ART AND DESIGN TEACHING MAJOR

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Art Department is to promote and maintain the highest possible degree of quality instruction in art in order to facilitate students' work toward the attainment of their highest potential in the visual arts.

The Art Department offers a program of instruction that includes the study of aesthetics, art criticism, art history, art production, graphic design, art and design teaching, and art therapy. At the core of a liberal arts education, art contributes to the development of creativity, self-expression, human wholeness, and global vision.

ART DEPARTMENT GOALS
The goals of the Art Department are to help students:

1. Demonstrate fluency in the history, theories, principles, and skills of visual art.
2. Articulate how art contributes to the development of intellectual, aesthetic, spiritual and emotional awareness in oneself and others.
3. Develop multicultural awareness and global perspective through the study of historical and contemporary arts.
4. Explore art as a means of communicating with and serving the broader community; explore art-making as a collaborative process.
5. Develop an integrative approach to art in relation to other disciplines.
6. Prepare for a career and/or continued study in the visual arts, including art education, art history, art therapy, graphic design and studio.

POLICIES
It is important for all art majors and minors to begin taking art courses in their first year of study. Students should complete a declaration of major/minor form during their freshman or sophomore year with the assistance of their advisor.

At the end of the sophomore year, each potential or declared major/minor will present a portfolio of their best work from each studio course completed. At this time the student and Art Department faculty will have the opportunity to review the work.

Participation in a senior presentation is a requirement for all majors. Options for senior presentations include: an art exhibition, a slide presentation, or, for graphic design majors, presentation of a professional quality portfolio. During this presentation, the student will arrange a final critique with Art Department faculty.

In the Spring semester, each major/minor is encouraged to participate in the Edgewood College Student Art Exhibit.

Field trips to local and regional art galleries, museums, and artists’ studios may be required as partial fulfillment of any particular art course. Studio fees may be required for certain courses to cover basic material expenses.

Auditors are accepted by consent of the instructor into studio art classes.

THE PAINTED FOREST AND ART STUDIO AND STUDY CENTER
In October 2004, the Kohler Foundation, Inc. gifted the Painted Forest historical site in Valton, Wisconsin, with its wall to ceiling murals, to Edgewood College. The college continues the site’s role to educate students, artists, researchers, and other visitors, and to preserve this unique Wisconsin "outsider" art treasure for the future. The Edgewood College Art Studio and Study Center is close to the Painted Forest in Valton. Recently constructed by the Kohler Foundation, Inc., it is used for workshops, lectures, exhibits, performances, seminars, retreats, and artist residencies.