"Everything you can imagine is real.” Picasso
Painting is a medium that defines culture. It is simultaneously the embodiment of tradition and the home of the avant-garde. At SA/VS, we engage with contemporary practices and traditional processes. Painting is a way to bring the imagination to life. It is a forum for sharing ideas and shaping current conversations in visual art. It is a fulcrum point of social and historical contexts and prepares students to not only to realize their visions, but to become courageous voices in contemporary culture.
Credit: Reagan Profit
SA/VS is the home to two large painting studios. The facilities are well-lit and well-ventilated active studios with large open areas and high ceilings which offer expansive walls for working and viewing artwork. Equipped with metal and wooden easels, paint carts, and canvas storage, the painting studios can accommodate many canvas sizes and approaches to painting practice.
Painting courses at SA/VS offer a strong foundation in technical skills while developing a range of approaches to contemporary image and object making. Students often use mixed media in combination with their painting and drawing talents, pushing the boundaries of traditional methods. Immersed in a dynamic hands-on environment, students learn to place their work in a contemporary context while developing technical proficiency and creative problem-solving skills.
Students begin in Foundations classes taking A-S 102 2D where they learn about composition and color theory, and A-S 130 Drawing where they hone their skills in line making and shading. The painting curriculum at SA/VS progresses through five levels; where students begin with observational studio work and build to more inventive and self-directed assignments in Painting II. In Advanced painting courses, students develop individual bodies of work meant to provide a substantial base for postgraduate engagement with the larger art world as well as strong portfolios for admittance to graduate schools.
A-S 310 Painting
Concentrated painting experience stressing enlargement of formal understanding and personal expression.
A-S 311 Painting II
A continuation of A-S 310; emphasis on building a body of work.
A-S 510 Painting III
Supervised individual development in painting.
A-S 511 Painting IV
Continuation of A-S 510; emphasis on professional awareness and development.
A-S 610 Painting V
Advanced studio investigation of current ideas in painting. Exploration of contemporary and traditional procedures, materials, and issues in a context of a group discussion and review.
Brandon Smith / Senior Lecturer
John Norris / Assistant Professor
Fuko Ito / Visiting Assistant Professor
Joel Felman / Adjunct Professor
Art Studio BA, BFA
A studio art degree prepares you for the creative life you plan to live and opens the door to an inventive career full of exploration, critical thinking, and a practice based in hands-on making
Art Studio MFA
The MFA in Art Studio is an interdisciplinary degree that embraces broad forms of making and practice.