Art

Elena Baskin Visual Arts Studios
Room E-104
(831) 459-2272
visart@ucsc.edu
http://art.ucsc.edu

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, print media, intermedia, critical theory, electronic art, public art, and interactive technologies. Baskin visual arts studios provide world-class facilities for art production in these areas. 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 non-art students after priority enrollment. Art and pre-art majors have enrollment priority in all art courses. Non-art majors may enroll in art courses on the first day of class 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.

Declaring the Pre-Art Major

Students must declare the pre-art major in order to enroll in introductory studio courses. Students should declare their pre-art major in the first quarter of their freshman year to insure their ability to enroll in studio courses, but may declare early in their sophomore year also. Juniors cannot declare pre-art. Students may declare the pre-art major at any time.  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: Freshmen

Students may apply for admission to the art major after completing at least three lower-division studio courses at UCSC (not foundation courses) with grades of B or better. If one of these classes is graded B- or lower, the student must take a different lower-division studio course and receive a B to be eligible to declare art. Students cannot take more than four lower-division studio classes to obtain the requisite B grades. Failure to achieve three Bs in three attempts triggers a process of advising whose outcome is either an alternative path to success or exclusion from the major. 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 for fall quarter after passing a portfolio review in early April. Their acceptance is contingent upon their acceptance to UCSC. Acceptance to UCSC does not guarantee admittance to the art program, nor does passing the portfolio review guarantee that UCSC will accept the student to the university. 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 first-year foundation program requirements.

Requirements for the Art Major

The minimum requirements for the art major are completion of seven lower-division and nine upper-division courses and satisfaction of the senior comprehensive requirement. A maximum of three courses total from outside the Art Department (including EAP courses) may be substituted for regular art courses with the approval of a major adviser. In these courses, students must have received a grade of B or higher. Students should plan carefully when using this option.

Students plan their course of study in consultation with a faculty adviser.

Lower-Division Requirements (Freshmen)
Students complete seven courses as follows:

• the foundation series consists of two courses: 80C Introduction to Visual Arts (fall quarter), and 10G 2-D Foundation (winter quarter)
  or
  10H 3-D Foundation (spring quarter)
• three courses from the following list (with a grade of B or better):
  20 Introduction to Drawing for the Major
  21 Introduction to Computer Art
  22 Introduction to Electronics for Intermedia
  23 Intermedia I
  24A/B Introduction to Painting. A: Oil, B: Acrylic*
  25 Relief Printmaking
  26 Introduction to Printmaking
  27 Monoprinting/Mixed Media Printing
  28 Figurative Sculpture
  30 Introduction to Photography for Art Majors
  39 Public Art I: Community, Site, and Place
  40 Sculpture I
• Students may apply either 24A or 24B, but not both, toward the lower-division course requirements for declaring the full art major.
• One course from history of art and visual culture with a non-Western focus.
• One course from either course 80F, course 80V, or a history of art and visual culture course with a Western focus.

Requirements (Junior Transfers)
In lieu of the foundation courses, junior transfers complete the following:

• 60 Forms and Ideas, and
  One of the following art seminars:
  149A or B Contemporary Visual Media: Issues of theory and Practice,
  or
  150C Issues in Collaboration and Interactivity
• Three lower-division studios (equivalent to those found in the above list) should be taken at the community college, college, or university in preparation for the mandatory portfolio review prior to acceptance to the art major.
• Two courses from history of art and visual culture, one with a Western focus and one with a non-Western focus, may be taken at the community college, college, or university, if available, or at UCSC.

Art Major Planner

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

*Students take only one foundation course of their choice
**Courses from history of art and visual culture, one with a Western focus, and one with a non-Western focus

Upper-Division Requirements

Students complete nine courses as follows:

five upper-division (100+ numbered) studio courses;

• 10 credits of senior studio courses or two upper-division studios in the area of focus;
• Two upper-division non-studio 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, however, courses from departments other than film and digital media or history of art and visual culture constitute substitutions, which will be counted toward the maximum number of three allowed.

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

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that major's upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement will normally be met within one to three courses already required for the major. For detailed information on this major’s DC requirement, consult your major adviser or see the 2010-11 general catalog.

Comprehensive Requirement

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

1. Completing 10 credits of senior studio course work in the area of focus;

2. Completing 10 credits of upper-division studio course work in the area of focus; and

a. Presenting an exhibition and, by appointment, meeting with a faculty member for review and critique of the exhibition; or
b. Submitting 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. When considering attending EAP, the student should be mindful that only three courses may be substituted in the art major and each must receive a grade of B or better.

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 $5 to $150 per course. Students may incur additional expense purchasing individual supplies.