You’ll be immersed in the fundamentals of drawing and painting, learning how to pull inspiration from a variety of subject matter. You’ll develop technical artistic skills as well as a conceptual and critical understanding of the language of painting.
FA 205 Language of Visual Organization
This course provides the knowledge and practical experience of how visual elements are organized by principles universal to the fine and applied arts. Topics include: examining and applying design principles and vocabulary such as figure/ground, interdependence, symmetry, rhythm, shape, and texture; understanding how these principles and their components apply to the scope of the visual arts, including drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography, graphic design, architecture, fabric design, and landscaping; and understanding and expressing how design principles can be correlated to the balance and order of nature, the universe, individual and societal life. Materials fee: $45 (4 credits)
FA 217 Drawing 1
In this course, students develop powers of observation and imagination, abilities that are vital for all the arts. Students focus on establishing the use of principles of drawing through observational methods. Topics include: still life, figure drawing, interior and landscape. Art majors take drawing courses as they advance through the curriculum. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. Materials fee: $35. (4 credits)
FA 381 Prehistoric to Medieval Art
Students explore the great achievements of art and architecture in prehistoric cultures and in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and the European Middle Ages. In each of these cultures, the quest for the divine created art that continues to 2016/17 53 inspire human consciousness. Students explore how contemporary artists have been influenced by art from these periods. Topics include: sacred sites that connected humanity with the cosmos, images of the sacred feminine from Mother Goddesses to Mother Mary to a modern return to Goddess imagery, the development of styles in Greek art and how they mirror stages in the evolution of consciousness, and the creation of a heavenly kingdom on Earth in Christian art and architecture. A highlight of the course is a 4-5 day field trip to an art center such as New York, or St. Louis/Kansas City. Field trip fee: $200-250 (4 credits)
FA 385 Modern to Contemporary Art
This class is about fascinating stories, key works, and iconic figures of modern art, from its origins in Post-Impressionism to the beginnings of the New York School. Moving chronologically students will explore an array of renowned and provocative objects— from paintings that challenged the official Academy and revolutionized the conventions of representation to works that are completely abstract—by such artists as Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Georgia O’Keefe. Each style is related to the consciousness of the artist and the audience, and the collective consciousness of the culture. Course fee: $125. Field trip fee: $25. (4 credits)
FA 386 The Art of Non-Western Cultures
This course is a guided experience examining major artists, artworks, and movements in Western art after World War II. Students explore the emergence of the New York School and its links to a new global economy centered in New York, Dada's revival, Pop art's flowering in mass consumer society, and Minimalism's formal refinement and emphasis on spatial context. The course then considers Conceptual art's fundamental questioning of art, the development of multimedia artistic practices and performance art, and the influence of identity politics on art. Each phase of art is interpreted in terms of the consciousness of the artist and the audience, and the collective consciousness of the culture. Course fee: $125. Field trip fee: $25. (4 credits)
FA 340 Ceramics Studio
- Topic 1: Hand-building in low-fire earthenware clay, drawing inspiration from ancient origins to contemporary masters
- Topic 2: Exploring the relationship between surface and form in thrown and hand-built forms using high-fire stoneware clay
- Topic 3: Addressing the image on hand-built, low-fire earthenware forms
- Topic 4: Exploring the limits of function in hand-built and thrown high-fire stoneware forms
Students at all levels in ceramics will increase their studio skills related to forming, understanding glazes and other surface possibilities, plus various firing methods. Faculty and peer interaction is structured to support the integration of method, meaning, and function (depending on the individual student's need) to express the inner value of consciousness in matter in this medium. In some studios, wheel-throwing opens a new dimension of experience for the student potter. The challenge to center and form a pot while the clay is spinning through the hands leads to synchronicity that powerfully connects potter and pot, awareness and matter, in the process of creation. Students are exposed to the traditions and history of ceramics that continue to emerge worldwide. Lab Fee $40 (4 credits) Prerequisite: Suggested one of these but not required: FA 301 or FA 311 or FA 353 (4 credits)
FA 343 Sculpture Open Studio
By exploring organic forms and creating designs from imagination, students make original sculptural surfaces that emerge from a two-dimensional plane. Exercises that expand the capacity to envision and create give students a deeper appreciation of the 2016/17 51 nature, creation, and function of sculpture, and thus the opportunity to express the fundamental laws that structure form in the natural world. Topics include: low, middle and high relief; organizing principles of two and three-dimensional design (balance, rhythm, economy, etc.); light and shadow; transforming clay reliefs into plaster reliefs; the history of relief sculpture. Materials: paper/cardboard, clay and plaster. Materials fee: $40. (4 credits)
FA 353 Figure Drawing and Sculpture
By exploring organic forms and creating designs from imagination, students make original sculptural surfaces that emerge from a two-dimensional plane. Exercises that expand the capacity to envision and create give students a deeper appreciation of the 2016/17 51 nature, creation, and function of sculpture, and thus the opportunity to express the fundamental laws that structure form in the natural world. Topics include: low, middle and high relief; organizing principles of two and three-dimensional design (balance, rhythm, economy, etc.); light and shadow; transforming clay reliefs into plaster reliefs; the history of relief sculpture. Materials: paper/cardboard, clay and plaster. Materials fee: $40. (4 credits)
FA 475 BA Portfolio and Final Project
The BA Portfolio and Project, taken in the final semester, completes the BA degree in art. Guided by faculty, BA candidates work independently in the studio to create a series of work. They then photograph their work to create a digital portfolio. Students also keep a journal and reflect on their experience studying in the Department of Art. The portfolio, journal, and written reflection form the basis of a 7-minute oral presentation sharing the student’s growth of creativity, art, and consciousness while at MIU. (4 credits)
In our block system you’ll study one full-time course per month, giving you the time you need to dive deeply into each subject. You’ll be immersed in each studio class without the stress of juggling multiple courses and assignments.
MIU’s experienced faculty have proven track record mentoring student artists. Small classes with personal guidance from faculty facilitate your success. The faculty care about your well-being as an artist and as a person. They will help you create a sustainable studio practice that enables your creativity to flourish and supports a healthy, happy life.
As a student in MIU’s BA program, you’ll practice the Transcendental Meditation technique daily. This evidence-based technique reduces stress, enhances clear thinking, and gets you in touch with your inner self—the deepest, most authentic part of yourself—to help you create your best work.
