Fine Arts

Associate in Science Degree

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This program provides the skills and knowledge required for fine arts students to communicate effectively in a visual and verbal format; to prepare the student to exhibit understanding of creative, conceptual, and perceptual techniques of art making; to provide advance knowledge of fine arts through diverse global and historical perspectives; to utilize the traditional technical skills for creating art; and to prepare students for a career in fine arts.  Graduates will be prepared to transfer and enter the fields of art education, curation, studio arts, arts therapy, and arts administration.  This program allows students through the SUNY Art Studio transfer pathway. 

Goal 1 To provide the skills and knowledge required to communicate effectively in visual and verbal format

  • Students will articulate an understanding of the visual problem-solving process.
  • Students will collaborate in project critiques demonstrating the ability to discuss both their own work and the work of their peers.
  • Students will demonstrate appropriate communication with instructor and peers via critique, written assignments, and class interaction.
  • Students will recognize the elements of fine arts visual language including composition, color, space, scale, and light among others.

Goal 2 To prepare the student to exhibit understanding of creative, conceptual, and perceptual techniques of art making

  • Students will demonstrate creative problem-solving methodology using visual art development procedures including research, brain-storming, thumbnails, sketches, and final art.
  • Students will demonstrate knowledge of the creative process, i.e. analysis, incubation, illumination, and verification.
  • Students will demonstrate knowledge of different ways and means to communicate information through various media and artistic techniques.
  • Students will create artwork that communicates a larger thought or idea.
  • Students will create artwork based on contemporary and historical techniques.

Goal 3 To provide advance knowledge of fine arts through diverse global, cultural, and historical perspectives

  • Students will demonstrate knowledge of fine arts on a global scale within a historical context.
  • Students will recognize the works of numerous masters from various backgrounds and cultures in the arts.
  • Students will discuss work in comparison to contemporary and historical masters.
  • Students will discuss how the history of art reflects significant historical and cultural events.
  • Students will research and organize resources to broaden their understanding of the field of art.

Goal 4 To utilize the traditional technical skills for creating art 

  • Students will demonstrate competency with technical skills in observational mimesis.
  • Students will demonstrate the necessary hand/eye skills.
  • Students will demonstrate knowledge of the relevant anatomy of the human body.
  • Students will demonstrate knowledge of the underlying structure of the forms they draw, sculpt, and paint. 
  • Students will create form with dimension that moves past the perceptual understanding of the flat outline in drawing, painting, and sculpting. 

Goal 5 To prepare students for a career in fine arts            

  • Students will develop a professionally presentable portfolio.
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of how this portfolio can gain them access to commissions and freelance work.
  • Students will identify and discuss plans for job or Transfer.
  • Students will use traditional and contemporary information technology.
  • Students will identify, access, and appropriately use authoritative sources of information.

Total Credit Hours: 64

First Semester

This course is an opportunity for students to develop the skills necessary to be successful in college. Students learn the importance of the faculty-student and advisor-advisee relationship, develop time management techniques, apply effective study skill techniques, recognize the implications of living in a diverse society, utilize college resources, and explore career and transfer requirements. Collaborative projects are included. Students matriculated in a degree program must take this course in their first term of study.

This course focuses on several kinds of writing-self-expressive, informative, and argumentative/persuasive, and others. A minimum of five essay compositions are required. The course emphasizes the composition of clear, correct, and effective prose required in a variety of professions and occupations. Prerequisites: Appropriate high school GPA or placement test score or EN090 Basic Writing Skills or SL116 ESL4: Advanced Composition or SL145 ESOL Advanced Composition

This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of visual communication and creativity with an emphasis on understanding historically significant art styles. Students explore various types of visual expression and apply creative problem-solving principles to both two-dimensional and three-dimensional projects in a variety of media. Emphasis is placed on formulating basic design and layout principles, with particular stress on application. Students are introduced to the masters, practices, and careers of painting, sculpture, graphic design, animation, film, digital media, illustration, and photography.

This course introduces the tools, media, and theory used in the creation of a drawing. It includes the fundamentals of perspective, the theory of light and shade, and a survey of graphic representation. Projects are executed focusing on proportion and placement, volume and structure, and value with tone.

Studio laboratory fee: $20

This course introduces the visual elements and principles of design. Emphasis is placed on compositional concepts and the mastery of a visual language. Course projects explore a variety of media, processes, and techniques to provide a broad view of visual problem solving.

This course incorporates an examination of design principles and organization of willed form in space. Studio work focuses on the study of natural, fabricated, and architectonic forms, emphasizing construction, scale, and proportion. These principles are fundamental to architecture, industrial design, and sculpture. Studio laboratory fee: $20

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Second Semester

This course introduces probability and statistics. Topics include graphs, tables, frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersion, normal distribution, correlation and regression, probability, and inferential statistics. This course is available in two formats: lecture only, or lecture plus laboratory using technology. Prerequisite: Appropriate high school GPA or placement test score or MA089 Arithmetic.

This is an introductory course in drawing the human figure, focusing on the body’s geometric and anatomical structure. Classroom work consists of drawing from the live model and plaster sculpture casts. A hierarchy of form, working from general to specific, is emphasized. Studio work is supplemented by lectures and critiques on the principles of accurate representation of the human form in pictorial space, including gesture, proportion, anatomy, and light on form. Studio laboratory fee: $20

This course investigates the role of color in the organization of the two-dimensional surface, as well as its practical use in our visual environment. Emphasis is placed on understanding the mastery of value, hue, and temperature in physical and digital media. Students apply design composition principles, processes, and techniques to engage in creative problem solving.

This course introduces sculpture through the figure, using a variety of traditional and modern techniques. Topics include the elements of structure, mass, volume, anatomy, and proportion, as they combine to give form and meaning. These principles are fundamental to improving form conception in drawing, painting, and sculpture. This course provides an introduction to armature building, water clay techniques, and mold-making. Prerequisite: FA108 Three-Dimensional Design. Studio laboratory fee: $20

This course introduces the history of art from the Seventeenth Century to the present. Topics include Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicisms, Romanticism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Twentieth-Century, and non-Western examples of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Art is studied within its cultural context with a focus on the interrelationship among the Arts. A field trip to an art exhibit is required. Prerequisite: EN101 English 1: Composition or EN105 English Composition for Speakers of Other Languages or EN106 English 1: Composition & Reading.

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Third Semester

This intermediate course expands upon the technical skills and aesthetic concepts of FA103 Figure Drawing 1. More complex problems are addressed, including the foreshortened figure, the figure in space, multiple figure composition, extended poses, and large format drawing. Projects explore various drawing media, settings, lighting situations, and approaches to the figure. Classroom work consists of drawing from the live model, supplemented by lectures and critiques. Prerequisite: FA103 Figure Drawing 1. Studio laboratory fee: $20

This course provides an introduction to the technique of the oil painting medium and approaches to color mixing. Emphasis is given to the painting from the observed subject. A variety of subjects and techniques are explored through projects that reference historical and contemporary approaches. Studio laboratory fee: $20

This course introduces the history of art from prehistoric times through the Sixteenth Century. Topics include Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, and non-Western examples of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Art is studied within its cultural context with a focus on the interrelationship among the Arts. A field trip to an art exhibit is required. Prerequisite: EN101 English 1: Composition or EN105 English Composition for Speakers of Other Languages or EN106 English 1: Composition & Reading.

This course encourages a deeper understanding of human nature and the human condition through the study of ideas and values expressed in imaginative literature. Emphasis is placed on the use and development of critical thinking and language skills. Library-oriented research is required. Prerequisite: EN101 English 1: Composition or EN105 English Composition for Speakers of Other Languages or EN106 English 1: Composition & Reading.

This course introduces traditional relief printmaking techniques such as wood cut, linoleum color reduction, and multiple plate relief printing. Other printmaking processes such as intaglio and screen-printing may also be investigated. Emphasis is placed on techniques, and then expanded to subject matter and content. Studio laboratory fee: $20

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Fourth Semester

Core GE Natural Science

This course introduces the many and varied facets of psychology. Emphasis is on interactions of individuals in their cultural, social, and economic environments as determined by their cognitive, behavioral, and emotional experiences and training.

This course expands on the concepts introduced in FA209 Painting 1. Oil painting techniques are further explored through course projects. Emphasis is given to the painting from the observed subject and then expanded to content and technique. Prerequisite: FA209 Painting 1. Studio laboratory fee: $20

This course gives an understanding of and a feeling for the society in which we live. The concepts and theories discussed relate to humanity, its culture and society, and to those forces that contribute to the smooth operation of this society as well as those forces that contribute to conflict and social problems. Topics include culture, socialization, stratification, population, and patterns of social organization.

World Language ElectiveCredits: 3.0

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