Course Description

Program Description From printmaking to painting, from photography to experimental studio, through material and digitally-based sculptural practice, the visual arts embody, celebrate and criticize our assumptions and aspirations. Studies in Studio Art at the University of Guelph will enable you to participate in this realm. Guelph offers a unique learning environment for the study of Studio Art. Our School of Fine Art and Music is the third largest studio program in Ontario, exposing students to a climate of intellectual diversity and tolerance. In the course of your studies, you'll have access to the Gordon Couling Digital Slide Library and the Bachinski/Chu Print Study Collection, which includes examples of original works by such artists as Rembrandt, Matisse, Snow and Colville, and the Art Gallery of Guelph and associated Sculpture Park, one of the most significant university galleries in Canada. The School's noted Visiting Artist Series brings internationally renowned artists to campus each semester, and the annual Shenkman Lecture in Contemporary Art is the capstone of each year. Our faculty, considered by many to be among the finest in the country, are active practicing artists whose work has been displayed at such prestigious institutions as the National Gallery of Art, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Tate Gallery, London. And almost without exception, our faculty members are represented by Canada's leading commercial art galleries. The Studio Art program at Guelph is designed to provide a progressive alternative to existing post secondary programs; one that combines equal strengths in studio practice and its conceptual and critical underpinnings. This approach has had a very positive impact on all graduates by providing them with a substantial working knowledge of both contemporary art history and studio practice, regardless of their career plans. In fact, our program is designed as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Studio Art, rather than a Bachelor of Fine Arts. The BA allows students to more easily combine their studies in Studio Art, as Majors or Minors, with major and minor programs of study in a variety of other disciplines. The permutations are endless in terms of building your career path: our graduates are successful contemporary artists, gallerists, teachers, and art therapists, among other things. Studio Art combines the best of two worlds, providing a fundamental understanding of art history, theory and criticism with the opportunity to explore a range of media in the studio. You'll learn through lectures and discussions. Diverse audio-visual materials, from digital images to videos and films, will be regular components of most courses. Studio courses emphasize hands-on experience in art making. You'll develop not only technical and manual skills but also an awareness of historical and contemporary contexts, and formal and expressive strategies. You'll do much of your learning in the renovated studios and facilities of historic Zavitz Hall and the Alexander Hall. Trips to major collections, galleries and museums will augment your learning experience.

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