Art and Art History

ART 1000 Two-Dimensional Design — 4 credits

Introduction to the basic elements, principles and dynamics of visual art. Course features studio exercises and projects with exploration of two-dimensional art media and class critiques of studio work. Image-illustrated lectures, gallery visits, readings and critical writings supplement assigned studio problems as means of understanding concepts and acquiring skills in visual literacy and two-dimensional design. Required foundation course for studio art, visual art education majors and apparel design majors. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 1010 Three-Dimensional Design — 4 credits

This foundation course is an introduction to the creation and understanding of three-dimensional form. Studio projects emphasize basic visual aesthetics, the principles and elements of spatial design and the processes and materials used to create sculptural forms. Three-dimensional design is also a preliminary course of study for architecture, furniture or product design, theater design, fashion design and many other disciplines. Image lectures, readings, critiques, gallery visits and written assignments supplement the course. Required foundation course for studio art, visual art education majors and apparel design majors. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 1020 Art and Artists — 2 credits

This course examines the great works of visual imagination throughout human history with special focus on contemporary American artists of diverse backgrounds. Classroom exercises promote the application of creative visual thinking to your own life and work. Offered in the College for Adults.

ART 1050 Art in the Twin Cities — 4 credits

Basic introduction to the study of visual art for non-majors. This art appreciation course emphasizes experiencing art directly and in-depth at museums and venues throughout the Twin Cities. Lectures will focus on themes and issues related to art including: the artist, the process of art and an overview of art history, visual culture and contemporary issues in art. Image lectures, discussions, readings, museum visits and written assignments. Offered in the College for Adults.

ART 1200 Drawing — 4 credits

Introduction to drawing focuses on drawing from observation and mastery of essential skills that includes a section on drawing from the human figure. Course presents art theory and studio practice leading to competence at the foundation level. Studio exercises, critiques and sketchbook assignments, supplemented by image lectures and readings. Required foundation course for studio art, visual art education majors and apparel design majors. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 1370 Making Better Photographs: Essential Principles of Photography — 4 credits

This fine arts course offers an introduction to fundamental digital photography tools, processes, and aesthetic principles. Emphasis is placed on the use of photography as a tool for developing creativity and heightened visual awareness. Image-based assignments address core technical and aesthetic decisions at every stage in the photographic process including camera controls, image editing and manipulation, compositional strategies, and preparing images for final display. Access to a digital camera is required for the duration of the course. Although a digital SLR (DSLR) or similar camera is recommended and offers the greatest flexibility and creative control, it is not required. The course can be successfully completed using any digital camera from cell phones to DSLRs. (Required for online sections only: Adobe Lightroom CC Classic editing software installed on a personal computer is required for the duration of the online offering of the course. The education version of Adobe Lightroom Classic may be purchased on a subscription basis through Adobe Creative Cloud.) Offered in the College for Women and the College for Adults.

ART 2150 Color — 4 credits

Basic principles and theories of color are explored in a hands-on sequence of assignments. Using paint as the primary medium, and introducing digital processes, color mixing skills are acquired that are important to the fine artist and designer, as well as to anyone interested in understanding the influence of color on the human psyche. Class procedures include demonstrations, illustrated lectures and critiques. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2250 Art and Technology — 4 credits

This course is an introduction to computers as a tool and digital culture as a medium for creative expression and communication. Students will gain a hands-on understanding of graphic software and hardware in both object- and pixel-oriented programs. The class will consider the impact of computer technology on visual art and culture by means of online research and discussion. Using the computer as an art-making tool, students undertake projects that incorporate their own artistic expression. Class procedures include demonstrations, illustrated lectures and critiques. Required course for studio art, visual art education and art history majors. Offered every semester. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2300 Painting: Oil — 4 credits

This course is an exploration of the processes of painting with oil on canvas and other supports. The subject matter stresses practical knowledge of materials and experience in the use of the art elements, especially color, light and volume in compositions that employ various subject matter. This course exposes students to a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques in order to encourage the development of a personal vision. Image lectures, critiques. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2310 Painting: Acrylic — 4 credits

This course is an exploration of the processes of painting with acrylic on canvas and other supports. The subject matter stresses practical knowledge of materials and experience in the use of the art elements, especially color, light and volume in compositions that employ various subject matter. This course exposes students to a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques in order to encourage the development of a personal vision. Image lectures, critiques. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2340 Printmaking — 4 credits

Discover the world of multiple copies of the same image through printmaking. Students will investigate woodcut, etching, and other printing techniques on a variety of surfaces to explore drawn images, pattern and surface design. Traditional and contemporary approaches and techniques will develop students' ideas and personal imagery. Offered occasionally.

ART 2360 Introduction to Black and White Photography — 4 credits

This course offers an introduction to the basic skills of black and white photography, emphasizing both technique and the development of a creative visual vocabulary. Structured assignments develop a working knowledge of the camera, lighting, and of the elements and principles of design. Digital and analog photographic processes will be explored. A self-directed final project encourages individual creativity. Cameras will be available for checkout. Offered every spring semester. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2370 Photography and Digital Storytelling — 4 credits

This course is an introduction to Digital Storytelling, an art form that emphasizes personal expression and the use of multimedia production tools to tell true stories. In the course students will produce short movies (under three minutes) using still images and sound to explore the many ways in which small stories convey big ideas. Students will learn how to capture, edit and sequence digital photographs and sound to create self-contained videos that can be viewed by a wide audience on a variety of platforms, including the internet and many mobile devices. No prior photography experience is necessary. A digital camera is required equipment for the course. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2400 Wheel-Thrown Pottery — 4 credits

In this introduction to the use of clay on the potter's wheel, pottery form and a range of surface treatments will be explored. Students are given a historical, aesthetic and technical foundation for working with clay on the potter's wheel. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2450 Ceramics — 4 credits

An introductory ceramics course, this class explores the possibilities of artistic expression in clay through hands-on experience. This course will review the history of ceramics as well as look at contemporary artists as students learn a variety of hand-building techniques. Students will be encouraged to go beyond learning the techniques toward developing their personal expression. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

ART 2600 Figure Drawing — 4 credits

In-depth study in drawing the human figure, featuring concepts, anatomy, vocabulary and process, with exploration of materials and techniques and consideration of aesthetic and cultural issues in depicting the human body. Studio work is supplemented by readings and discussion, illustrated lectures, critiques, critical writing assignment and class visits to galleries and museums. Offered in the College for Women and the College for Adults.
Prerequisite: Some previous drawing experience.

ART 2684 Directed Study - Studio Art — 4 credits

ART 2720 Building a Creative Life: Practice and Process — 4 credits

This course explores the two sides of living a creative life: meaning making (developing a strong sense of personal expression) and professional practice (application of communication, leadership and management skills) with a particular emphasis on practice and process. Using a project-based approach anchored by a social justice theme, students will engage in a community of ethical, interdisciplinary artists and thinkers responding to and shaping the world we live in. Open to students from all disciplines and majors, this course is the first of a three-part seminar required for all studio art and art history majors and minors (replaces senior seminar).
Prerequisite: any one course in ART or ARTH.

ART 2994 Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses. Topics may be either studio art courses or art history courses. Offered in the College for Women and the College for Adults.

ART 3150 Publication Design — 4 credits

This graphic design course offers hands-on computer experience in the major forms of printed communications: books, newspapers and magazines. Typography and the principles of visual communication integrating images and text are explored through exercises and projects. Students are introduced to historical aspects and contemporary issues in the field as well as current software for layout design. Class procedures include demonstrations, illustrated lectures, critiques and field trips. Offered in rotation every third semester. Offered in the College for Women.
Recommended: ART 2250.

ART 3180 Illustration Design — 4 credits

This graphic design course explores the concepts and techniques of communicating with images. Using appropriate software, students complete exercises and projects that introduce them to commercial practices, as well as develop their personal vision and style. Class procedures include demonstrations, illustrated lectures and critiques. Offered in rotation every third semester. Offered in the College for Women.
Recommended: ART 2250 and/or ART 1000 or ART 1200.

ART 3200 Graphic and Web Design — 4 credits

Graphic design is the application of art and communication skills to the needs of society. Using computer software, the first part of the course is a comprehensive foundation in the conceptual, aesthetic and technical aspects of graphic design, including graphic identity. The second part builds on these skills to explore designing for the internet using appropriate software. Students execute exercises and projects. Class procedures include demonstrations, illustrated lectures and critiques. Offered in rotation every third semester.
Recommended: ART 2250.

ART 3310 Advanced Painting — 4 credits

Continuation of ART 2300, 2310 or 2320 with greater independence, emphasizing development of a personal vision and style in painting. Offered every semester in conjunction with above courses. Offered in the College for Women.
Prerequisites: ART 2300, ART 2310 or ART 2320.

ART 3330 Advanced Digital Photography — 4 credits

This course is a continuation of ART 1370 with greater independence over content development emphasizing advanced project work in digital photography. Students are required to pursue a semester long project of their own design in consultation with the instructor. Structured critiques, image-based assignments and research will guide students through project development and refine technical proficiency. Offered in conjunction with ART 1370.
Prerequisite: ART 1370.

ART 3340 Advanced Black and White Photography — 4 credits

This course is a continuation of ART 2360 with greater independence over content development emphasizing advanced project work in black in white photography. Students are required to pursue a semester-long project of their own design in consultation with the instructor. Structured critiques, image-based assignments and research will guide students through project development and refine technical proficiency in digital and/or analog black and white processes. Offered in conjunction with ART 2360.
Prerequisite: ART 2360.

ART 3380 Advanced Digital Storytelling — 4 credits

This course is a continuation of ART 2370. In the course students will expand the conceptual, aesthetic, and technical skills used to produce time-based media. Students will pursue a sustained semester-long project of their own design in consultation with the instructor. Exercises, critiques, and discussions support the development of an advanced understanding of digital media design and production appropriate to the project. Offered in conjunction with ART 2370.
Prerequisite: ART 2370.

ART 3400 Advanced Wheel-Thrown Pottery — 4 credits

Continued exploration of ART 2400, using a broader range of clay bodies, surface treatments and firing techniques. Students will develop a greater critical understanding and a personal vision. Offered in conjunction with ART 2400. Offered in the College for Women.
Prerequisite: ART 2400.

ART 3450 Advanced Sculpture: Ceramics — 4 credits

A continuation of ART 2450, students will focus on expanding their clay skills while continuing to develop and refine their individual ideas. Students will also learn more about glazes and the firing process. Offered in conjunction with ART 2450. Offered in the College for Women.
Prerequisite: ART 2450.

ART 3720 Building a Creative Life: Context and Content — 4 credits

This course gives you the opportunity and inspiration to explore new mediums and subjects that are important to you and the meaningful life you’re building. Students engage in a community of ethical, interdisciplinary artists and scholars, responding to and shaping the world we live in. This course provides a space for self- and group-exploration of frameworks for understanding and communicating context and content in building a creative life, and preparing for careers in the arts and beyond. In the words of writer, curator, and activist Kimberly Drew “...the beautiful thing about art, like activism, is that it allows us space to be curious and learn.” The future is ours to shape.
Prerequisite: any one course in ART or ARTH.

ART 3994 Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses.

ART 4200 Women's Art Institute Summer Studio Intensive — 3 credits

A resurgence of activity and discussion around the issues of women and art has galvanized contemporary women artists to ask new questions. Structured around questions that the participants themselves bring, this innovative and rigorous course focuses on investigating ideas and creating art that arise through the combination of open studio work, intense individual tutoring, inspiring conversation and critiques, and presentations from guest artists, critics and art historians. This intensive four-week studio program is designed for individuals who have mastered basic skills and now wish to pursue deeper levels of understanding and expression in their work. Disciplines explored include painting, drawing, collage, photography, sculpture, digital art, installation and performance. Students are assigned a preliminary project and are expected to produce a major portfolio of work by the end of the course for class critique. Also offered as WOST 4200.
Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

ART 4602 Internship — 2 credits

Structured out-of-class learning experience that takes place on or off campus and includes a substantial work component. An internship involves students in a particular profession in an exploratory way to test career interests and potential. To initiate an internship experience, students must meet with the internship coordinator in the Career Development Office.
Prerequisites: Faculty sponsorship and approval by department chair.

ART 4604 Internship — 4 credits

Structured out-of-class learning experience that takes place on or off campus and includes a substantial work component. An internship involves students in a particular profession in an exploratory way to test career interests and potential. To initiate an internship experience, students must meet with the internship coordinator in the Career Development Office.
Prerequisites: Faculty sponsorship and approval by department chair.

ART 4681 Directed Study - Studio Art — 1 credit

Directed study is provided for students whose unusual circumstances prohibit taking a regularly scheduled course but who need the material of that course to satisfy a requirement. Availability of this faculty-directed learning experience depends on faculty time and may be limited in any given term and restricted to certain courses.
Prerequisites: Faculty, department chair and dean approval.

ART 4684 Directed Study - Studio Art — 4 credits

Directed study is provided for students whose unusual circumstances prohibit taking a regularly scheduled course but who need the material of that course to satisfy a requirement. Availability of this faculty-directed learning experience depends on faculty time and may be limited in any given term and restricted to certain courses.
Prerequisites: Faculty, department chair and dean approval.

ART 4720 Building a Creative Life: Personal Creative Vision — 4 credits

This course is the third in the Building a Creative Life seminar series. It continues the exploration of meaning-making and professional practice with particular emphasis on the expression of your personal vision. Coursework culminates in a capstone project in preparation for participation in ART4852 Senior Exhibition and Creative Showcase. Using a project-based approach, you will engage in a community of ethical, interdisciplinary artists and thinkers responding to and shaping the world we live in. This is the third of a three-part seminar required for all studio art and art history majors and minors.
Prerequisite: ART 2720 and ART 3720.

ART 4800 Senior Seminar for Studio Art Majors — 4 credits

Senior Seminar for Studio Art Majors is a study of the resources and opportunities available to artists and designers to aid in their development as working professionals. Topics that will be addressed include career planning, resume writing, portfolio preparation, non-profit resources, graduate studies, and other strategies for making a living as an artist or designer. Course content will take the form of lectures, demonstrations, studio work, discussions, readings, visiting artist lectures, studio visits, and student presentations. There will be class presentations by working artists and professionals to acquaint students with a range of challenges and opportunities faced by artists and designers working in several disciplines. During the course, students will also be required to produce a self directed art project, and to critically examine their own work and the work of other students in order to clarify career goals and identify potential opportunities. Required course for studio art majors. Offered in the College for Women.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Portfolio Review II, approval of department chair.

ART 4850 Senior Exhibition — 1 credit

Preparation and exhibition of graduating studio art majors' artwork in the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery. Represents the culmination of major study for studio art majors, including those studying visual arts education. Students must complete the Senior Exhibition within four years of finishing the other requirements for the studio art major. Offered spring semester only.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Portfolio Review II and approval of department chair.

ART 4852 Senior Exhibition and Creative Showcase-Presentation, Engagement and Community — 2 credits

This course provides students with the opportunity to facilitate interaction with their creative work through presentation (including exhibition, performance, symposium, curating and writing) and public engagement (including artist talks, lectures, research presentations and poster sessions). In addition to senior studio art majors, students of all disciplines and majors, who have produced creative work, are invited to join this class. Students will collaborate to plan and participate in the spring creative works Showcase, practice and articulate career readiness competencies and expand their creative community and professional networks.
Recommended: ART 3994: Building a Creative Life: Inquiry, Imagination. Non-art majors and non-seniors are welcome in this course with approval from the instructor.

ART 4951 Independent Study — 1 credit

Independent studies presuppose a measure of experience in the area of study and the intent to go beyond the content of scheduled classes.
Prerequisites: Faculty sponsorship and the department chair approval.

ART 4954 Independent Study - Studio Art — 4 credits

Independent studies presuppose a measure of experience in the area of study and the intent to go beyond the content of scheduled classes.
Prerequisites: Faculty sponsorship and the department chair approval.

ART 4994 Studio Art Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses.

ARTH 1000 Art and Perception — 4 credits

Arts-based training is emerging in a variety of fields including health care, education, business, and law. It assumes that close encounters with works of art enhance our observational acuity as well as our skills in cognitive recognition and empathy. Inspired by Amy Herman's “Art of Perception” seminar and her book Visual Intelligence, this hybrid course is designed to help you claim your visual intelligence in your work and life. We will study and discuss artworks in person and in reproduction through a variety of exercises including "slow looking," drawing, and writing. Students will leave this class with an enhanced capacity for communication in a variety of modes, a deeper appreciation for the visual arts and their histories, as well as an ability to analyze the impact of systems of power and privilege that are perpetuated in visual communication. Satisfies the Fine Arts Core requirement. Offered in the College for Adults and the College for Women.

ARTH 1100 Introduction to Art History: Ancient Through Medieval — 4 credits

This course is an introduction to the history of Western art from prehistory through the Middle Ages. Beginning with the cave paintings of prehistoric France and Spain, this course surveys the visual arts and architecture of ancient Egypt and the ancient Near East, the Classical Greek and Roman worlds, and finally medieval Europe. It considers a variety of media (sculpture, pottery, wall painting, mosaics, and manuscripts as well as architecture) as meaningful expressions of their historical contexts. Questions surrounding how art and architecture function in society are explored throughout, and the basic principles of visual analysis are taught and utilized. Offered in alternate years. Offered in the College for Women.

ARTH 1110 Introduction to Art History: Renaissance through Modern — 4 credits

This course is an introduction to the history of Western art from the early Renaissance in Europe to the present in Europe and the U.S. It surveys the artists, architects, and art movements that constitute the canon of Western art since the Renaissance with an eye to examining how society influences artistic production and vice versa. The role of patronage, individual artistic personalities, religion, war and peace, and attitudes about gender are explored throughout. The basic principles of visual analysis are taught and utilized; students are also introduced to fundamental methods of art history such as iconography, formalism, and social art history. This course also includes a visit to, and analysis of an artwork in, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Offered in alternate years. Offered in the College for Women.

ARTH 1150 Ways of Seeing — 4 credits

The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe." John Berger made this claim in 1972, when he published a thin, but hugely influential book called Ways of Seeing. This course intends to bring Berger’s statement – and the insights of his book – to bear on our own experiences of art, history, and visual culture in the early 21st century. An introduction to the history of art and visual culture, this course considers local and global case studies that implicate images, image makers, and viewers. These are explored according to themes that cut across historical and geographical boundaries, themes that include, but are not limited to art and ideology, beauty and art, the female body and the male gaze, iconoclasm, piety and religious spaces, museums, popular and consumer culture, and social change. Offered annually. Offered in the College for Women.

ARTH 2684 Directed Study - Art History — 4 credits

ARTH 2994 Art History Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses. Offered in the College for Women.

ARTH 3500W Art and Power — 4 credits

This course explores the multiple intersections of art and power by considering the histories and meanings of objects on display in the permanent collection of the Minneapolis Institute or Art (hereafter Mia). It asks the following questions: What is the history of museums? What is the history of this museum? Whom does the museum serve? Why is this object in this collection? Why does it look the way it does? What is the social location of the intended viewer? What is the object's relationship to power? What is the viewer's relationships to power? Students choose an artwork on view at the Museum and work closely with the instructor, as well as with Museum and University Librarians, to excavate the histories of the chosen object. Students compose an annotated bibliography and object biography that takes as its point of departure that "museums are not neutral."* Developed in 2018-2019 with Nam Provost (Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Mia), this course may serve as reference for an emerging cultural competency curriculum for Mia staff. This course satisfies both the University's core fine arts requirement and Writing Intensive requirement. Also offered as CRST. *This phrase was coined by art historians and activists La Tanya Autry, Teressa Raifold, and Mike Murawski. See https://artstuffmatters.wordpress.com/museums-are-not-neutral/.

ARTH 3630 Gender, Art, and Society — 4 credits

This course considers the artworks, lives, and voices of historically marginalized artists, who identify as cisgender women, transgender women, or non-binary, across history, geography, and society. As an art history course, it is alert to the ways in which these artists have been marginalized by master narratives. It also challenges the single stories that essentialize the study of gender and art (e.g the overlooked woman artist, the forgotten maverick) by emphasizing, as much as possible, the artists’ lived experiences as well as the formal integrity of their work. Organized in three parts – history/literature, theory, practice – this class includes lectures and discussions, individual and group work, films and videos, as well as visits with practicing artists and feminist scholars. The capstone assignment in the course is participation in an Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Students will learn how to edit Wikipedia. Each student will select an artist (cis-woman, trans-woman, or non-binary) to research in order to amend that artist’s existing page or create a new one. Also offered as WOST 3630. Offered in the College for Women.

ARTH 4000 Methods and Theories of Art History — 4 credits

This course is both an introduction to the methods of art history and also a thought experiment in speculative fiction. Students in this course will create a toolbox of methodologies and theories that enhance our understanding of art and its history. Potential texts will consider traditional object-based methods of art history such as formalism and iconography as well as newer approaches that stress the various contexts in which artworks are created and understood. These include: social art history (including Postcolonial, Marxist and Feminist approaches), hermeneutics, psychoanalysis and reception theory. The speculative-fiction framework for this course is Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 novel Parable of the Sower, which will help us to envision the future of art and art history beyond survival. We will imagine a lost chapter of the novel that describes the burning of a museum. Faced with the opportunity to salvage artworks from the museum’s galleries, the book's protagonist Lauren Olamina and her band of survivors must quickly determine what to save for the future of humanity. By thinking with Butler, and her Earthseed tenets, we will each select an artwork in the Minneapolis Institute of Art to save and interpret with tools provided by a dying discipline known as art history. How will the central questions of the discipline change in this post-apocalyptic world? How will it change Lauren’s first Earthseed community? How will the artworks they’ve chosen, remnants of lost societies and survivors of modern institutions that could not, at last, be sustained, function in Acorn and beyond?.

ARTH 4684 Directed Study - Art History — 4 credits

Directed study is provided for students whose unusual circumstances prohibit taking a regularly scheduled course but who need the material of that course to satisfy a requirement. Availability of this faculty-directed learning experience depends on faculty time and may be limited in any given term and restricted to certain courses.
Prerequisites: Faculty, department chair and dean approval.

ARTH 4954 Independent Study - Art History — 4 credits

Independent studies presuppose a measure of experience in the area of study and the intent to go beyond the content of scheduled classes.
Prerequisites: Faculty sponsorship and department chair approval.

ARTH 4994 Art History Topics — 4 credits

The subject matter of the course is announced in the annual schedule of classes. Content varies from year to year but does not duplicate existing courses.