Program Description

The Art Department offers an integrated program of study in theory and practice exploring the power of visual communication for personal expression and public interaction. The department provides students with the means to pursue this exploration through courses that provide the practical skills for art production in a variety of media within the contexts of critical thinking and broad-based social perspectives.

The art program at UCSC is composed of courses in drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, intermedia, critical theory, electronic art, and interactive technologies. The Art Department is committed to pursuing a continuing dialogue about what constitutes basic preparation in the arts while offering students experience in established practices, new genres, and new technologies. Foundation courses are open to all students. Art and pre-art majors have enrollment priority in lower-division courses, but these courses are open to all students if space permits.

Students graduating with a major in art may become professional artists or pursue careers in such diverse areas as arts management, museum and gallery practices, communication technologies, public school teaching, media arts, and publishing. Many students who want to teach at the college level continue their education in graduate school.

Baskin Visual Arts Center provides excellent studio facilities for drawing, painting, installation, photography, casting and sculptural construction, and printmaking. Computer facilities are located at both Baskin Visual Arts Center and Porter College.

Declaring the Pre-Art Major

Students must declare the pre-art major in order to enroll in introductory studio courses via UCSC’s TELESLUG advance enrollment system. There are no requirements for pre-art. Students must declare pre-art in their freshman or sophomore year and may not do so in their junior year. Deadlines for pre-art declaration are the same as those established by the Office of the Registrar for filing the Proposed Study Plan and Declaration of Major/ Minor petition. Please note that students who have declared the pre-art major still need to follow the procedure for acceptance to the full major; a student may not graduate as a pre-art major.

Acceptance to the Art Major

Acceptance into the art major is contingent on passing a portfolio review after first completing at least three lower-division studio courses or foundation courses. While completing this lower-division course work, it is critical that each student meet with a faculty adviser regarding the student’s potential to proceed to the major level.

Junior Transfer Students

Junior transfer students are accepted into the art major in fall quarter after passing the portfolio review. Their acceptance is contingent upon their acceptance to UCSC. Transfer students must identify themselves as potential art majors when applying to the university in order to receive information on the portfolio review deadlines and the materials required for the review. All junior transfers will be required to take Art 60, Forms and Ideas, and one art seminar in their junior year at UCSC in lieu of the foundation program requirements.

Requirements for the Art Major

The minimum requirements for the art major are completion of eight lower-division and nine upper-division courses and satisfaction of the senior comprehensive requirement.

Students plan their course of study in consultation with a faculty adviser by choosing an area of concentration.

Lower-Division Requirements

Students complete eight courses as follows:

• The foundation series:*
  10G 2-D Foundation
  10H 3-D Foundation
• Three courses from the following list:
  20 Introduction to Drawing for the Major
  21 Introduction to Computer Art
  23 Intermedia I
  24 Introduction to Painting: Oil
  26 Introduction to Printmaking
  28 Introduction to Figure Sculpture
  30 Introduction to Photography for Art Majors
  40 Sculpture I
• Two courses from the history of art and visual culture 10-series, one with a Western focus and one with a non-Western focus

*Note: Art 80C was inadvertently omitted from the list of lower-division requirements.

Art Major Planner

The following is a recommended academic plan for students to complete during their first two years as preparation for the art major.

Upper-Division Requirements

Students complete nine courses as follows:

• five upper-division studio courses in the area of focus;
• 10 credits of senior studio courses or equivalent senior-level work in the area of focus (satisfies senior comprehensive requirement);
• two upper-division nonstudio courses from history of art and visual culture, film and digital media theory, or art critical theory seminars. Students may choose two upper-division courses from another department relevant to the area of focus in consultation with a faculty adviser.

The last three quarters of course work for the major must be completed in residence at UCSC.

Comprehensive Requirement

Senior majors should meet with their faculty adviser about this requirement. Students may satisfy the comprehensive requirement with one of the following three options:

• completing 10 credits of senior studio course work in the area of focus;
• presenting an exhibition and, by appointment, meeting with a faculty member for review and critique of the exhibition;
• presenting a portfolio and, by appointment, meeting with a faculty member for review and critique of the portfolio.

Study Abroad

The UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) offers students the opportunity for study abroad. Art majors may participate in EAP in their junior year. Pre-art majors are not approved to study abroad. Art students may not go abroad in their senior year, as the last three quarters of course work must be in residence at UCSC.

Materials Fee

Art students should be aware of the materials fee required for some studio courses. The fee is billed to the student’s account for specific course materials purchased by the Art Department through the university. Fees generally range from $30 to $125 per course. Students may incur additional expense purchasing individual supplies.