Prepare Students With A Foundation In Contemporary Art
The BFA in Photography will provide students with the skiils and training necessary for the professional practice of photography. Graduates of the BFA program will be qualified for graduate study at Universities offering the Master of Fine Arts Degree in Photography.
Objective
Foundation Skills
Students will learn basic skills in drawing and design, and have an awareness of comtemporary art.
Indicator
BFA Review
BFA review portfolios will be required of all students pursuing the BFA before they enroll in upper level Art courses.
The BFA Portfolio Review will be held at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters and include a selection of coursework from Art 130 and 131 (WASH) Art 163 (Drawing) Art 164 (Life Drawing 1) Art 262 (Foundations in Digital Art)
Students who do not pass the BFA Review will become BA majors in Studio Art. Students who choose the BA at the outset of their art studies are not required to take the BFA Review, but the Review provides an assessment of work done in the Foundation courses that the BA students are required to take.
All BFA Candidates participate in BFA Review after completion of Sophomore level art foundation courses to assess their retention and integration of skills learned. Students bring work from these classes to the review and are assessed by a panel of faculty.
Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to make sophisticated compositions using the elements of line, shape, color, form, texture, value and scale and the principles of balance, movement, symmetry, organization, and figure-ground relationships. Students will be evaluated on their ability to keep a sketchbook and to creatively solve problems by exhibiting works that are unique examples of harmonious design. Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to convey concepts through the use of the elements of design.
Criterion
Passing The Review
The BFA review will be held once a semester. A panel of at least 5 Art faculty will review each portfolio. Using a scale of 1-10 to evaluate the student work. It is expected that at least 80% of the students will receive a score of 7 or higher. The Faculty will use a rubric developed by the BFA review committee. It is expected that at least 80% of students pursuing the BFA in Photography will pass the review.
Finding
Weaknesses In Foundations
22% of the Photography students failed the BFA review in 2010-2011.
Faculty comments and scores indicated that there was a lack of quality in the 3-Dimensional work, that sketchbooks did not appear to be emphasized in the curriculum, and that the conceptual basis for the WASH projects was weak. The faculty noted that in the figurative work from Life Drawing, students had very similar styles of rendering and compositions consistently excluded hands and feet. The work indicated that students were being taught a "right" way to draw rather then being taught to use technical skills to express their own style or "voice". The figurative work demonstrated a failure to teach a gestural approach to drawing.
Action
Revise The Foundation Curriculum And Evaluate Instructors
Change the course descriptions of ART 163 (1316) Drawing to include Gesture. Teach the traditions of drawing and place it in a historical context that emphasizes its importance in contemporary art.
Change the course description of ART 164 (1317) Life Drawing 1 to include Gesture and Compositional strategies.
Change the course description of ART 269 (3317) to emphasize personal expression and a study of the use of the figure in contemporary art.
Evaluate the Adjunct Faculty and adjust teaching assignments to ensure that qualified instructors are teaching the core classes and that the course descriptions are being followed.
Goal
Prepare Students For Professional Practice As Photographic Artists
The BFA in Photography is the professional degree for Photography students in the Art Department. The BFA program will provide students with the skills to practice the art of photography at a professional level. The BFA will also qualify students to pursue the MFA degree at graduate schools in the United States.
Objective
Professional Practice Proficiency
Students will be proficient in:
- the creation and manipulation of digital images; - traditional darkroom and printing techniques; - alternative and experimental photographic and printing techniques; - use of photographic medium to express concepts and ideas; - producing a professional portfolio that demonstrates skills and development of a personal aesthetic, ideas, and style; - using the camera as an artistic tool; and - demonstrating contemporary photographic art and its relationship to the continuum of history.
Indicator
A Senior Portfolio
Students will be required to take ART 495 and produce a final portfolio that will demonstrate expertise in photography and creative use of photographic equipment and techniques. The portfolio will include 20 printed images, 20 digital images, an artist's statement, and a resume. The portfolio will: • consist of a cohesive body of work. • demonstrate technical proficiency with use of cameras. • demonstrate proficiency in photographic printing techniques. • demonstrate the students ability to express and communicate ideas and concepts through the medium of photography.
Criterion
Criteria For Portfolio
The portfolios will be evaluated by a committee of Photography faculty. The faculty will use a rubric developed and adopted by the committee. Using a scale of 0-100%, it is expected that at least 80% of students receive a score of 75% or greater.
Finding
Needed Improvement In Conceptual Development
Only 33% of the students scored above 80% on an evaluation of the work in their Senior Portfolio. The scores show that the weakest areas in the work were in students ability to express and communicate ideas through the medium of photography followed by the ability to produce a cohesive body of work
Indicator
Traditional Darkroom Techniques/Processes
Students will be required to take ART 232 and use black and white film and darkroom developing and printing techniques. Students in ART 232 will produce a portfolio of prints. The portfolios will: • demonstrate individual and expressive solutions to creative problems. • demonstrate the ability to use a camera to produce a properly exposed negative. • demonstrate the ability to develop film and control the contrast of a negative. • demonstrate proficiency in black and white printing by including prints that have an appropriate range of tones and contrast. • include archival prints that are properly fixed to insure longevity.
Criterion
Traditional Darkroom Standards
The portfolios will be evaluated by a committee of Photography faculty. The faculty will use a rubric developed and adopted by the committee. Using a scale of 0-100%, it is expected that at least 80% of students receive a score of 80% or greater.
Finding
Needed Improvement In Creative Expression
Only 64% of the students evaluated received scores above 80. Of the students who scored below 80, the lowest scores were for the demonstration of individual and expressive solutions to creative problems.
Indicator
Alternative Processes In Photography
Students will be required to take ART 337 and produce a series of prints using at least 4 different processes. The processes will include silver prints, cyanotypes, platinum/palladium, and one alternative process of the student's choice. The series of prints using 4 alternative processes will be evaluated by members of the photography faculty using a scale of 0-100% to determine success.
Criterion
Alternative Process Standards
The series of prints using 4 alternative processes will be evaluated by members of the photography faculty using a scale of 0-100% to determine success. The faculty will use a rubric developed and adopted by the committee. It is expected that at least 80% of the students will receive a score of 75% or higher.
Finding
Performance Satisfaction
The evaluation of the portfolios from ART 337 showed that 90% of the students in the course produced a portfolio demonstrating the use of 4 alternative processes. The evaluators considered only the students ability to use processes to create imagery and did not judge the creative use of the processes or the aesthetic quality of the work. However, evaluation of the graduating senior portfolios reveals that students do not continue to use alternative techniques in their work beyond this course.
Indicator
History Of Photography
Students will be required to take ART 334 and write a two page evaluation of two photographs of their choice. One photograph must have been taken and printed in the 19th Century and the second must be an image created after 1975. The evaluation will discuss the formal attributes of the photograph, the style, the social or political influences, the technology used, and the subject matter.
The essays will • provide a clear introduction and draw conclusions supported by visual and contextual evidence. • move from specific examples to general statements. • describe the works accurately and clearly. • use vocabulary introduced in classroom lectures and photography history textbooks. • convey a clear and convincing image of their perspective. • use external information about the cultural context and photographic techniques gathered from readings and presentations. • present an understanding of the works in a way that is convincing and supported by detailed evidence. • sum up major ideas and draw convincing conclusions grounded in visual evidence and contextual information.
Criterion
Historical Evaluation Criteria
The papers will be evaluated by a committee of faculty in the Photography Program. The faculty will use a rubric developed and adopted by the committee. A scale of 0-100% will be used to determine successful completion of the requirements. It is expected that at least 75% of the students will score 80% or higher.
Finding
Improvement Needed In Critical Thinking And Written Expression
75% of the students scored 80 or higher on an evaluation of the papers. The scores indicate that the students did well describing the works they chose for their comparisons and placing them in a cultural context. The weakest scores were on the ability to sum up major ideas and draw conclusions from the evidence they presented. Evaluators noticed a tendency to describe the photographs as different or similar without assimilating the information and creating an original idea or statement about the works.
Action
Add An Advanced Studio Course Emphasizing Content Development
A Course in Advanced Studio will be added to the curriculum. Advanced studio will be a course in which students will work in the medium of their choice (photography, painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, etc.) and focus on the development of content and the creation of a series. The course will be required for all studio and photography majors and will emphasize lectures and discussions of themes and ideas related to contemporary art practice. This course will be required of all BFA Photography majors.
Action
Evaluate Course Content And Relevance
Faculty will evaluate the projects and techniques taught in ART 337 (ARTS 3374) Alternative Photo Process to determine their relevance to students creating contemporary photographic art. The evaluation will seek to determine if the techniques have relevance to contemporary art; is the historical significance of these techniques valuable enough to require students' proficiency in them; are the techniques being related to contemporary practice in a way that makes them desirable techniques to students.
Action
Required Exhibition By Senior Photo Students
Students in Portfolio will be required to have a solo or two person exhibition of a cohesive body of work as part of their senior thesis in ARTS 4378 (ART 495) Photographic Portfolio.
Action
Add ARTS 4388 As A Requirement In Curriculum
BFA Photography students will be required to take ARTS 4388 History of 19th and 20th Century Art in addition to ARTS 3381 The History of Photography. 19th and 20th Century Art History will contextualize Photography within the broader history of Art and students will practice critical thinking through written assignments in which they synthesize information into ideas supported by the evidence taught in the course.