Program Description The Department of Fine Arts is one of the smallest departments at Algoma U. Our relatively small size provides the ideal learning environment for our budding artists, who will undergo a process of dramatic personal growth throughout the course of their four years. Students will graduate from our four-year program with a greater sense of achievement and pride in their work.
Our program is ideal for artists who have a passion for contemporary studio practices in painting, drawing, printmaking, and mixed media. Core studio courses are supported by academic studies in art history and theory. Courses also explore site specific sculpture, installation and land art, digital social media, bookbinding, and aboriginal art. In the first two years of studies, students will receive the benefit of structured, intense, project-based studio courses that develop basic visual vocabulary, observational drawing skills, and an overview of art history. Upper-year courses involve increasingly varied approaches that allow for more independent and personal development.
Throughout the duration of studies, students will work alongside our talented and dedicated faculty, and will receive one-on-one feedback and instruction. This constructive feedback allows for the completion of refined, polished, mature, and technical work – a difficult feat for graduate students to accomplish, yet alone undergraduates! Our young artists will also reach this level of maturity through the help of visiting artists and scholars. Workshops and private classes taught by visiting artists helps propel our students’ artistic capabilities forward, but also provides them with vital insight into being a twenty-first-century artist.
Aside from benefiting from one-on-one interactions with faculty and scholars, our students also benefit from our hands-on approach to learning. We believe in providing our students with countless opportunities to showcase their work and being recognized within the community, but also to venture outside of the typical learning environment of the classroom. Due to our special partnerships with community businesses, our students can display their work at various galleries throughout Sault Ste. Marie, including the Art Gallery of Algoma, 180 Projects, and Loplops. This instills within our students a sense of pride and worth in their work, but also begins the process of gaining a reputation within the arts community prior to graduating. Students can take advantage of these spaces throughout the duration of their studies; but in fourth year, all will be expected to take part in the end-of-studies thesis, which results in a professionally curated annual group exhibition at the Art Gallery of Algoma. Such experiences provide students with invaluable experiences, and a thorough working knowledge and understanding of curatorial and museum studies. Plus, upon graduation, students will have an easier time securing gallery space due to their sophisticated and versatile portfolios.
In addition to working within galleries, our students also study outdoors. Being located in Sault Ste. Marie, a city which boasts natural beauty, our students are exposed to awe-inspiring landscapes, including those made famous by the Group of Seven. In more recent years, we have taken our students to explore the great outdoors, and shown them how to capture nature’s beauty. Our students have been involved in a one-of-a-kind in-field experience, where our students venture into the heart of Northern Ontario via the Algoma Central Railway. Unlike any other art history course in the province, this course operates outside of the typical classroom and museum setting. For a full weekend, students endure rugged backcountry camping while studying and embodying Canada’s most famous artists, the Group of Seven. As part of their third-year art history course, students examine and sketch the landscape and sites the Group of Seven depicted almost 100 years ago – a truly unforgettable experience.
Upon graduation, our students will have made the transition to mature artists, with a dynamic portfolio and vast understanding of art history, and will be ready for the work world.
