Studio Art: Sculpture, BFASA
for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art Major in Studio Art, Sculpture Concentration
Students in the BFASA who choose the concentration in Sculpture will focus on methods and concepts related to three-dimensional art, form-making, and expanded spatial practices. Contemporary sculpture practice is informed by multiple modes of ideation, making and fabrication, and utilizes a dynamic and ever-expanding set of tools, materials, techniques and approaches. The outcomes are endlessly varied, from the most traditional to the wildly experimental, in scope, scale and content. The Sculpture concentration allows students to explore the multitude of art making options available, by encouraging individual growth, collaborative engagement, and collective accomplishments.
Courses in sculpture introduce students to a variety of materials and fabrication methods with explorations in three dimensional form, concepts and ideation, including wood fabrication, mold making and casting, and metal fabrication and welding. Advanced courses allow for more independent practice, and encourage a more singular approach to the use of materials and methodologies, ensuring students develop their own unique path via elective courses in ceramics, fiber and soft sculpture, experimental fashion, time-based practices, video, photography, and special topic courses and seminars. We offer experiences in a variety of classrooms and shops designed to support an expansive material practice, including well-equipped wood-shops, ceramic studios, plaster and casting rooms, welding and cold metal fabrication, small-scale foundry, sewing and fiber, and digital output technologies including 3D printers, water jet and laser cutting, CNC machining, vacuum-forming, digital imaging, and sound and video editing.
Students in the School of Art and Design must complete the Campus General Education requirements. Some Art and Design courses will also apply toward the General Education requirements.
Students majoring in this degree program must complete the First Year Curriculum requirements before beginning other major requirements.
Students in the BFA Studio Art degree, major in Studio Art, must declare one concentration and students may not declare more than one concentration.
A portfolio review is required for admission to the School of Art and Design.
for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art Major in Studio Art, Sculpture Concentration
Graduation Requirements
Minimum hours required for graduation: 122 hours.
University Requirements
Minimum of 40 hours of upper-division coursework, generally at the 300- or 400-level. These hours can be drawn from all elements of the degree. Students should consult their academic advisor for additional guidance in fulfilling this requirement.
The university and residency requirements can be found in the Student Code (§ 3-801) and in the Academic Catalog.
General Education Requirements
Follows the campus General Education (Gen Ed) requirements. Some Gen Ed requirements may be met by courses required and/or electives in Art and Design.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Composition I | 4-6 | |
| Advanced Composition | 3 | |
| Humanities & the Arts (6 hours) | 6 | |
fulfilled by ARTH 110 and any other course approved as Humanities & the Arts | ||
| Natural Sciences & Technology (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Cultural Studies: Non-Western Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Cultural Studies: US Minority Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Cultural Studies: Western/Comparative Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
fulfilled by ARTH 110 | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning (2 courses, at least one course must be Quantitative Reasoning I) | 6-10 | |
| Language Requirement (Completion of the third semester or equivalent of a language other than English is required) | 0-15 | |
First Year Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| FAA 101 | Arts at Illinois | 1 |
| ARTF 101 | Contemporary Issues in Art | 2 |
| ARTE 101 | Art, Design, and Society | 2 |
| ARTH 110 | Introduction to the History of Art and Visual Culture | 3 |
| ARTF 103 | Design I | 3 |
| ARTF 105 | Design II | 3 |
| Select one Drawing course: | 3 | |
| Observational Drawing | ||
| Expressive Drawing | ||
| Visualization Drawing | ||
| Total Hours | 17 | |
Art History Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 200 level and above ARTH courses | 9 | |
Sculpture Concentration Requirements
Students must declare one concentration, students may not declare more than one concentration.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ARTS 280 | Beginning Sculpture | 3 |
| ARTS 210 | Ceramics Sculpture I | 3 |
| or ARTS 252 | Making and Meaning | |
| ARTS 310 | Ceramics Sculpture II | 3 |
| or ARTS 457 | Art in Context | |
| ARTS 381 | Intermediate Sculpture | 3 |
| ARTS 456 | Advanced Sculpture | 3 |
| Additional 200-level ARTS course | 9 | |
| Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 24 | |
| Total Hours | 48 | |
Capstone Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ARTS 392 | Current Art Issues Seminar | 3 |
| ARTS 451 | BFASA Capstone Studio | 4 |
Summary of credits for Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education | ||
| First-Year Curriculum | 17 | |
| Art History | 9 | |
| Concentration | 48 | |
| Capstone | 7 | |
| Free electives to bring the total hours earned to 122, including a minimum of 40 credits at the 300- or 400-level. | ||
| Total Hours | 122 | |
for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art Major in Studio Art, Sculpture Concentration
This sample sequence is intended to be used only as a guide for degree completion. All students should work individually with their academic advisors to decide the actual course selection and sequence that works best for them based on their academic preparation and goals. Enrichment programming such as study abroad, minors, internships, and so on may impact the structure of this four-year plan. Course availability is not guaranteed during the semester indicated in the sample sequence.
Students must fulfill their Language Other Than English requirement by successfully completing a third level of a language other than English. For more information, see the corresponding section on the Degree and General Education Requirements page.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| FAA 101 | 1 | ARTE 101 | 2 |
| ARTF 101 | 2 | ARTF 105 | 3 |
| ARTH 110 | 3 | ARTF ### (Drawing Category) | 3 |
| ARTS 280 | 3 | Composition I or Language Other than English (3rd level) | 4 |
| ARTF 103 | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| Composition I or Language Other than English (3rd level) | 4 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ARTS 210 or 252 | 3 | ARTS 381 | 3 |
| Additional 200- level ARTS course | 3 | Additional 200- level ARTS course | 3 |
| ARTH 200-400 level course | 3 | ARTH 200-400 level course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ARTS 310 or 457 | 3 | ARTS 392 | 3 |
| ARTH 200-400 level course | 3 | Additional 200- level ARTS course | 3 |
| Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 | Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 |
| Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 | Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ARTS 456 | 3 | ARTS 451 | 4 |
| Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 | Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 |
| Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 | Additional 300- or 400- level ARTS course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | Free Elective course | 3 |
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Total Hours 122 | |||
for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art Major in Studio Art, Sculpture Concentration
BFASA Studio Art:
- Students will understand and be able to apply basic principles of visual and material communication, including two-dimensional pictorial concepts, three-dimensional formal and spatial concepts, and a wide variety of media and formats for artistic production, and possess the ability to apply them to a specific aesthetic intent.
- Students will demonstrate an ability and willingness to experiment and explore the expressive possibilities of various media, and artistic and creative strategies for self-directed art-making, and investigate the diverse activities and conceptual modes available to the contemporary artist, including work that directly addresses or engages with recent developments in the field of fine art as well as broader social questions and challenges. Students are trained in the production and critique of artworks that explore forms and technologies identified as new or emerging.
- Students will gain knowledge of, understand, and be able to apply concepts of visual rhetoric in the development of content, and be able to recognize and critically analyze an evolving variety of communicative practices in art and visual culture, including those that represent diverse cultures and sociopolitical positions, and to demonstrate openness to new social possibilities and a critical empathy towards both audiences and culture producers of differing histories, origins and identities.
- Students will develop an innovative, imaginative, and entrepreneurial self-directed studio practice, will gain a deep understanding of their own creativity, be able to apply it in any context, and will learn to independently generate thematic investigation and implementation of research in a broad variety of social locations, including art and educational institutions, activist forums, and cyberspace.
- Students will be willing and able to investigate and accommodate broad-ranging types of knowledge and artistic strategies for the purpose of synthesizing diverse and even disparate ideas in order to create sophisticated, unique works of art, participate in new types of collaboration, and to make innovative statements and hypotheses, or propose creative solutions to social, organizational and societal problems using aesthetic strategies.
- While pursuing a BFASA, students prepare for work as artists at a time when artists are employed in a variety of spheres: artistic direction, project management, education, research, fine art, curation, performance, non-profit work, activism, advertising, and many others. As digital medias evolve, our graduates will be flexible, able to understand the best use of emerging technologies while crafting new economic and social connections.
- Students will produce an integrated, cohesive, critically informed body of work for a thesis exhibition, supported by a written thesis document that serves to position their artistic practice within the broader sphere of contemporary art practices, exhibition strategies, audiences, and economies.
In addition, each concentration has discipline specific learning outcomes:
Sculpture Concentration:
- Students concentrating in Sculpture have knowledge and skills in the use of basic tools, techniques, and processes to work from concept to finished product, leading to preparation of three-dimensional objects and installations using the broadest possible range of techniques and concepts.
- Students concentrating in Sculpture will demonstrate mastery in one or more sculptural media, processes and presentational strategies.
for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art Major in Studio Art, Sculpture Concentration
School of Art & Design
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143 Art and Design Building, Champaign, IL 61820
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College of Fine & Applied Arts
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