Students painting in the classroom

Painting Concentration

Painting is a way of asking questions about the world and our place in it, using the vocabulary of color and form. Beginning level courses in painting are designed to strengthen students’ technical and conceptual skills, with an emphasis on understanding visual principles, color processes, and composition. As mastery develops, the focus shifts to the creative process; critical thinking, project development, and bridging the personal and social. An awareness of the breadth of what has been done in the past and what is being done in the present encourages students to relate their own practice to both history and the contemporary context, thus becoming part of an over 30,000-year history of humans trying to make meaning by making images.

Facilities

The painting facilities include two large, well-lit studios with northern light exposure, overlooking the Erie Canal. One studio is primarily used as a classroom, while the other is reserved for advanced students, providing upper division undergraduates with a rare opportunity to work in their own studio space.

Our Programs

Our BA/BS Art-Studio Major, Painting concentration, is a 42-credit major program that provides a well-rounded education in fine art and visual communication with a course sequence focused on painting. There is no portfolio review and admission is open to anyone.

Our BFA Art-Studio Major, Painting concentration, is an intensive 78-credit major program that provides a rigorous fine art education with an in-depth focus on painting. Admission to the program requires an application process and portfolio review.

Our Art-Studio Minor is an 18-credit minor program that provides complimentary fine-art experience with students able to select electives focused on painting. Any undergraduate student may declar this minor.

Every canvas is a journey all its own. Helen Frankenthaler