Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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CFA AR 239: Figure Drawing
The focus of this class will be to teach students to think and understand the principles of drawing as a visual language. Class will involve an in-depth study of the human figure. Students will make a series of drawings and sketches in a variety of mediums, including graphite, charcoal, conte, ink, etc. Students will study from a live model, and will use the human figure as a vehicle to better understand the fundamentals of organic form, proportion, and balance. -
CFA AR 241: Painting II
This course is taught with either an observational or non-observational focus depending on the faculty member. Observational focus: Painting studio course with an emphasis on direct painting technique in oil. Exercises in representing still life, landscape, portrait and figure elaborate principles of drawing, composition, color and technique. Reference to art historical models directs an exploration of perceptual and conceptual approaches to representational painting. Non-observational focus: Studio course shifts its focus away from the techniques associated with painting from observation and toward those methods of painting which might be categorized as abstract, non-objective, pop cultural, minimal, process-oriented, site-specific, conceptually driven, and even performative. Through the lens of non-observational (but at times still representational) painting made over the last one hundred years, we will explore the strategies, techniques, and standards associated with what might broadly be called abstraction, but upon closer inspection reveals itself to contain innumerable contrasting (yet overlapping) languages, attitudes, techniques, and end results. -
CFA AR 242: Painting 3
This is the second semester of the sophomore level painting course for majors. Students will begin to build from their rigorous foundational training to start developing their interests and sensibility as artists. The focus will be on oil painting, with introductions to other kinds of paint. Students will also begin to explore what it means to be an artist today. We will begin by working representationally in this class as a way to continue to develop hand-eye coordination, color relationships, sense of light, composition and surface. After about six weeks, students will pursue their independent interests and develop their own subject matter and process. Along with the formal aspects of painting, students will begin to explore the conceptual meaning of their subjects, and how that meaning connects to form and process. Students will also develop their language skills in discussing art during weekly critiques of in-class work and assignments. Slide lectures, brief readings and writing assignments will be important components of the class, and art history will be emphasized. -
CFA AR 250: Introduction to Printmaking
This printmaking course covers relief, monotype, and basic etching. Utilizing drawing, design, color, layering, and mark students create independent work within the context of historical and contemporary printmaking. Set in a cooperatively operated printmaking workshop, students complete collaborative and independent projects, and think creatively and critically. Learning creative collaboration is a key element of Intro to Printmaking, a valuable experience for all art students beyond the particular technical and studio skills. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CFA AR 251: Introduction to Printmaking (2 credits) Spring term
This survey course introduces students to the principles and technical applications of relief printmaking with an emphasis on woodcut and monotype. It emphasizes project-based assignments that stress technical and formal concerns, such as image development, color layering and mark-making. Students explore personal thematic and conceptual concerns as they work independently to develop a unique creative practice and a final portfolio of prints. Open to the University. -
CFA AR 261: Introduction to Art Education
This course is designed to introduce students to a range of ideas and philosophies that support teaching visual art in public education. Participants develop artistic literacy, appreciation, and ways to respond to visual art, as well as approaches to creation and presentation. In addition to studio processes, readings and discussions, students identify strategies for enhancing observation skills, thinking critically about art, as well as presenting, responding, and connecting aesthetics, culture, the learner's needs, and curriculum frameworks at local, state, and national levels. Effective Spring 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Aesthetic Exploration. -
CFA AR 270: Bookmaking Techniques
For the poet, writer or creative person who wants to produce works of art realized in the form of a book, this course will explore methods of binding from the simple to the complex. Although the course will rely on skill building in bookmaking, it will also discuss conceptual ideas for books, how book design augments ideas and the necessity of craftsmanship. Some history of the book will be discussed as will archival materials and outlets for self-published one-of-a-kind books today. Open to the BU Community. 2.0 credits -
CFA AR 295: Visual Arts: Painting 1
Study of the painter's language and modes of expression: color and paint manipulation, illusion and organization of form and space, and surface order. Studio work, lectures, and discussions. Not applicable to the BFA degree. 4.0 credits. -
CFA AR 321: Sculpture Studio 4 credits Fall term
This class covers the examination of the compositional and design possibilities in figurative and abstract form. In addition to the prodigious generation of creative work, students will be asked to critically engage and contest historical and contemporary precedents within visual art and cultural theory. Class time will be divided between reading discussions, image/video presentations, individual student presentations, field trips, in-studio work periods, weekly one-on-one meetings with faculty, and group critique. -
CFA AR 322: Sculpture Studios
This final studio aims to help the students' natural artistic abilities reach their fullest potential by stressing professional habits, creativity, and standards of workmanship. The goal of this course is to help students make significant strides toward becoming working sculptors outside the academic environment. Students will develop work through criticism, dialogue, and engagement with art history and contemporary sculpture. Students will use the sculptural language to communicate their own ideas through a series of individual compositions working towards their final thesis exhibition and a portfolio of their works. -
CFA AR 326: Sculpture Studios
This final studio aims to help the students' natural artistic abilities reach their fullest potential by stressing professional habits and standards of workmanship. The goal of this course is to help students make significant strides toward being working sculptors outside the academic environment. Sculpture is one of the visual languages of plastic forms; in this class, we use the human figure as a vehicle to better understand the fundamentals of organic forms, proportion, and balance. Students will use this experience to communicate their own ideas through a series of individual compositions working towards their final thesis exhibition, and later create a portfolio of their works. -
CFA AR 327: Sculpture Techniques 1
This course will attempt to provide an understanding of basic mold types, the skills required to make basic molds and a rudimentary knowledge of different casting materials. The course will experiment with different mold types to duplicate a form in a variety of casting materials. Plaster waste molds and plaster piece molds will be made, as well as a basic rubber mold. These molds will be used for casting in different materials, including: hydro-cal, hydro-stone, Design-Cast, Fast-Cast cement and wax. Course will include a field trip to a local bronze art foundry and lost-wax bronze casting will be discussed. -
CFA AR 329: Contemporary Issues Semester 1 (2 credits) Fall term
In this weekly class, students will learn about contemporary art and artistic practice through both seminar and practicum models, theory and practice. They will learn to consider and communicate their own personal artistic vision in relationship to the larger field and to artistic lineages. Students will learn more about building a personal and informed studio practice including considerations of the contemporary and theoretical role of the studio in art production. Other areas of professional practice covered through student practice, examples and theory relate to the creation of a group exhibition for the class. Students will learn about: artistic collaboration and teamwork through readings, viewings and identifying clear roles in a group project; conceptual and material approaches to creating a clear and nuanced exhibition, including writing in the field (exhibition proposals, group and individual exhibition statements); considerations of the exhibition as a format including installation and de-installation processes. Optional trips to see work in New York and class visits from professionals in the field will supplement learning. Students will end the class by documenting, collating and presenting their work in a format appropriate for future applications and the establishment of a documentation practice. -
CFA AR 331: Contemporary Issues: Interpretation 2 credits Fall term
This seminar course introduces students to the current discourse and contemporary issues in art by guiding them through diverse ways of understanding the construction of meanings. It is designed to have students question the complex position of an artist as producers and readers of a culture to which they are participants. Students will learn to establish a philosophy on their studio practices, gain a broad knowledge in art theory, expand their existing critiquing abilities, and develop ethical reasoning. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Ethical Reasoning. -
CFA AR 332: Senior Painting Seminar 2 credits Spring term
In this senior thesis seminar students will explore the relationship between word and image, making and thinking, process and theory in the professional art world and in their personal studio practice. The thesis seminar helps prepare senior BFA students in studio degrees for writing appropriate to the field and for potential graduate study in art. Through a gradually built up process that leads to a visual and written thesis book, students will learn to write in a variety of forms. They will read and discuss related texts by artists, critics, poets and writers. The goal of the writing process is to help students recognize and clarify their artistic voice and communicate better about their own and others' work. The short and long-form writing process should help students feel more comfortable applying for residencies, grants, jobs and projects. Through this course in tandem with the senior studio course and the BFA thesis exhibition process, students will develop complexity of thinking about the intersection of professional practice, personal artistic voice, and a larger cultural context, all of which offer a culminating experience for the BFA degree. -
CFA AR 337: Welding 4 credits
In this course students become skilled in the safe use of welding tools, equipment, materials and techniques. Through lecture and research students learn about historical and contemporary approaches to welded sculpture. The projects introduced during the semester allow the student to explore innovative ways of working in steel and direct them to developing a personal sculptural language. Critiques and class discussions will be conducted on a regular basis to develop critical thinking, observational abilities, and communication skills. -
CFA AR 339: Sculpture Thesis Seminar
For sculpture majors that specifically addresses conceptual and practical knowledge for sculpture students while preparing for their thesis exhibition. This course will, through seminars on contemporary art, presentations, discussions, visiting exhibitions and artist studios, further develop each student's ability to articulate the context and content of their work. This class will have assignments that facilitate a dialogue with the work being developed in the student's studio, including artist statement/thesis paper, addressing individual research and proposal development, step-by-step planning and time management. 2 cr -
CFA AR 340: Arts in Ireland
This course description is currently under construction. -
CFA AR 341: Painting Studios
Painting from still life; the human portrait and figure; or imagination. Emphasis on sound spatial structures, synthesis of drawing and painting, and further mastery of technique. -
CFA AR 342: Painting Studios
A continuation of CFA AR341. Painting from still life; the human portrait and figure; or imagination. Emphasis on sound spatial structures, synthesis of drawing and painting, and further mastery of technique. 4.0 credits.
