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Program Mission Statement

The Department of Art and Design supports a broad and diverse curriculum in Studio art, developed and taught by experts in their fields. The curriculum offers concentrations in painting, drawing, and printmaking, in sculpture, and in ceramics. The mission of the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in Studio Art is two-fold:

First, the program is designed to develop students' skills in the craft of art and their abilities in critical and creative thought and visual communication. The curriculum includes instruction in a broad variety of media, techniques, creative processes, and critical methods, in addition to relevant instruction in art history and theory. Students have the opportunity to work closely with important collections of art in local museums, including the Cummer Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville. Studio art majors are encouraged to participate in the department’s various internship, study abroad, and undergraduate exhibition and research programs.

Second, the Studio Art program supports creative work and scholarship by its faculty in all fields of creative and scholarly endeavor related to visual art and its history and reception. ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ×ÊÁÏ Studio Art faculty members exhibit original creative work and publish original scholarly work nationally and internationally. The department also supports faculty creative work and scholarship that contributes directly to student learning and to the department’s undergraduate exhibition and research programs.

The Studio Art program prepares students for graduate study in art, museum studies, arts administration, and education and careers in the arts, business, education, and non-profit sectors and in all fields that require advanced skills in creative and critical thought and visual communication.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

Content/Discipline-Specific Knowledge/Skills

• Demonstrate mastery or competence in a variety of technical skills, basic processes and compositional approaches specific to the discipline.
• Utilize design process and problem-solving skills to enhance creative thinking.
• Produce works of art demonstrating knowledge of important techniques, methods, and processes. 
• Demonstrate understanding of common elements and vocabulary of art and knowledge of the historical, cultural, and stylistic contexts of art.

Communication Skills

• Communicate complex ideas in spoken, written or visual form.
• Produce works of art that effectively communicate creative, symbolic, aesthetic, or other artistic ideas.
• Articulate in writing a critical and aesthetic perspective as the creator of a coherent body of works.

Critical Thinking Skills

• Analyze, interpret, judge, and evaluate the cultural context, relevance and meaning of art in various media from the past and contemporary settings.
• Make and respond productively to critical judgments and reflections about works of art/design in the process of critique.
• Produce a coherent body of works of art/design that communicates an original critical and aesthetic perspective.

Assessment Approaches

Student learning in the Studio Art program is assessed in three areas: 1) discipline specific knowledge and skills; 2) communication skills; 3) critical thinking skills.

Disciplinary Knowledge I is assessed in 2000, 3000, and 4000 level courses through direct assessment of students’ mastery of the concepts and applications of specific artistic techniques and processes. Techniques are taught using learning objects encompassing readings, discussion of relevant artworks, and practical demonstrations. Students then produce work designed to demonstrate conceptual and practical understanding of the relevant technique. Disciplinary Knowledge II is assessed in 3000 and 4000 level classes using direct assessments of students’ knowledge of the history and reception of significant artists, artworks, and artistic concepts. The degree of mastery is measured using appropriate rubrics.

Communication I, visual communication, is assessed in 3000 and 4000 level courses through direct assessment of the student’s ability to express or convey an idea in a work or body of works of art. Ability in visual communication is assessed using a standardized rubric. Communication II, written communication, is assessed in 3000 and 4000 level courses through direct assessment of the student’s ability to express in writing an aesthetic perspective as the creator of a work or body of works of art. The degree of mastery is measured using appropriate rubrics.

Critical Thinking I is assessed in 3000 and 4000 courses through indirect assessment of the student’s ability to reflect on and respond to artworks through the process of critique, using appropriate critical terms and methods. Critical Thinking II assessed in the senior capstone through direct assessment of the student’s senior portfolio using a appropriate rubrics to evaluate the student’s demonstrated ability to respond thoughtfully through the creative process to artistic critique.