and 400 level course and one concentration of 8 credits with one 200 and 300 level course are required in any two of the following studio areas: ceramics, digital art and design, glass blowing, painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture. Students can pursue a secondary concentration in drawing.
Art Reviews
During the fall of the second year, declared Art majors are required to participate in the Sophomore Review, which helps them assess their individual progress and goals within the major. The foundation courses in Art must be completed successfully before the student majoring in Art may participate in the Junior Review, a two-week exhibition with group critique held in Foreman Gallery, Anderson Center for the Arts. Successful completion of the Junior Review and fall enrollment in ART 411 Art Theory in Practice is required before an Art major may begin the Senior Project. ART 411 Art Theory and Practice and ART 490 Senior Project in Art are required. The senior project is to be an exhibition of original works, normally earning four credits. The exhibition is held in the Foreman Gallery at the end of the Spring Term senior year.
The Major in Art
The department also offers a varied schedule of art events, including visiting artist and art historian lectures, art films and art exhibitions, which are designed as part of the student’s education. Studio and Art History majors are required by department policy to attend out-of-class events sponsored by the department.
A number of special study opportunities offered by the department further enrich the art program at Hartwick. Individualized instruction in studio classes gives students the opportunity to work closely with professional artists. The full- time faculty is joined each semester by resident artists-specialists who teach courses in such areas as glassblowing and drawing— and by prestigious visiting artists who conduct occasional workshops or lectures. Past visiting artists have included Andy Warhol, Richard Artschwager, Nanette Carter, Steve Currie, Fred Escher, Robert Fichter, Denise Green, Maren Hassinger, Nancy Holt, Roxanne Jackson, Steve Linn, Martha Madigan, Duane Michals, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Olivia Parker, Sal Romano, Juan Sanchez, Paul Soldner, Kay Walking Stick, John Wood, Donna Dennis, Susan Unterberg, Michael Bramwell, Alvaro Garcia, Suzanne Bocanegra, Niki Berg, John Moore, Yong Soon Min, James Luna, Ik Jung Kang, Tom Nussbaum, and Sandy Skoglund.
Other special opportunities include department-sponsored study programs in Europe. In addition, students may do advanced work or independent study with a professional in a medium or area of special interest. They also may intern with professional artists or art historians in a variety of fields including book illustration, advertising, photojournalism, gallery and museum management, and art history research. Students interested in curating exhibitions for museums or galleries are encouraged to gain experience through internships supervised by appropriate department faculty, or by taking museum studies courses offered through The Yager Museum of Art & Culture. Interested students
Material Fee: All studio art courses carry a 25$ per credit hour materials fee. This fee is automatically applied to student accounts and offsets cost of materials and equipment used in the courses such as paint, clay, glass, software costs etc. By purchasing materials in bulk and tax free the department is able to reduce materials costs for students are encouraged to consider completing the interdisciplinary Museum Studies Minor.
All majors in the department take courses in other disciplines as part of their liberal arts and sciences education. The background and experience gained by students of art and art history at Hartwick has enabled them to begin careers in a wide range of art-related fields. Others pursue graduate study at such institutions as Otis Art Institute, Columbia University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Washington University, Pratt Institute, Rutgers University, Massachusetts College of Art, New York University, Hunter College, the University of Pittsburgh, American University, St. Andrew’s University, State University of New York at Albany, Columbus College of Art and Design, Drexel University, and San Francisco College of the Arts.
Potential Art majors are not required to submit a portfolio for review. However, it is recommended.