Minor in Visual Arts & Practice of Art Track
Source: https://arts.princeton.edu/academics/visual-arts/minor-in-visual-arts/ Parent: https://arts.princeton.edu/academics/visual-arts/
Visual Arts
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Minor in Visual Arts & Practice of Art Track ---
Goals for Student Learning\ Admission to the Program\ Program of Study — Practice of Art track\ Program of Study — Visual Arts minor\ Junior & Senior Independent Work
The Program in Visual Arts (VIS) encourages undergraduates to explore visual art and media while developing their creative skills under the aegis of a liberal arts education. VIS courses are offered in drawing, filmmaking, graphic design, media, painting, photography and sculpture. Studio courses emphasize direct, hands-on art making under the guidance of practicing contemporary artists.
Most courses in the program are open to all students at Princeton. A few courses are by application only, and a few are reserved for VIS minors and students in the Practice of Art track only. Most courses are letter graded (not pass/D/fail) and may be taken in fulfillment of the distribution requirement in literature and arts. Some summer courses and study abroad may qualify for credit for Practice of Art students, visual arts program minor students, and applicants for the visual arts program minor who have previously completed at least one VIS course. AP credit is not accepted.
For students interested in pursuing a thesis in studio arts or film production, there are two pathways. The first is Practice of Art, a track of study offered in the Department of Art and Archaeology and administered by the Program in Visual Arts. The second option is a visual arts minor earned in addition to a student’s departmental major.
Goals for Student Learning
Students in the Practice of Art track or engaged in the visual arts minor will learn strategies and skills for making artworks from conception to exhibition. In classes, students will be introduced to contemporary and historical figures in art as precedents for their own projects. Instructors commonly employ prompts for assignments that build students’ conceptual rigor and technical proficiency. Students will learn analysis of visual art by engaging in peer critique sessions and through presentations by visiting artists. Independent studio work required for the visual arts minor encourages students to synthesize their curiosity with their lived experience to make artworks that can cohere into an exhibition. This is the work that professional artists do. Over the course of two years in the visual arts program, students will learn techniques to translate material into symbolic form and how to expand their ideas into conceptual frameworks.
Admission to the Program
Admission to the visual arts minor program is selective. During the first week following spring break, sophomores submit an application and a portfolio of creative work to the Lewis Center for the Arts administrative office. By early April, the admission committee will notify those students who have been accepted into the program. For specific prerequisites, please see the individual areas below.
Apply for the Visual Arts minor & Practice of Art track
Program of Study
Practice of Art Track in the Department of Art and Archaeology
Practice of Art is a track within the ART major that culminates in a creative senior thesis. For program requirements, see the Practice of Art description under the Department of Art and Archaeology. Students who declare a Practice of Art track are granted admission into the visual arts minor. If a student decides to change their focus from the Practice of Art, they must re-apply for the visual arts minor.
The Visual Arts Minor
A visual arts minor will be awarded to students concentrating in another academic department who successfully complete a substantial program of studio work in art or film production and a minimal supplement of seminars and art history courses. Students interested in applying for the visual arts minor should submit a portfolio in the spring term of sophomore year. Students must have completed at least one visual arts studio or film production course before being admitted to the program. One course in the Department of Art and Archaeology is also highly recommended.
Course Requirements for Visual Arts Minor
A total of seven courses, including two required seminars, from the Program in Visual Arts and the Department of Art and Archaeology, as follows:
- Three Visual Arts studio courses or film production courses, in at least two different media, and at least one 300- or 400-level course. For film students, screenwriting courses are accepted as a different media from film production courses.
- VIS 392 Artist and Studio is a fall seminar required for all junior year Practice of Art students and students engaged in the visual arts minor. Concentrating on the traditions, challenges and rewards of studio practice through readings, discussions, studio critiques and a culminating exhibition of artist’s books, VIS 392 provides students with historical context as well as contemporary theory of how best to engage in a meaningful studio practice. In conjunction with the seminar, each junior receives their own art studio. Please note that film students are required to take VIS 419 (The Film Seminar) in the spring of their junior year as one of the two required film seminars. They may take VIS 392 as their second required seminar or find another film-related seminar on campus that qualifies, with prior approval from film faculty.
- VIS 416 Exhibition Issues and Methods is a fall seminar required for all senior year Practice of Art students and students engaged in the visual arts minor. This course provides a formal structure for students to study, present and discuss various issues and strategies for exhibiting art as they prepare for their spring thesis exhibition. Throughout the course, there will be presentations from visiting artists as well as field trips to professional artists’ studios, galleries and museums. Please note that film students are not required to take VIS 416.
- One course from Art and Archaeology. Please note that film students can substitute a film history/analysis course offered on campus, with prior approval from a film faculty member in consultation with the visual arts director’s office.
- As one of the seven required courses, a student can matriculate either an additional VIS studio course or any ART course. Please note that film students can substitute a film production course, film history course or relevant global seminar.
Junior Independent Work
Students will be assigned one adviser in the fall and a different adviser for the spring, both chosen from the Program in Visual Arts faculty. Each student is assigned a studio workspace for the year in the loft of 185 Nassau in the film editing suite. In lieu of writing a fall paper, students will conceive and produce a 32-page artist’s book for their fall independent work. The independent work is done in consultation with each student’s adviser.
Over the spring semester, students prepare independent work in their studios, in consultation with their spring semester adviser, culminating in an exhibition as part of the junior thesis group show.
Please note that film students work with one adviser throughout their junior year to create a junior film.
Senior Independent Work
Students are assigned a primary adviser from the visual arts faculty who they will work with for the entire year. Students are assigned semiprivate studios on the second floor of 185 Nassau or space in the film editing suite. Each student’s independent study culminates with a thesis show that is exhibited at one of the Lewis Center galleries.
View past examples of independent senior exhibitions or senior films