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Ken Scaglia, Chair scagliak@wcsu.edu VPA 150D, Westside campus (203) 837-3975 (203) 837-8031 (fax)
Victoria Hunter, Department Secretary hunterv@wcsu.edu VPA 143, Westside campus (203) 837-8404 (203) 837-8912 (fax)
Lori Robeau, Visual Art Assistant robeaul@wcsu.edu VPA 143E, Westside campus (203) 837-8403 (203) 837-8031 (fax)
Faculty
K. Scaglia, Chair, Foundation D. Cardonsky, MFA Coordinator, MFA S. Marques, Studio Art, MFA D. Skora, Graphic Design J. Tom, Illustration, MFA C. Vanaria, Photography T. Wells, Graphic Design
Adjunct Faculty
R. Ames, Foundations, Digital Photography D. Boyajian, Foundations R. Brewster, MFA P. Carabell, Art History L. Cober-Gentry, Illustration, MFA B. Dunbar, Photography D. Flook, Foundations S. Kolbig, Foundations J. Lanzrein, Ceramics T. Laslo, Graphic Design, Digital Technology C. McGuire, Painting/Foundations J. Mueller, Art History R. Nadeau, MFA F. Patnaude, Foundations A. Scoon, MFA E. Shapiro, Photography J. Sullivan, Gallery Studies
Overview
The Art major at WCSU provides challenging visual arts training within the context of a liberal arts education. This approach infuses in our students a broad, diverse range of knowledge and experience along with the ability to think critically and analytically. Our highly accomplished and diverse faculty create engaging and challenging learning environments for our students.
Department of Art faculty are professional art practitioners and nationally exhibiting artists. Their unique backgrounds and experiences create engaging and challenging learning environments for our students.
Our curriculum incorporates comprehensive instruction integrated with the development, encouragement and increased awareness of the creative process. This ensures that our Visual Art majors become proficient creative problem solvers capable of freely expressing themselves.
The Gallery at The School of Visual & Performing Arts serves as a venue for a broad range of professional and student exhibitions, while the Visiting Artist Lecture Series features an impressive array of practitioners. Bus trips provide our students the opportunity to visit galleries and museums each semester in the surrounding area, including Manhattan.
Mission
Western Connecticut State University’s visual arts curriculum incorporates a structure consistent with C.A.A. guidelines, based on classic design principles inspired by the Bauhaus and the exploration of traditional and emerging media. The areas of concentration are Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography and Studio Arts: Painting. All areas of emphasis share a common two-year foundation program leading into the technical specializations of the final two years. This foundation program is of critical significance as it instills in each student a comprehensive background in aesthetic form, structure and dynamics. Additionally, our students have the opportunity to participate in professional internships and the annual Senior Portfolio Exhibition.
The liberal arts component is vital; it promotes and develops a set of skills that are of fundamental importance to any citizen and critical for the successful artist or designer. These include the ability to think critically, the development and refinement of verbal and written skills, and the acquisition of a diverse and extensive visual vocabulary and knowledge base.
This combination of professional artistic training and acquired liberal arts skills enables visual artists to successfully develop, create and articulate their creative visual dialogues.
Learning Outcomes
All students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts in Art degree at WCSU will demonstrate the following upon graduation:
In General Education:
General Education for new students starting Fall 2016
All degrees require the completion of the university’s general education curriculum. For a complete description follow this link here.
Studies in the Visual Arts
Graduating majors participate in the annual Portfolio Exhibition, which serves as the capstone event, showcasing their acquired skill sets.
Core Portfolio Assessment Process
The Portfolio Assessment Process is implemented at the start of each spring semester to assure that art majors have attained an appropriate level of proficiency for their area of concentration and to ensure that the level of standards established by the Department of Art is maintained. The assessment process is faculty-monitored for all 2nd-semester sophomores prior to the fall course registration period. Faculty may confer regarding the student’s ability to proceed to the junior level courses for each concentration. An assessment matrix is used to monitor students’ progress in these categories: quality of concept, compositional skills, problem-solving ability, quality of craft, and quality of presentation. An individual assessment option by faculty will be implemented if warranted by the failure of the student to meet the criteria of the matrix. Students identified by faculty who fail to meet the assessment criteria must meet with the coordinator of their chosen area of concentration to develop a remedial solution.
Transfer Course Credits
All students wishing to transfer into the Art program at Western must meet the criteria listed for the program, including those currently attending institutions holding articulation agreements with Western.
Transfer Review Process and Transfer Articulation Policy (TAP)
Western Connecticut State University, as part of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU), accepts credits for non-art courses as per the Transfer Articulation Policy for students with an earned Associates Degree. Information regarding this specific classification of transfer credits can be found at the CSCU website.
Advanced Placement (AP) Credit
AP credits for Art courses are accepted by the Department of Art.
Awarding of Credit
Credit Hour: A semester hour of credit is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:
Degree Programs in Art
BA in Visual Arts Options: Graphic Design Illustration Painting Photography
Minor Programs Art Photography
BA Art: Graphic Design Option
Description: Western Connecticut State University’s visual arts curriculum incorporates a structure consistent with C.A.A. guidelines, based on classic design principles inspired by the Bauhaus and through exploration of traditional and emerging media. The areas of concentration are Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography and Studio Arts-Painting. Each option’s objective is to develop technical knowledge and expertise appropriate to each medium. All areas of emphasis share a common two-year foundation program leading into the technical specializations of the final two years. This foundation program is of critical significance as it instills in each student a comprehensive background in aesthetic form, structure and dynamics. Additionally, our students have the opportunity to participate in professional internships and the annual Senior Portfolio Exhibition.
The Graphic Design option is a comprehensive program that serves to foster growth in an intuitive, conceptual approach to visual communication problem solving. Our students learn that graphic design is not technology, but is, and always has been, the convergence of art, business, and technology to produce meaningful, successful visual communication.
After freshman and sophomore foundation courses, Graphic Design students embark on a two-year experience in specific concentration courses. The curriculum includes typography and creative problem solving, along with the application of both traditional and digital processes and techniques. Juniors and seniors participate in a rigorous program through direct engagement. The process of design encompasses:
Students will gain a strong understanding of design methods. The high quality of the Graphic Design program at WCSU is reflected in the student work displayed in the annual Senior Portfolio Exhibition. Graphic Design students graduate from the program with a strong portfolio and visually effective self-promotion pieces.
Degree Requirements
All degrees at WCSU require 120 semester hours (SH) that include major requirements, general education requirements, cognates (where applicable), and free electives. This structure provides room for minors, internships, and study abroad. Students must earn a minimum “C” grade in each Art department course that counts toward the major. Art courses with grades below “C” must be retaken to satisfy this requirement.
Required Courses in the Major: 61 SH.
General Education: All students must complete the General Education curriculum. General Education Requirements include both competency and breadth requirements. In some cases, major courses will satisfy competencies. These are indicated in the parentheses after the course title. For a complete description of the General Education program, follow this link. https://catalogs.wcsu.edu/ugrad2324/academic-programs-degrees/
Cognates: In some programs there are courses outside of the major that are required as pre-requisites or enhancements to the major course work. These courses may satisfy competencies and they will count toward the general education breadth requirement. If cognate courses are required, they are included in the list of courses required in the major.
Electives: All degrees require 120 semester hours. Elective credits are opportunities for minors, internships, study abroad, and just following general interests. We encourage all students to speak with their advisors about great opportunities for their elective courses.
Sample Four Year Plan: BA Art – Graphic Design Four-year plans are suggestions. Plans change. Consult your advisor to adjust your plan.
* All Bachelor of Arts degrees at WCSU require that students complete a language at or above the elementary II level. Students who have completed three years of a foreign language at a minimum of a C average in high school have met this requirement. However, they must still complete at least one Intercultural Competency course.
BA Art: Illustration Option
The Illustration option provides students with the technical skills, conceptual understanding, and practical experience to become effective, creative communicators and visual storytellers. The goals of the Illustration option are to:
Our program understands that tomorrow’s skilled illustrators will need to craft images that may elicit an intellectual and emotional response and connection. Our full-time and adjunct professors, who manage successful artistic careers alongside their teaching, provide a challenging, yet nurturing environment for illustration students.
After students complete their foundation core courses, they progress to the Illustration option requirements which include traditional and digital illustration. These courses help fine-tune their advanced image problem-solving skills. As seniors, students create their capstone portfolio pieces and tailor a series of artworks demonstrating their unique talents, style, and vision for the Senior Portfolio Exhibition.
Sample Four Year Plan: BA Art – Illustration Four-year plans are suggestions. Plans change. Consult your advisor to adjust your plan.
*All Bachelor of Arts degrees at WCSU require that students complete a language at or above the elementary II level. Students who have completed three years of a foreign language at a minimum of a C average in high school have met this requirement. However, they must still complete at least one Intercultural Competency course.
BA Art: Studio Art – Painting Option
The Studio Art: Painting Option is a comprehensive program that serves to foster growth in an intuitive, conceptual approach to complex image making. At the core of instruction are individual and group critiques conducted by faculty. The Painting faculty are dedicated educators, accomplished artists, and respected scholars known for being actively engaged in helping each student develop her/his ideas, technical skills, confidence, and professional knowledge. Our students are a diverse group of artists who excel at visualizing their distinctive experiences, cultures, and voices. Students develop habits and problem-solving skills that will inform a lifetime of creative endeavors. Our students become active participants in Studio Arts uniquely vital and continually strong presence in the contemporary art world.
The goals of the Studio Arts concentration are to:
Once students complete their foundation curriculum, the core of the upper-division studies is the completion of a portfolio of paintings/sculptures during the Senior year for their Senior Portfolio Exhibition. The experience of creating a body of work will develop personally significant ideas that reference the Studio Arts rich history and contribute to its lively contemporary conversation.
Sample Four Year Plan: BA Art – Painting Four-year plans are suggestions. Plans change. Consult your advisor to adjust your plan.
BA Art: Photography Option
The Photography Option provides students with the technical training and critical framework to begin a creative life with photography at its center. Photography is understood as a broad range of practices and the medium’s image-making possibilities are meaningfully explored throughout the curriculum. The Photography program seeks to educate students so that they graduate with a refined understanding of the various dimensions that shape their practice. Upon program completion, students are expected to demonstrate:
Once students complete their foundation curriculum, they progress from traditional analog photographic processes to digital media. Courses cover a mixture of experimental analog photography, digital software, and alternative photographic processes. Seniors then focus on developing and refining their portfolio for their Senior Portfolio Exhibition and future careers.
Sample Four Year Plan: BA Art – Photography Four-year plans are suggestions. Plans change. Consult your advisor to adjust your plan.
Minor in Art (18 S.H.)
Eighteen semester hours are required. Please see your advisor to review all program requirements.
Required Courses (12 SH): ART 100 History & Appreciation of Art I ART 101 History & Appreciation of Art II ART 121 Fundamentals of Two-Dimensional Design ART 141 Drawing I
Select any two 3-credit courses offered by the Department of Art, for which the student has proper prerequisites (6 SH).
Minor in Photography (18 S.H.)
Required Courses (18 SH): ART 121 Fundamentals of Two-Dimensional Design ART 207 Photography I ART 216 Photography II ART 356 Advanced Photographic Methods ART 346 Color Photography ART 336 Photography III
