Visual Arts
The study of visual arts is designed to be an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum at Holy Cross. Its aim is to increase student sensitivity to the visual arts, to refine the powers of critical analysis, and to provide the student with the means of creative expression. The rich resources of the surrounding area, especially the museums and architecture of Worcester and Boston, form an integral part of the curriculum and the department helps to facilitate opportunities for internships in these cities. Tutorials are available with individual faculty to allow students to design courses suited to individual needs. The department sponsors numerous programs for gaining a broad understanding of the practice and study of the arts today: lectures and demonstrations by visiting artists and critics, student presentations of seminar research in open forums, and regular trips to Boston and New York galleries and museums. Students may choose to major or minor in any of the three areas within the Department of Visual Arts: Art History, Studio Art, and Architectural Studies. Students may also combine a major in one area with a minor in the other.
Art history reveals the past not simply through a review of data, but through a search for transcendent values that inform creative expression. The field is unusually open to interdisciplinary cooperation, relating in special ways to studies in history, literature, religion, and philosophy. The practice of art history provides both cognitive and discursive skills to probe past developments and confront those of the present. It empowers students to see differences yet discern common links that in a global, complex, culture, becomes a means of welcoming the diversity of the present.
Studio art engages the student in the discipline of visual thinking, encouraging precise observation and creative invention, inspiring discussion and the development of flexible, innovative problem solving skills. The interested student and the aspiring artist study with practicing professionals to gain insight into the creative process and complex paths to creating art in a contemporary context. Studio classes demand commitment on the part of participating students to broaden their vision and draw connections between the classroom and the outside world. From the introductory to the advanced level, classes are “hands on” emphasizing an experimental attitude towards materials and the acquisition of both technical and conceptual skills. The department encourages the active exhibition of student work. There are ongoing shows in The Ramp and Fenwick Hall galleries. The student-run arts organization Student Art Society (SAS) sponsors exhibits and hosts guided creative events throughout the year. Students with extensive previous experience may be allowed to bypass either VAST 101 Fundamentals of Drawing or VAST 102 3-Dimensional Fundamentals with a portfolio review by a studio faculty member. In such cases, students may move directly into intermediate level courses.
Architectural Studies investigates the history, theory, and practice of building around the world. How do structures and sites not only reflect but also condition our values and responsibilities to each other and to our world? Students draw upon both studio and art and architectural history courses in the Department of Visual Arts as well as courses across the College to explore the built environment through a wide variety of different lenses.
A combined major and minor within the Department of Visual Arts requires the completion of 16 courses: ten in the major and six in the minor, following the individual requirements listed for the selected major and selected minor. Courses may not be double counted across the two divisions; 16 courses are required for a combined major and minor.
Advanced Placement Credit
Holy Cross awards credit for Advanced Placement exams taken through the College Board Advanced Placement Program and the International Baccalaureate Program and will accept some Advanced Level General Certificate of Education (A-Level) exams. One unit of credit is awarded for an Advanced Placement score of 4 or 5 in any discipline recognized by the College. One unit of credit is awarded for a score of 6 or 7 on a Higher Level International Baccalaureate Examination in a liberal arts subject. One unit of credit is awarded for a score of A/A* or B on an A Level exam in a liberal arts subject. The College does not award credit for the IB Standard Exam or the A-Level Exam. AP, IB, and A-Level credit may be used to satisfy deficiencies and common area requirements. Each academic department has its own policy regarding the use of AP or IB credit for placement in courses and progress in the major. The Department Chair must also review the A-Level score to determine placement in courses and progress in the major. See departmental descriptions for further information.
Students with AP credit in Art History, Studio, and Drawing are awarded advanced placement in the visual arts curriculum. AP credit does not count toward the minimum number of courses required for the majors or minors.
Patricia A. Johnston, Ph.D., Rev. J. Gerard Mears, S.J., Chair in Fine Arts
David E. Karmon, Ph.D., Professor
Cristi Rinklin, M.F.A., Professor, Chair
Amy D. Finstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Matthew Gamber, M.F.A., Associate Professor
Amanda Luyster, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Ellen Feiss, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Victor Pacheco, M.F.A., Assistant Professor
Leslie Schomp, M.F.A., Assistant Professor
Rachelle Beaudoin, M.F.A., Professor of Practice in Digital Media
Jennifer McIntire, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor
Anna McNeary, M.F.A., Visiting Assistant Professor
Deborah Stein, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor
James Welu, Ph.D., Distinguished Visiting Lecturer
Hilary Doyle, M.F.A., Visiting Lecturer
Colleen Fitzgerald, M.F.A., Visiting Lecturer
Kirstin E. Lamb, M.A., Visiting Lecturer
Suzanne Révy, M.F.A., Visiting Lecturer
Annie Van Fossen Storr, Ph.D., Visiting Lecturer
Gerald Sullivan, M.A., Visiting Lecturer
Visual Arts - History (VAHI)
VAHI 100 — Introduction To Visual Arts Course count: 1
Fundamental, introductory course in art history and visual culture. Emphasis is on the acquisition of basic visual skills and an understanding of the major periods in the history of art. Exposure to works of art through the collections of The Worcester Art Museum is an integral part of the course.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
VAHI 111 — History of Global Arch I Course count: 1
This class is an introduction to the history of the built environment from pre-history to the modern era (1700). We will examine architecture in its historic context around the globe, focusing on the ways that built forms reflect and shape social, religious, and political dynamics. The course will follow a hybrid chronological-thematic framework, using key issues to unite building issues from different cultures and regions at roughly proximate times. Through class discussions, exams, and writing, students will build foundational knowledge about key monuments and analytical approaches in architectural history.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall
VAHI 112 — History of Global Arch II Course count: 1
This course is the second half of a year-long introduction to the fundamental elements of architecture within a global and historical framework. Lectures and discussions are organized around different monuments from the Ming Dynasty and early modern Europe to the present, and they attempt to balance regional and chronological approaches to the study of architecture and the built environment.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Spring
VAHI 136 — Narrative In Art & Film Course count: 1
An introduction to the visual traditions of film making from its origins to today. Study of a wide range of types including documentaries, comedies, drama, and even science fiction gives student ample choices for their own topics.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Spring
VAHI 137 — Destruction and Renewal Course count: 1
Years after the collapse of the World Trade Center, we are profoundly aware of the powerful forces of destruction in our society. Yet these are also countered by stories of survival, preservation, and renewal. This course investigates how cities and landscapes absorb and accommodate radical change over time, with Rome as a fundamental point of reference. The Eternal City has earned its name by being continuously inhabited throughout its millennial history, even as its archeological sites continue to be destroyed, transformed, and reused. In the second half of the course, we will expand our investigation outward to consider how other people around the globe from the United States to Afghanistan continue to grapple with these complex problems in the present.
GPA units: 1
VAHI 201 — Introduction to Islamic Art Course count: 1
An introductory course exploring the art and architecture dating from the inception of Islam in seventh- century Arabia through the 16th and 17th centuries in Safavid Iran, Mughal India, and the territories ruled by the Ottoman Turks. The religious, and social, cultural, and political significance of Islamic art is analyzed.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 202 — Art of Africa and the Americas Course count: 1
An introductory course exploring the art of Africa and the Americas. Art is considered within its cultural context ( e.g., Benin, Yoruba, Maya, Aztec, Hopi) and within the larger contexts of imperialism, western and non-western ideologies, and practices of collection and exhibition. Deeper questions about the nature and function of art across cultures provide the focus for discussion.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 203 — Arts of Asia Course count: 1
This course aims to familiarize students with works of art and architecture from South and Southeast Asia (including India and Pakistan) and East Asia (including China and Japan), from prehistory to the contemporary world. We will examine many types of objects, from jades and ritual bronzes, to ink paintings and textiles, to gilded sculptures within temples and palaces. We will also use the historical reality and metaphor of the silk roads -- the textile and its portability -- to draw threads across cultures connecting works of art, their makers, and (sometimes far distant) users. Finally, we will concentrate not only on the objects but also on the cultural and religious surroundings which enable us to understand their various meanings, realizing that meaning may be created through production and use. No background in art history required.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 205 — Global Commerce in 15th Century Italy Course count: 1
Early modern Italy was a commercial hub for the western world, with trade networks radiating across the Mediterranean into Europe, Africa, and Asia. We will consider how conditions in this flourishing economic crossroads favored the development of the unprecedented artistic culture of the early Renaissance. (Formerly Early Renaissance Art.)
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 206 — Art & Antiquity in 16C Italy Course count: 1
From "the rediscovery of classical antiquity" in Rome and the outpouring of artistic energy known as the High Renaissance, we will move outward to investigate the role of art and architecture in shaping the political and cultural realignments that defined this critical turning point in European history.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 207 — Art, Science and Power 17C Course count: 1
This course explores the explosive artistic creativity of 17th-century Europe as a process shaped by complex political and economic dynamics as well as by scientific discoveries. We will consider how the emergence of Baroque art was tied to the incipient scientific revolution, as well as the constant need to reinforce rulership, status, and authority.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 209 — Art in the Modern World, 1780 to 1940 Course count: 1
Traces major European art movements from the late 18th to the mid 20th centuries (including Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, and others) with a focus on the development of Modernism.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Annually
VAHI 210 — Art Since 1940 Course count: 1
Movements discussed include Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, performance and installation art, time-based and digital art, activist art, public art, and current art.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAHI 213 — Art, Travel, & Medieval Globe Course count: 1
In or near the year 1000, seafaring Vikings landed on the east coast of North America. At this moment, peoples from areas of the globe that had long been separate came into contact with each other. Indeed, this contact enabled the exchange of ideas and art objects from Asia, across Europe and Africa, to the Americas, following the silk roads and ocean trade routes. Globalism, then, is not solely a modern phenomenon: the past has much to teach us about far-reaching cultural interactions, both peaceful and antagonistic. This class treats the thousand-year period from c. 500-1500 around the globe, beginning with the lands of the first peoples in the Americas and ending with islands in Asia. We follow the paths and engage with the narratives of medieval travelers like Xuanzang, Ibn Battuta, and Marco Polo. We examine the architectural structures and objects associated with Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholicism, as well as other, lesser-known belief systems.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Fall
VAHI 214 — 17C Dutch Art & Society Course count: 1
The course studies the art the northern Netherlands at a time when maritime trade with North America and the Middle and Far East made it a global cultural center. Painting and printmaking receive particular focus.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 220 — The Arts in America Course count: 1
A study of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the decorative arts from the colonial period to the present. Emphasis on such major themes and styles as portraiture, genre painting, American impressionism, and modernism, including Native American and African American traditions and Asian influences. Art works will be studied in their cultural, social and political contexts. Course requirements include museum visits.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 230 — American Architecture Course count: 1
What is "American" about American architecture? What unique patterns can we discern by studying the built environment? This course will trace the evolution of American architecture from the country's earliest days to recent years. We will explore how national identity, local context, and diverse landscapes have contributed to a distinct American architectural narrative. The course will engage primary source texts and local site visits to illustrate the nuances of important themes.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 233 — Arts of Modern China Course count: 1
This course looks at art and visual material produced in modern and contemporary China. We will start with discussions about the beginning of Chinese modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the new modern art movement in the 1920s and 1930s, and Maos revolutionary art of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. We, then, will focus on the avant-garde movements in the post-Mao period since the late 1970s and in particular new artistic directions and phenomena that emerged in the Chinese art world since the 1990s accompanying the ongoing economic and cultural globalization.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Spring
VAHI 236 — Buddhist Art Course count: 1
What motivated people to create Buddhist art? How did it happen that a religion known for self-improvement, self-will, non-materiality and non-attachment generated so many ornate and costly artifacts from personal objects of devotion to monumental sculpture? We will focus on Buddhist art in practice as well as the geographical movement of artistic styles and techniques. You will learn how Buddhist art was employed for political empowerment and personal merit.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Annually Fall
VAHI 240 — Modern Architecture Course count: 1
This lecture course explores American and European architecture from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, interweaving major architectural movements with regional dialogues about political, socio-economic, and technological change. Strong emphasis on critical reading, class discussion, and preparation of research projects.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Annually
VAHI 250 — Making the Modern City Course count: 1
This lecture course probes the catalysts and implements of urban change around the globe since the Industrial Revolution. Using case studies of major cities, the course will explore how local political, socio-economic, and technical shifts wrought physical changes at the scale of the city. Our scope includes those figures who were agents of, and targets of, urban change; as well as the layers of water, sewer, electric, and transportation infrastructure that empower modern metropolises. We will also explore polarities of public vs. private and city vs. country. The course engages local examples, and when possible, includes a CBL component.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAHI 270 — Museum Studies Course count: 1
What is the role of the museum in today's hi-tech and multicultural society? How has that role changed since the rise of the museum among the educated elite in the early modern period? This course addresses such central questions in the history, mission, and structure of museums. We also explore the ways in which visual display conveys knowledge and builds broader arguments about cultures and society. We engage with the ethics embedded in acquiring and displaying irreplaceable and ritual objects from other cultures. In addition, this course also treats practical issues like funding, organization, and public outreach in museums. Students participate in field trips to different types of museums and learn about careers as directors, curators, collections managers, and educators in museums and historic houses.
Prerequisite: One previous Art History course.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Annually
VAHI 299-F02 — Building Renaissance Italy Course count: 1
Explores the major transformations in architecture and urban design that shaped early modern Italy. Topics discussed include the revival of classical principles in architecture, innovative design and structural techniques, new developments in city planning, and the enduring cultural impact of figures such as Alberti, Brunelleschi, and Michelangelo, both in Italy and beyond.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAHI 299-F03 — Art and Social Justice Course count: 1
We will survey how artists and visual art have contributed to social and politicalmovements for freedom, equality and human rights. Beginning with the War ofIndependence and some international parallels, we will focus on the United States from the late 19th Century to the Present. The course covers both protest movements and affirmative social reform campaigns in which art played a significant role. The seminar format provides for field-trips to organizations in Worcester. Relevant readings will be discussed in class; we will start by learning new Visual Analysis skills necessary for understanding relevant works of 2-D and 3-D art. Frequent short assignments. Semester-long, topical tracking in each students metropolitan newspaper of choice: NYTimes, Chicago Tribune, LA Times Times, Boston Globe.
GPA units: 1
VAHI 310 — Kings & Caliphs: Art of Luxury Course count: 1
The art and architecture of the medieval Mediterranean region bore vibrant witness to the conflict and cooperation between Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures. This course explores how icons, illuminated manuscripts, palaces, mosques, reliquaries, and other objects and sites can reveal the ways in which medieval individuals viewed "others" and themselves. Students with an interest in art history, religion, history, politics, architecture, languages or literature are welcome; we will look at the "long medieval" period from the late classical through the Renaissance. This is a seminar, and students are expected to engage in intensive individual research.
Enrollment limited to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students only
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 320 — The Modern Home Course count: 1
This seminar will probe the varying philosophical and stylistic definitions of home in the modern period. Is a home always a house? What kind of house? And what defines a modern home? We will explore the roles of patron/architect and developer/resident, definitions of stylistic modernity, modern materiality, and modern settlement patterns. The course will engage issues of race, gender, and power in the home, class and social welfare, as well as the architectural intentions and impacts of iconic buildings from the architectural canon.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 330 — Designing Green Course count: 1
Green," in color and concept, is a word that has meant many different things to different societies over the centuries. This course will explore the notion of "green" across time and space, focused on the application of this term to the natural and built environment, and mankind's relationship to them. Topics will include color theory, gardens as place-making tools in varying religious and cultural contexts, the protection and commodification of natural landscapes as public parks, the abundance and loss of trees, the history of "the lawn," the birth of modern environmentalism, and recent narratives about sustainable design of products, architecture, and landscapes.
Enrollment limited to 3rd and 4th year students only
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAHI 340 — American Art & Ecology Course count: 1
After studying the origins of landscape imagery, this course considers how landscape art was transformed in American culture. Topics include 19th century paintings of the Hudson River school, photographs and paintings of the American west, and the use of landscape motifs by contemporary environmental artists. We will engage in three main activities: 1) reading and discussing scholarly analyses of the history of landscape painting, nature writing and theories of/about the land; 2) working with a range of primary sources, including materials in local archives and museums; 3) trying our hand at creating new accounts of the landscapes around us.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAHI 350 — City Nature Course count: 1
It is a commonplace that the city and nature are in binary opposition, occupying either end of a spectrum that separates human manufacture from the spontaneous creations of an ideal natural world. But the emerging field of the urban environmental humanities complicates these assumptions: as it suggests, the artificial and natural worlds, the city and nature, are much more closely intertwined than we might expect. In this seminar we will explore a series of global examples from across history to explore foundational narratives of buildings, cities, and nature, the meaning of materials, the role of technology, and the ways that architectural and urban history intersect with natural history. The study of the urbanized world around us can also inform how humanists address the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAHI 399-S03 — Finding Women in Modern Design Course count: 1
The 2012 London Olympic Aquatics Center? Designed by a woman.The Vietnam Veterans Memorial? Designed by a woman.Californias iconic Hearst Castle? Designed by the first female architect to graduate from the famed Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.Often with the above three exceptions, the canonical history of modern architecture has been written with little attention to women architects and designers. Gender restrictions and social conventions surely inhibited womens progress in the field for centuries; but surely there must be more than three women who should be included?This seminar course problematizes these historiographic and pedagogical patterns, and uses them as frameworks for investigating individual designers and canonical omissions in major texts about modern architecture. What new scholarship is repositioning how we view women in modern design, and where and how should those lessons sit relative to existing examples? Students will undertake their own research and investigations, and will put their findings in dialogue with that of their peers to construct a new proposed canon for finding women in modern design.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAHI 400 — Capstone Seminar Course count: 1
Designed for majors, this course provides a critical examination of issues and methods in the literature of the history of art. Students also complete a capstone project often concentrating on the collection of the Worcester Art Museum or other important local sites.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall
VAHI 420 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Tutorials relate to all areas covered by Visual Arts History 200 courses. One unit each semester.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Visual Arts - Studio (VAST)
VAST 101 — Fundamentals of Drawing Course count: 1
An exciting introduction to studio art through an exploration of drawing media. Class critiques and discussions, insure the beginning student of a solid introduction to the creative process. Students work with charcoal, ink, graphite, watercolor pencils and other drawing materials. The course includes intensive sketchbook work as well as larger drawings based on observation. In addition, students acquire skill in figure drawing by working from the model. Taught by the studio staff and a prerequisite for many intermediate courses.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
VAST 102 — 3-Dimensional Fundamentals Course count: 1
For students who are interested in an introduction to the physical world of sculptural art. Students explore the basic tools, processes and approaches to 3-Dimensional art through wood, clay wire, cloth and found objects.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
VAST 106 — Drawing Architectural Form Course count: 1
The experience of architecture, structure, form and space will be the consistent theme for this drawing course. This course is geared to introduce students to basic drawing concepts such as: line, volume, shape, perspective, texture, value and composition. There will be a strong emphasis on observational methods to learn these basic concepts. The students will also engage in exercises that encourage use of imagination and dialogue that make you question their preconceived notions about drawing. This course does not require previous experience. The course fulfills the same requirements of Drawing Fundamentals. It is offered to beginning level students, as a second drawing course, or for Architectural Studies students looking to build a portfolio.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 140 — Digital Filmmaking Course count: 1
This course focuses on the techniques and theory of video production. Through a series of assignments, students will learn the basic technical elements of still and moving image productions. A variety of production formats will be discussed; focusing primarily on creative, lens-based documentary-style productions. Class time will be divided between equipment demonstrations, discussions, and critique. Topics include proper camera use, sound recording, editing, and presentation. Through critical readings and selected screenings, students will gain familiarity with the historical and contemporary trends in visual storytelling through moving images. Students will develop a set of production skills that will culminate in a collaborative group project.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAST 150 — Drawing on Site Course count: 1
A sketchbook is invaluable for experimentation with drawing, recording memories, practicing instinct and observation and connecting art with the everyday world and experience. This course will explore both studio work as well as Worcester and Holy Cross sites each week and use these sites to build upon fundamental drawing concepts in order to create unique and personal artist sketchbooks. Line, value, shape, form, perspective, measurement, composition and other elements are included using direct observation. A variety of methods and materials of drawing will be investigated and used to explore both contemporary and historical perspectives to make on-site drawings within the parameters of the sketchbook. The course will also investigate the various formats and concepts of both contemporary and historical sketchbooks.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAST 199-F01 — Drawing Trees: Structure and Symbol Course count: 1
Explore the expressive potential of the natural world in this introductory drawing course. Trees are more than just landscape elementsthey are dynamic, living structures with deep-rooted symbolic significance across human history. We begin the semester outdoors in the campus arboretum, learning to translate the complex architecture and gestures of individual trees into line and value. When the weather turns, we retreat to the studio to synthesize our observations into larger, content-driven compositions that delve into the metaphoric life of trees. Students will experiment with a versatile toolkit, including graphite, charcoal, and inks, developing both a rigorous sketchbook practice and resolved observational works. Drawing Trees serves as a foundational gateway to intermediate-level art courses and will fulfill the ARTS common area requirement.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 199-F02 — Intro to Drawing: Flora & Fauna Course count: 1
This class explores the study of flora and fauna specimens using beginning drawing concepts of line, gesture, value and composition. With close observation of Nature's forms and structures, students sharpen their ability to both observe natural phenomena and also describe the world around them. The class will experiment with different field-drawing techniques, animal skeletal and taxidermy study, and natural pigments. Numerous drawing expeditions will produce a collection of images to use as seeds for further study in Studio Art and creative research. Students are encouraged to experiment with a variety of materials and create an individual final project in one or more of the drawing media covered in the course.There will be an emphasis placed on investigations into sketch journal practice, research incontemporary and historical fine arts, and exploring our local natural resources. Weekly readings, slide lectures and exercises will place assignments in historical and contemporary context. Discussion, critique, studio, and homework assignments are all integral to the development of a student's mixed media drawing practice.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 199-F06 — The Handmade Photograph, Alternative and Non-Silver Approaches Course count: 1
This studio course explores photographic processes and non-silver image-making techniques. Students will experiment with hand-coated surfaces, painted emulsions, natural materials, unusual cameras, and other experimental methods. Open to students with backgrounds and interests in photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, and digital media, the course encourages experimentation and research into unconventional photographic materials. Students will explore the material and conceptual potential of overlooked image-making techniques from the nineteenth century to today. Open all as an introductory course, and it will count toward the sequence requirement for the major.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 199-S04 — Landscape Photography Course count: 1
This course introduces students to photography as a means of exploring landscapes, places, and the cultural histories embedded in built and natural environments. Combining studio work with critical reading and discussion, students examine how landscapes are influenced by social values, economic forces, environmental pressures, and historical human interventions. They will study key texts on landscape and representation, analyze both historical and contemporary photographic work, and develop their own photo series focused on a local or regional site. Emphasizing visual analysis, historical exploration, and creative practice, the course encourages students to consider how photography can enhance our understanding of the connection between people and the land. Whileprior photography experience is welcome, it is not necessary. This course also fulfills the sequence requirement for the major.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 200 — Photography 1 Course count: 1
This course is an introduction to digital photography, with a particular emphasis on understanding images made through camera-based techniques. Students will learn the rudimentary aspects of the medium through regular assignments culminating in a final portfolio project. Topics include proper camera use (camera settings), exposure, editing, printing, and presentation. Class time will be devoted to lab demonstrations as well as critical discussions of student work. Also, through lectures and discussion, students will become familiar with aesthetic trends and notable practitioners, both historical and contemporary.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
VAST 201 — Mixed Media Course count: 1
Mixed Media is an intermediate studio art course in which students will explore a variety of experimental and mixed media painting and drawing techniques through the use of collage, found objects, digital media and image transfer. We will be using acrylic paints and mediums predominately in this course, and some assignments may call for the student to obtain additional "non-art" materials from home. This course will encourage improvisation and experimentation in student's work, and introduce them to a wide variety of options beyond traditional applications of painting and drawing, and will lay the groundwork to developing independent and self-directed works. Formal elements such as form, color, paint application, and composition will be emphasized throughout each assignment, as will content and thematic exploration.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 203 — Fundamentals of Color Course count: 1
Color is the most dynamic and complex of all the visual elements. In this course students explore color theory as it applies to a variety of media, including painting, collage, digital media and installation. Discussion of color and its relationships to composition through harmony and contrast is emphasized. In addition students explore applications of color that are symbolic as well as cultural. Students working in all media will benefit greatly from a solid understanding of color relationships, and will gain the skills to apply their knowledge to any chosen medium.
Prerequisite: VAST 105, VAST 199 (Digital Art Design) or VAST 199 (Studio Digital Art).
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 206 — Drawn to Nature Course count: 1
Drawn to Nature explores the natural world as a source of inspiration, as well as a point of departure to develop artistic investigation. Fundamental drawing skills such as line, texture, value, space, and scale will be practiced through visual engagement with the natural world. Subject matter will include plant and animal forms, trees and landscape, specimens in the studio and science lab, and objects viewed through the microscopic. Students will work with a range of dry and wet media, as well as traditional and experimental approaches to drawing. The practice of observational sketching and field journaling will provide source material to develop larger, resolved works. Numerous site visits to various locales on campus, as well as in the surrounding region will provide a variety of subjects for inspiration. The semester will culminate in a final project that develops personal exploration and builds upon the themes explored in the course.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Every Third Year, Fall
VAST 207 — Drawing, Body as Form Course count: 1
Emphasis is on a structural understanding of the figure and an expressive approach to drawing . The class also examines contemporary figurative artists. Students draw from the nude model in each class session, using a range of media including charcoal, pencil, ink, paper and oilbar. In addition to class work, students develop independent projects.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 208 — Cutting Edge: Beyond Collage Course count: 1
Collage is a method for interweaving complex shapes and images. Visual fragments from flat fibers and images are combined to create interlocking forms of both actual and perceived shapes. The course will place an emphasis on how edges join in both a physical and illusory way. Students will learn to consider the most sophisticated way to join parts, whether it is gluing, wrapping, weaving, sewing, or using hardware. Collage refers not only to the technique of combining objects and or images in a new way but also to new attitudes and ideas about how the world is perceived and re-contextualized. As a primary medium of the 20th century, the processes of Assemblage and Collage reflect the modern age oftechnology and culture. The students will be introduced to the major artists using these techniques from the 18th century to the modern age. Issues of copyright will be discussed also.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 209 — Digital Art Studio 1 Course count: 1
A hands-on introduction to digital art making processes on Macintosh computers. Generate and manipulate images and files within an artistic context. Think creatively, work digitally and examine the potential of digital art making as a new form of art. In addition to class projects and critiques in the media lab, students discuss contemporary artists who use the computer in their work.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 220 — Sculpture 1 Course count: 1
Sculpture 1 explores the elements of 3-Dimensional expression in projects of varied media. Students are exposed to sculptural issues via slide presentations on past and present works in sculpture. Class critiques allow students to refine both concepts and expression to create a personal synthesis.
Prerequisite: VAST 102
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 221 — Printmaking 1 Course count: 1
Printmaking is closely linked to drawing, but with a different range of marks, textures, and line quality. This course introduces the printmaking process by focusing on woodcut, monotype and screen printing, Projects are designed to examine different sources of artistic content and engage with the process of making multiples. You are encouraged to improvise, layer, and experiment. Your goal is to find out which materials, techniques and strategies can best realize your individual ideas.
Prerequisite: VAST 101 or VAST 107
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 222 — Intermediate Drawing Course count: 1
This course continues to build basic drawing skills and fosters the development of an individual drawing style. The content of Drawing I includes drawing in color, and other drawing forms such as collage and sequential drawing, making longer timed drawings as well as an introduction to abstraction. Students are encouraged to explore new content in their work and examine contemporary themes of drawing. Course includes readings, sketchbook work and research of contemporary artists and their drawings. This course was previously known as VAST 121 - Drawing 1.
Prerequisite: VAST 101
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 223 — Painting 1 Course count: 1
An introduction to the principles, methods, and materials of oil painting in both historical and contemporary contexts. Emphasis placed on developing an understanding of form and space in pictorial compositions, strengthening perceptual abilities, and increasing knowledge of the use of color as it pertains to painting. Supplemental readings and field trips provide further connection and investigations of the history and process of Painting.
Prerequisite: One previous studio art course
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 225 — Makerspace Projects Course count: 1
A study and practice of the principles of digital design and rapid prototyping tools necessary for bringing 2D and 3D artwork off of the computer screen and into the physical world. Students will learn to use Adobe Illustrator, Fusion 360 and handheld 3D scanners to design content that will be produced using CNC technologies such as laser cutters, Vinyl cutters and 3D printers.
Prerequisite: VAST 102 or VAST 105.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 230 — Photography 2 Course count: 1
This is an advanced course on the fundamentals of creative photography. Class time will be devoted to lab demonstrations as well as critical discussions of student work. Through regular lectures and discussion, students will become familiar with aesthetic movements and notable practitioners, with a focus on contemporary trends in the medium. An emphasis will be placed on the development of the student's own ideas about photography as demonstrated through a multi-week project culminating in a final printed portfolio. Students will be expected to acquire an intermediate level of technical skill within a digital workflow by refining their image editing skills utilizing Adobe Creative Cloud applications to create inkjet prints. Additional topics will include darkroom processing and large format printing. Students are required to supply their own digital camera with manual controls (DSLR or equivalent), although specialty equipment (such as film-based cameras, tripods, and lighting equipment) will be available for student use.
Prerequisite: VAST 130
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 299-F04 — Environmental Sculpture Course count: 1
Environmental Sculpture is a visual arts studio course that focuses on creating three-dimensional sculptural works informed by investigations into environmental issues, including ecological systems, sustainability, place, and human impact on the natural world. Through research, discussion, experimentation, and hands-on studio practice, students explore how environmental concepts can influence artistic process, material choice, and form. Emphasis is placed on developing technical skills, conceptual thinking, and creative problem-solving in three-dimensional space.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 299-F05 — Drawing the Printed Multiple Course count: 1
Drawing and printmaking are closely connected. Properties of drawing such as gesture, line, and mark making lend themselves naturally to printmakings various image transfer processes. For artists who work with 2D imagery, printmaking can be a way to amplify texture, color, and layering while using drawing skills. In this course students will sample a range of print processes (monotype, silkscreen, and intaglio) that center and transform drawing techniques. This course encourages experimentation with singular, unique imagery, as well as making prints in multiples.
Prerequisite: One previous drawing course or permission of the instructor.
GPA units: 1
VAST 299-S05 — Installation Art and Design: Sculpture in the Expanded Field Course count: 1
This intermediate studio course explores the theory and practice of installation art. Students will begin by analyzing Rosalind Krausss seminal essay, Sculpture in the Expanded Field, and the work of key postmodern and contemporary artists working in the expanded field (e.g., Robert Smithson, Richard Serra, Rachel Whiteread, Doris Salcedo). The course will then transition into a hands-on, collaborative studio environment. Working in groups, students will use the College campus as a laboratory to propose, design, and fabricate site-specific installation art. Students will explore fabrication techniques, including wood, welding, 3D printing, and earthen construction. Projects will challenge traditional notions of art objects, focusing instead on spatial intervention, viewer experience, and the dialogue between artwork and its environment. The course culminates in the public installation of these group projects at chosen sites across campus and/or Worcester.
Prerequisite: VAST 102 or with permission of instructor.
GPA units: 1
VAST 299-S06 — AI Art Studio: Beyond the Prompt Course count: 1
In this studio-based course, we will take a hands-on approach exploring how AI is reshaping art and image making. Working with traditional media alongside AI tools, we will create work that centers human creativity, direct experience, and reflection, while building a nuanced, critical perspective on the technology. Because the field is evolving, projects will adapt as new tools emerge. Beyond image generation, we will look at data visualization, AI as an assistive technology and how image training sets are created. Situating AI in the history of art following in the tradition of Dada, Fluxus and artists use of systems, we will study the work of contemporary artists who engage with AI in both critical and creative ways. As we learn how AI sees our world, what it gets wrong and what it reveals about us, we will ask, will AI ever truly make art?
Prerequisite: VAST 105, VAST 130, or VAST 225.
GPA units: 1
VAST 299-S07 — Contemporary Themes in Painting Course count: 1
Contemporary Themes in Painting is an intermediate studio art course designed for both experienced and beginning painters. In a society shaped by ideas, current events, community identity, popular culture, and spiritual beliefs, painting serves as a powerful medium for expression. Throughout this course, each project will focus on a relevant contemporary topic while incorporating essential skill-building techniques. As we progress, students will gradually develop their abilities, culminating in a series of paintings that reflect their personal interests. Experienced painters will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge from the very first project, while beginners will learn the fundamentals of form, color, and paint application at a comfortable pace. We will explore themes inspired by the diverse stylistic approaches of contemporary painting, including The Everyday Fantastic, Narrative and Identity of the Figure, and The Spiritual in Abstraction. The course will use an engagement grading method, and a studio fee will cover the cost of your materials. One previous Studio Art course required.
Prerequisite: One previous studio art course
GPA units: 1
VAST 299-S08 — Text, Image, Story Course count: 1
This course examines the power of comics, graphic novels, and zines to articulate personal stories through pictures, words, and printed matter. We will look to a diverse range of material for inspiration, from autobiographical comics to small, independent print publications on a variety of topics. Students will develop their own content through writing and drawing exercises, which they will refine through digital design processes, screenprinting, and basic bookmaking. Through it all, we will consider how text, illustration, pacing, and sequence support each other in visual storytelling. Students will be encouraged to look to their own interests, knowledge, beliefs, identities, and autobiographies as source material for the comics, zines, and chapbooks that we will produce together.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 299-S09 — Photo Collage Course count: 1
This introductory course explores digital photography and photo-based collage. In the first part of the semester, students learn manual camera controls, editing software, and printing. The second half focuses on creative photo collage-based methods. Students will complete creative projects, critique sessions, discussions, and a final project. Students develop personal vision along with technical mastery. No prior photography experience is required.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 299-S10 — Narrative Figures: Pencil to paint Course count: 1
In this course, students will learn to draw and paint figures in space primarily from observation. Beginning projects will introduce students to introductory approaches to figure drawing with pencil, pen, and ink. Following this, we will transition to works created in watercolor, gouache and acrylic paint. Students will work primarily from observation of the nude model in space, as well as from animal taxidermy and figurative sculptures in various settings. Observational drawing projects will serve as catalysts for artistic growth, and help each student create their own unique character development and project. After developing proficiency in observation, students will learn how to develop narrative themes inspired by historical and contemporary painting, graphic novels, and book illustrations of the figure in settings and contexts, culminating in a final 2D narrative art project. Students have the creative freedom to design a comic book, illustrated book, or a narrative artwork seriesall focused on the theme of narrative figures in believable light and space.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Arts
VAST 301 — Digital Art Studio 2 Course count: 1
An explanatory approach to the next level of using digital processes as a fine art medium. Building upon the skills learned in Digital Art Studio 1, students will examine the impact of digital processes on art and artists, research the work of artists who use digital process to produce art, and create computer-based artworks in formats ranging from large format digital prints to web-based art and digital objects.
Prerequisite: VAST 105
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 305 — Printed & Sewn Imagery Course count: 1
Textiles have long been treated as a substrate for imagery. Many artists choose fabric as a medium to explore repetition, collage, and scale. Textile-based imagery can be decorative or loadedit can adorn the world around us and tell potent stories through its pictures and patterns. Textiles can raise questions of utility, presenting images that are made to be touched and handled as well as seen. Working with fabrics can also teach us to improvise, and to creatively juxtapose different materials within a cohesive larger vision. In the first half of this course, we will print on fabric using block printing and silkscreen processes. Then, students will learn basic quilting techniques which they will use to incorporate their printed samples and other found textiles into a final, small-scale quilt of their own design. Design concepts such as color, texture, and composition will guide students process as they integrate fabric samples into this final project. Throughout the semester, students work will express themes of their own choosing, resulting in a final project that is personal, specific, and reflective of their own conceptual interests.
Prerequisite: One previous studio art course
GPA units: 1
VAST 306 — Book Projects Course count: 1
Explores the tradition of handmade artists' books and more recent experimental book forms. How do images work together in a sequence? What kind of narrative can be created by blinding images and text into a book form? What are the possible physical forms for the book? In addition to making conventional and experimental books in the print studio, students make a digital book in the Millard Media Lab. Through readings and discussions, this course examines the emergence of the "artists' book" in the 1960's and the work of contemporary artists.
Prerequisite: One previous studio art course
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAST 307 — New Media Course count: 1
New Media radically explores diverse and contemporary methods of digital production and output (including but not limited to computer graphics, computer animation, Internet art, and interactive technologies, on platforms ranging from computer monitors to projections, video game consoles to portable electronic devices), raising issues regarding the nature of the physical art object, the expanding role of emerging digital processes in artistic production, and the role new media art plays in the production and dissemination of contemporary artistic practice.
Prerequisite: VAST 105.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 308 — Painting 2 Course count: 1
A continuation and expansion of the skills acquired in Painting 1. Students are introduced to a wider range of experimental painting methods using oil based media, and will be working in large as well as small scale formats. The context of painting in contemporary art will be heavily emphasized in this course.
Prerequisite: VAST 200 or VAST 211 or by permission.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAST 320 — Darkroom Photography Course count: 1
This course explores the intricate world of analog imaging, delving into various light-based techniques for creating unique photographic objects in a darkroom. Students will experiment with multiple black-and-white processes, transcending the boundaries of traditional photography by combining elements of drawing, painting, and printmaking. Through hands-on demonstrations, thoughtful discussions of selected readings, and critiques, students will develop a deeper appreciation for the artistry and science behind darkroom work. They will also explore how these techniques have shaped ideas throughout the 19th century and into the present day.
Prerequisite: VAST 130, VAST 230, or instructor approval.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Alternate Years
VAST 330 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Tutorials relate to all areas covered by Visual Arts Studio 200 courses.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
VAST 401 — Studio Concentration Seminar 1 Course count: 1
Focuses on developing a "subject " or idea that can serve as the basis for a concise body of artwork reflecting the studio major's individual viewpoint and distinct aesthetic voice. In creating this body of work, students are challenged to take risks and experience both the discovery and failure that is the basis of the creative process. Each student has an individual space in Millard Art Center for intensive work. Students may work in any combination of media that serves their ideas. Critiques, trips, readings and discussion address the process of developing a body of work as well as issues of professionalism as an artist. Student work is evaluated at the end of fall semester for admission into the Studio Concentration Seminar II.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 402 — Studio Concentration Seminar 2 Course count: 1
In the second semester of the Studio Concentration Seminar, you are asked to take the culmination of the first semesters efforts and hone it into a mature and cohesive body of work. The second semester of the Concentration Seminar differs from the first in that it is much more goal oriented and schedule driven, due to the fact that you will be working towards the Senior Exhibition. Regardless of the fact that the exhibition will dominate the experience of the seminar, the true goal of this course is to engage with and produce a mature, thoughtful, and strong body of independent work. The exhibition should be a by-product of this ultimate goal. Frequent critiques with Studio faculty and outside visiting artists will help students refine their work. Students will also prepare for the exhibition by further refining their artist statements, and preparing for a public gallery talk about their work during the Academic Conference. After the exhibition, all students will design a professional-quality artist website that can be used for promotional purposes beyond the exhibition.
Prerequisite: VAST 300. Enrollment limited to 4th year VAST Majors.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
VAST 430 — Tutorial Course count: 1
Tutorials relate to all areas covered by Visual Arts Studio 200 courses.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring