Course Syllabus

ART 1010 Introduction to the Visual Arts

Course Description

This is an introductory course for non-art majors in which students will learn to understand and appreciate art through the study of the visual language and art history. This course presents the fundamentals of the creative process, including structure, concept, material proficiency, and historical context. Emphasis is placed on developing the student's ability to critically analyze artistic works.

Justification

This is a fundamental art appreciation course found at most other colleges and universities in the country. It provides a general understanding of the visual language and the historical context of art for non-art majors. This course fills a general education requirement for Fine Arts. This course possesses a common number and title in the USHE system.

Courses to be designated as a Fine Arts (FA) General Education experience are expected to provide students with an understanding of the basic conceptual frameworks, historical and cultural contexts of artistic works, and be instilled with a sensibility of the creative process. Assessment will occur through the students' ability to critically evaluate creative works using the language and methodology appropriate to the disciplines of dance, music, theater, and/or the visual arts.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. This course is designed to provide non-art major students an experience to actively engage with visual culture. It will expand and heighten historical and cultural sensibilities, and will promote an informed vocabulary of the visual arts. The linkage of the past to the modern world will be discussed during lectures and discussions. Historical context of the visual language, including cultural relevance, is also pertinent to the criticism and interpretation of historic and contemporary works of art. These findings will improve and inform each student's sensibilities about the visual culture that surrounds them and will be assessed through assignments and exams.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students will be required to complete a painting evaluation discussing the subject, content and form of an assigned painting. They will also write opinion-based papers responding to art exhibitions of their choice. They will be required to include both traditional and electronic sources for their information. This will culminate in the students ability to engage in more informed and articulate discussions relating to the visual arts.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Visual art is inherently interdisciplinary. Artists throughout history have adopted and implement discoveries from various non-art disciplines to create original works of art. Understanding and appreciation of this interconnectedness will give students a greater ability to evaluate complex issues associated with the study of the visual arts. Understanding will be assessed through class discussions, written assignments, and quizzes/tests.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. This course introduces strategies to critically respond to and analyze any original work of visual art. Students will develop the ability to identify works according to historical/cultural context, material process, intellectual content, and expressive intent. Understanding will be assessed through class discussions, written assignments, and quizzes/tests.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Each student will understand the vocabulary of the visual language, as well as artistic materials and processes, and will be able to recognize their application in the creation of visual art. Ultimately this understanding will result in an increased ability to articulate their relation to the visual culture that surrounds them.  Each student will understand the vocabulary of the visual language, as well as artistic materials and processes, and will be able to recognize their application in the creation of visual art. Ultimately this understanding will result in an increased ability to articulate their relation to the visual culture that surrounds them.
2. Provide an informed synopsis of the performing and/or visual arts in the contexts of culture and history through reading and interpreting pertinent information using a variety of traditional and electronic media. Each student will demonstrate a fluency in historical content and context by articulating linkages of the visual arts to many facets of historical and modern society. This understanding will be assessed through exams, and writings, and application of this knowledge to classroom discussions.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the conceptual and elemental principles fundamental to the creation of various forms of artistic expression. Students will learn to recognize how artists throughout history have utilized the elements and principles of the visual language to communicate a variety of complex concepts relating to social, religious, political, and personal issues. Ultimately this ability will create a more sensitive, and refined understanding of modes of visual communication.
4. Exhibit an ability to critically analyze artistic works using appropriate techniques, vocabulary, and methodologies. Each student will demonstrate the process of critical analysis and interpretation of works of visual art in oral and written form examining contextual, conceptual, and formal qualities in each. This practice in critical analysis will promote informed viewers and more aware and articulate artists.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. CREATIVE PROCESS: Students will demonstrate a knowledge of various concepts, tools and materials that visual artists employ in the creative process.
2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Students will be able to articulate how approaches to art have fluctuated throughout history and what influences, both historical and contemporary, are driving our current visual culture.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSES: Students will learn to critically analyze the formal qualities, as well as the historical and cultural content evident in various works of art.

Course Content

This course will include, lectures, class discussion, slide presentations, written assignments, and applied projects designed to promote a better understanding and use of the visual vocabulary and its relationship to the following topics:
• visual structure
• media
• process
• history
• culture
Content will introduce perspectives and creative work from a wide cultural lens.