Foundation sections are year-long learning communities where students work closely as a group with their studio faculty in courses created around broadly transferable making and thinking skills. Students select their sections based on themes or skill sets that they have a particular affinity for. These Affinity sections inform select learning experiences throughout the year and enable students to ask "big questions." Foundation Affinity sections include Art, Design and Change; Made by Hand; Thinking and Making Through Technology; and the Writing Section.
Foundation Affinity Sections
Art, Design and Change: We live in a time of unprecedented change. The Art, Design and Change sections will view and discuss contemporary art and design practices and investigate work that focuses on contemporary issues, including social, political, and cultural change and how these issues can manifest through art/design practices.
Made by Hand: Students enrolled in these sections approach each class project with an emphasis on broad, transferable traditional, and progressive art and design skill-building as well as enhancing their personal creative practice. Inventiveness is emphasized by discussion, demonstration, and the introduction of exemplars.
Thinking and Making Through Technology: The Thinking and Making Through Technology sections include additional instruction in photography, Photoshop, and Illustrator in the courses Principles of Design and Connections Through Color and Design. This affinity section investigates technology from a practical and philosophical point of view. Students work back and forth between hands-on-skills and the computer within specific projects and learn to apply art and design compositional principles in both areas.
The Writing Section: Do you enjoy thinking, researching, and writing about ideas? In the first semester, the writing section is taught by a faculty member with degrees in both design and creative writing. Students will enjoy recognizing similar practices shared by both disciplines.
