For the health and safety of the Grand Valley community, remote academic instruction will continue through June 17. The Admissions office is available to answer calls Mon.-Fri. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 616-331-2025 or 1-800-748-0246 or email admissions@gvsu.edu. Additional instructions and updates at www.gvsu.edu/coronavirus
No special permission necessary to register for the courses listed below: simply add the course to your schedule.
The Department of Visual and Media Arts offers students in other majors the opportunity to pursue an interest in the visual arts. If you are interested in taking art and design courses but aren’t a major, there are many options available to GVSU students. These include studio art, art history, and art education classes. The courses are typically three credits and can be used as electives towards graduation, to count for General Education requirements (categories noted), or for the studio art and art history minors.
Introduction to the visual arts. Examination of creative, social, historical, and aesthetic aspects of selected works of art.
General Education Requirement: Foundation - Arts
Offering: Fall
and Winter semesters
Credits: 3
Introduction to various verbal and visual techniques for creative problem solving, including the use of the computer as a creative tool.
General Education Requirement: Foundation - Arts
Offering: Fall
and Winter Semesters
Credits: 3
For non-art and design majors. Studio Art or Art Education majors must take ART155.
Drawing course designed for non-art and design majors and minors outside of the Department of Visual and Media Arts. Students will learn how to create observational and expressive drawings using the elements and principles of art, and how to develop ideas for drawing.
General Education Requirement: Foundation - Arts
Offerings: Fall
and Winter
Credits: 3
Fundamentals of painting in opaque media with a variety of subjects and styles.
General Education Requirement: Foundation - Arts
Offerings:
Fall and Winter Semesters
Credits: 3
Direct modeling, carving, and construction as approaches to sculpture. Experimentation with plaster, clay, wood, and metal.
General Education Requirement: Foundation - Arts
Offerings:
Fall and Winter Semesters
Credits: 3
All basic hand-building techniques, glazing, and concepts relating to ceramics and pottery. Included will be historical background, some clay geology, clay making, kiln loading and unloading. All other general studio practices and safety will also be covered.
General Education Requirement: Foundation - Arts
Offerings: Fall
and Winter Semesters
Credits: 3
Introductory course on film as a significant cultural form. Examines
the formal elements through which films tell stories, and the kind of
stories they tell in response to audience needs and desires. Focuses
on how audience interaction shapes narrative filmmaking. Fulfills Arts
Foundation. Offered every semester.
Credits: 3
A course for those who want to be able to use still photography at an
introductory level but do not require darkroom expertise. Covers
camera operation, composition, aesthetics, and visual communication.
35mm camera required. Does not count toward the photography major.
Offered fall semester.
Credits: 3
Fulfills Information, Innovation and Technology category
This course is a hands-on studio course that provides basic skills
and an understanding of computer technology in the creative process.
Emphasized exploration of digital media concepts and methods for
supporting creativity through examination of the themes and issues in
contemporary arts and culture. Part of the Information, Innovation,
and Technology Issue.
Prerequisite: junior standing.
Offerings: Fall and Winter
semesters
Credits: 3
The course is designed for any non-graphic design student who requires or seeks an overview of the graphic design process and its application in visual composition, symbol development, typography and layouts. Students produce solutions to visual communication problems and learn to articulate and present effectively their design choices.
Offerings: Fall and Winter
Credits: 3
For non-art and design majors. Studio Art or Art Education majors must take ART150.
Explores two dimensional composition by applying visual elements and
design principles. All work is computer generated. It is designed for
any student outside the Art and Design Department who requires or
seeks a background in composition.
Prerequisites: Photography majors or by permit.
Offerings:
Fall and Winter semesters
Credits: 3
Explores the theories and concepts of two-dimensional art forms. Basic visual design principles, their application, comparison of contemporary and historical examples are presented through lectures and slides and applied to studio problems.
Offerings: Fall and Winter Semesters
Credits: 3
Fundamentals of design with an emphasis upon projects that develop
the language of art as applied to three-dimensional forms in space. O
Offerings: Fall and Winter semesters
Credits: 3
A study of fundamental pictorial concepts of drawing. Experimentation
with varied technical means and media directed toward both descriptive
and expressive ends. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Credits: 3
The history of design from the Industrial Revolution to the present.
Discussions of the politics and ethics of design. Offered fall and
winter semester.
Credits: 3
A survey of art history from prehistoric times to the Renaissance.
Offered fall semester.
Credits: 3
A survey of art history from the Renaissance to the present day.
Offered winter semester.
Credits: 3
Experimentation with varied techniques and with different composition
ideas related to some fundamental forms of printmaking. Work with
wood/linoleum cut, intaglio, and collagraph. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Credits: 3
Visual art methods are used to study, form, and present art in a
specific public context. Includes the development of a project site,
individual and collaborative work, and service learning. Studio
operates “in public” presenting lectures, visual displays, and public
gatherings. Part of the Identity Issue. (May be repeated once for
credit.) Offered every third fall or winter semester. Prerequisite:
Junior standing.
Credits: 3
Curatorial Studio explores presentational and critical practice and
the theoretical discourse specific to such practice within a studio
context. This involves the curation (study and creation of visual
presentations) in exhibitions or projects. Part of the Information,
Innovation, and Technology Issue. Offered every third semester (fall
and winter). (May be repeated once for credit.) Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Credits: 3
During Fall/Winter semesters, contact the professor to obtain their permission to register for this course.
Image studio explores the creation, use, and presentation of images and the theoretical discourse specific to such practices within a studio context. The studio incorporates uses of current image creation and presentation technologies. (may be repeated once for credit). Offered fall semester.
Credits: 3
Interactive Studio addresses the study and creation of art works in
which the audience is involved in an interactive exchange. Media
explored include interactive situations, community collaborations,
social/political interactions, and current electronic interactive
interfaces. (May be repeated once for credit.) Offered fall semester.
Credits: 3
Space Studio addresses the creation of site-specific works based in the primary form and experience of space typically referred to as ‘Installations’. It includes studio considerations of space, site, installation, public art, presentational practices and the related theoretical discourse within a studio context. (may be repeated once for credit.) Offered every third semester (Fall/Winter).
Credits: 3
Time Studio explores temporal and presentational practices and the
theoretical discourse specific to such practices within a studio
context. Time-based works include time and change as central elements.
This includes ephemeral and kinetic objects, performance, sound works,
and works incorporating moving images. (may be repeated once for
credit.) Offered winter semester.
Credits: 3
Permission from instructor and/or an override will be needed to register for the courses in the list below:
Fundamentals of design using more complex themes and including an in-depth study of color theory. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: ART 150.
Pre-Requisite: ART150
Credits: 3
A continuation of techniques and media from Introduction to Drawing I. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: ART 155.
Pre-requisite: ART155
Credits: 3
A study of the fundamentals of metalsmithing: fabrication techniques,
surface embellishment, simple stone setting, and finishing placed
within a conceptual context. Offered fall and winter semesters.
Pre-requisite: ART152, ART157 (waived for non-majors)
Credits: 3
Introduces students to three dimensional computer technologies and
their application in studio art practice. Activities focus on using
good computer “craft,” employing appropriate compositional principles,
and choosing subjects and content that engage viewers and encourage
rich conceptual associations. Offered fall semester.
Pre-requisites: sophomore, junior, or senior standing
Credits: 3
This course will be offered in the Fall 2016 semester only.
A thematic examination of the arts and visual culture created
between the 6th and 15th centuries in Europe and the broader
Mediterranean. Explores diverse media in relation to their political,
religious, and social contexts. Also considers 19th century and
contemporary reception of medieval art and ideas.
Prerequisite: ART221, or junior standing
Offerings: Every
Fall semester of even-numbered years
Credits: 3
This course will only be offered during the Winter 2017 semester.
A thematic examination of the visual arts of Europe created between 1350 and 1600. Topics include the artist in society, civic and domestic settings for the arts, and global contexts, as well as the representation of gender, ethnicity, and social class. Also considers the reception of renaissance art in later eras.
Prerequisite: ART222, or junior standing
Offerings: Every winter
semester of odd-numbered years
Credits: 3
This course highlights important moments of modernist and
contemporary aesthetic development from the mid-twentieth century to
the present. Offered winter of even-numbered years. Prerequisite: ART
222 or junior status.
Credits: 3
This course will be offered in the Fall 2016 semester only.
n introduction to the field of art education, including the study of
its historical, sociological, and theoretical foundations and their
effect on its practice in the K-12 classroom. Offered fall semester.
Prerequisites: ART 152, ART 157
Credits: 3
An overview of the skills needed to function in the retail and
wholesale jewelry industry. The course will cover such topics as stone
setting, fabrication, assembly of standardized findings, rebuilding,
restoring and repairing of various jewelry times. Sales and
situational challenges of working with customers will be addressed.
Offered fall semester every other year. Prerequisite: ART 245 or
permission of instructor.
Credits: 3
This course will be offered in the Fall 2016 semester only.
This class will explore the varied facets of human-animal relationships by examining representations of animals in the visual arts. Using a thematic approach, we will consider works from prehistory to the present, incorporating imagery from cultural traditions throughout the world.
Prerequisite: ART221, ART222, or junior standing.
Offerings:
Every Fall semester of even-numbered years
Credits: 3
This course will be offered in the Winter 2017 semester only.
This course provides an in-depth investigation of the Surrealism movement, addressing its artistic, as well as its historical, political, philosophical, and psychological implications. Offered winter of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: ART 222, or junior or senior status.
Pre-requisites: ART222, or junior standing
Offerings: Every
Winter semester of odd-numbered years
Credits: 3
This course will survey the visual arts of India, China, and Japan,
focusing on the relationship between visual form and cultural
ideology. Offered fall semester of odd-numbered years. Prerequisites:
ART 221 and ART 222, or junior status.
Credits: 3
Examines the arts and material culture produced in Islamic contexts
between the 7th century and the present. Themes include patronage,
materials, reception, cultures in contact, plurality of meaning, as
well as colonial and postcolonial circumstances. Also explores the
work of contemporary artists in relation to transnational contexts.
Course offered winter semester of even-numbered years. Prerequisite:
ART 221 or junior standing.
Credits: 3
A thematic approach to 19th century American arts and visual culture.
Considers individual artists, but stresses the role of objects to
reflect and shape cultural change. Discussions include portraiture,
westward expansion, the Civil War, as well as the role of visual
culture and conceptions of gender, race, and social class. Course
offered fall semester of odd-numbered years. Prerequisite: ART 222 or
junior standing.
Credits: 3
To receive permission and an override to enroll, log in to MyBanner, go to Students, under Students look for the Registration tab. Under Registration find the tab to Add or Drop Classes, click on it to go to a page where you indicate in a drop/down box, which semester the request is for. Select a semester and click Submit. This will take you to your Registration Worksheet. On the Registration Worksheet, go to the bottom of the sheet and look for “Registration Override Request Form”. Click on it, and this will take you to the “Registration Override Requests” page. Follow the instructions on the page to request permission and/or an override.
For any questions, please contact the Department of Visual and Media Arts office during its regular hours (listed at the bottom of the site).
