Students will develop expertise in artistic expression.

Students will demonstrate expertise in artistic expression and technique through the production of a cohesive body of work.

BFA Studio Art majors are required to take ARTS 4315, The Business of Art and mount an exhibition of their work. The work in the exhibition will demonstrate

• expression of concept through art
• artistic development through the evolution of concept
• use of medium and materials to express concept
• evidence of personal voice
• professional presentation

The exhibitions will be evaluated by a team of at least 3 studio art faculty. A rubric using a score of 0-100 for each aspect of the evaluation will be used. It is expected that at least 75% of the students will score 80 or above on the evaluation. The 2 weakest areas that emerged for last year’s exhibitions were ability to express a concept and failure to demonstrate an awareness of contemporary art and the issues prevalent in recent art theory. This is the second year since major changes to our program have been made and we have kept our expectations for students the same as last year. As last year, we have raised the minimum score for each student to 80% instead of 75%. This year, faculty examined and revised the evaluation instrument and the categories. It was agreed that “awareness of contemporary art and its relation to art history” could not be adequately assessed through the exhibition. “Ability to produce a cohesive body of work with a number of pieces that are consistent in theme, medium and conceptual basis” was also dropped. These categories were replaced with “artistic development through evolution of concept”, and “evidence of personal voice”. Faculty agree that if the student is successful in these objectives, their awareness of contemporary art will not need to be measured.

All of the students scored above 80 in each category.

Faculty observations are that the capstone class, ARTS 4315 The Business of Art, has been successful in guiding students in the preparation of a professional exhibition of their work. Conceptual development has been emphasized throughout the curriculum. Two new Art History faculty have been added to the faculty and course offerings in contemporary art and theory and criticism have been added. All of these have contributed to student successes.

Senior Exhibitions held by students in the capstone course of the BFA in Studio Art are an important tool for assessing the condition of the curriculum. Faculty will continue to assess this work.

This year, the department opened an exhibition space for student work off campus adjacent to the square in downtown Huntsville. The Department will use this exhibition space to provide the students with a professional venue for the public exhibition of their work and to engage the community with contemporary art created by students in the BFA Studio Art program.

Students will demonstrate basic skills in drawing by producing works that show an understanding of elements, techniques and materials used in contemporary art practices.

Students will demonstrate basic skills in drawing by producing works that show an understanding of the elements, techniques, materials and concepts used in contemporary art practices.

Students in the BFA Studio Art Program will be required to take ARTS 1316 Drawing 1 and ARTS 1317 Life Drawing 1. After taking these courses, students must submit a BFA review portfolio that includes drawings that demonstrate

• expressive use of line and mark making

• use of value to describe forms and light

• compositions that incorporate the use of negative space and the entire page

• ability to draw the human figure with the correct proportions

• use of perspective to depict 3-dimensional space

• craftsmanship and proficiency with materials

A group of at least 10 studio faculty evaluated the portfolios in the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters. The rubric was refined this year, in the fall a scale of 0-4 was used and in the spring, it was changed to a scale of 0-5.

The criteria for evaluation and expectations were made clear to students by distributing information about the portfolio requirements to students through the art office and online.

Meetings were held with faculty teaching Drawing 1 and Figure Drawing 1 to develop strategies for emphasizing composition, negative space and perspective drawing in courses. These were areas that were identified as weak in previous reviews.

It is expected that the average student score on each of the elements assessed will be at least 3.

In the Fall 2013, the average score on each element was 2 or below with the lowest scores on the students' ability to use perspective to depict 3-D space. Use of value and composition were also below 2.

In the Spring, the rubric was refined and the averages were below 3 in all of the areas except the use of value. The weakest area was the ability to draw the human figure with correct proportions. The use of perspective was also below 3.

Since Drawing is a fundamental skill important to all aspects of art making, it will continue to be emphasized in the program.

To improve teaching of drawing, the Foundation Coordinator will conduct workshops with faculty to develop strategies for teaching drawing with emphasis on compositional strategies, and the use of perspective to depict space.