The art curriculum affords all students the opportunity to cultivate and extend their understanding and appreciation of art and, in the process, to assess the meaning and significance of the arts to their own lives.
The fine arts offer a profound testimony to human imagination and creative accomplishment and function in a variety of ways: they illuminate the ideas, values, beliefs, manners, and customs of an age; they inform us of how artists interpret and understand the visible world in which they live; they alert us to moral and ethical perspectives which condition the artist's choice and treatment of subject matter; and they serve as a vehicle for the expression of political and religious ideology.
Perhaps most abundantly, the fine arts inform us in tangible ways of our attempts at reconciliation between ourselves and some concept of a Creator, through structures and imagery intended to inspire, persuade, and transform the beholder. In so doing, the arts constitute a significant form of humanistic inquiry affording abundant insights as to what it means to be human.
Fine Arts
Courses in the Fine Arts (FA) explore the history of art, why and what the artist creates, assess the changing nature and functions of art, probe the relationship of the artist to society, and examine the varied systems of beliefs and values which affect the shaping form. All fine arts (FA) courses may be used towards fulfilling humanities requirements and partially fulfilling requirements for a minor in art.
Studio Arts
Courses in the Studio Arts (SA) develop students' abilities to give visual form to their ideas, increase understanding and competency in methods, materials, and processes, and encourage a climate of inquiry commensurate with artistic and humanistic growth. All studio art courses fulfill partial requirements for a minor in art.
