Studio Art
Students may take studio courses in many media, from sculpture and drawing to video, photography and printmaking. We also offer interdisciplinary courses organized around conceptual questions and themes. Classes take place in studios with spaces for hand-setting type, using bandsaws, creating installations and designing computer graphics. All senior art majors have their own studio spaces.
In the Studio
Studio art at Smith gives students hands-on opportunities to delve into six exciting areas of concentration.
Requirements
All graduating Art majors and minors will:
- develop familiarity with original works of art and/or architecture and with research tools appropriate for the discipline, including print scholarship, online databases, and various reference materials;
- communicate their ideas effectively in written, oral and (as appropriate) material form, including public presentations that rely upon the display of visual images or artwork;
- engage a range of disciplines in their work, in the spirit of a liberal arts education.
Art Studio and Architecture majors and minors will:
- demonstrate fluency in practices or techniques in the current field of practice for at least one medium (e.g, painting, installation, photography, digital media);
- demonstrate proficiency in an extensive and pertinent vocabulary for describing their own work and the art historical antecedents with which it shares relationships;
- demonstrate familiarity with professional practices and global perspectives within the cultural landscape of contemporary art;
Assessment (majors and minors): Students will be assessed through periodic faculty and peer critiques of their work and reviews of their written and oral abilities.
Assessment (majors only): Students will create a body of work for final exhibition that results from deep engagement in the process of making and demonstrates an awareness of the contemporary and historical context in which the work exists. This work will be evaluated through peer, faculty, and external critique.
Students will also complete the major with a professional-level, documented portfolio of their work, including both visual and written materials.
Art History majors and minors will:
- learn to read original objects, architectural settings, and written scholarship analytically and synthetically;
- demonstrate familiarity with the different ways that spaces, monuments, and objects have intersected with lived and imagined experiences throughout history and the world over;
- demonstrate expertise in self-directed research, including fluency with a range of methodologies and debates across the discipline.
Assessment: Students will be assessed in classes, through faculty reviews of their written and oral abilities.
Students will also complete a capstone research seminar that results in a sustained piece of original research, presented in oral form and a paper of ca. 15 pages, to be evaluated by the faculty.
Advisers
Lee Burns, Alexis Callender, Lindsey Clark-Ryan, John Slepian, Fraser Stables, and Lynne Yamamoto.
Requirements
11 courses, which will include:
1. One 100-level course selected from the following: ARS 162, ARS 163, ARS 172. (Note that certain upper-level courses indicate specific 100-level course prerequisites.)
2. ARH 110 Art and Its Histories
3. One course with a contemporary emphasis, relating to art history, visual studies, or film and media studies, to be chosen in consultation with an adviser
4. One additional 200-level or 300-level art history course
5. Five additional 4-credit studio art courses, one of which may be at the 100-level. Students may work across media areas but must consult with their adviser to take a series of courses (usually three) to reach the advanced level in at least one of the following. Each area is sequenced differently but will require at least one 300-level course.
drawing
digital media
graphic arts (printmaking or typography)
installation
painting
photography
sculpture
6. ARS 385
7. ARS 399: J-term graduates should take ARS 399 in their junior year. All other students should take ARS 385 and ARS 399 in their senior year.
Declaring the Plan B major:
A student may declare a Plan B major any time after completing the introductory (100-level) studio art requirement and one additional studio art course. Prior to declaration, students must complete a portfolio review, scheduled each semester prior to the advising period. Students who receive a negative evaluation will be encouraged to take an additional studio course or courses, and resubmit their portfolio at a subsequent review time. Students who receive a negative evaluation may resubmit their portfolios in subsequent reviews up to and including the last portfolio review available during their sophomore year. These students will be offered suggestions for strengthening their portfolios through additional studio coursework in the same or other media represented in the portfolio. The additional studio courses will count toward fulfilling the major requirements.
Mapping the Plan B major:
Upon receiving a positive portfolio evaluation, a student should select and meet with a Plan B adviser. Together they will discuss the student’s interests and studio work to date, and select a media concentration from those listed above. Together, the student and adviser may design a sequence of studio courses that draws from several areas of concentration.
The following courses are repeatable with different course content and instructor, for a maximum of 8 credits: ARS 264 Drawing II, ARS 268 Topics in Printmaking, ARS 362 Painting II, ARS 363 Painting III, ARS 364 Drawing III, ARS 366 Topics in Painting, ARS 372 Printmaking: Mark-Making, Image-Making, World-Making, ARS 374 Sculpture II, ARS 376 Printmaking: Color, Texture, and Scale, ARS 383 Photo II, ARS 384 Topics in Photography
**In response to the current unprecedented circumstances, the Department of Art is allowing up to two Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) courses from Academic Year 2020–21 to count towards the major.
**Students entering Smith College in the Fall 2023 Semester (or after) are subject to the above requirements. All others have the option of following this set of requirements, or the one in effect when they arrived at the College or declared their major.
Advisers
Lee Burns, Alexis Callender, Lindsey Clark-Ryan, John Slepian, Fraser Stables and Lynne Yamamoto.
Designed for students who wish to focus on studio art, although they are majors in another department. With the assistance of a minor adviser, a student may construct a minor with primary emphasis on one area of studio art or may design a minor that draws from several areas of concentration.
Requirements
One 100-level course selected from the following: ARS 162, ARS 163, ARS 172 and five additional courses in studio art, of which at least three must be at the 200-level and at least one must be at the 300-level.
Adviser
Lindsey Clark-Ryan
Graphic arts seeks to draw together the department’s studio and history offerings in printmaking and typography into a cohesive unit.
Requirements
- ARS 163
- ARH 247 or 268
- Any four ARS classes from: 269, 270, 272, 275, 369, 372, 376 of which oneshould be at the 300-level or a continuation of one medium.
Portfolio Reviews - Remote Review Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Those interested in the August 29 portfolio review for possible exemption from ARS163 Drawing I should contact Eva Weber, eweber51@smith.edu to make a 10 minute appointment. Please express your preference for a morning (9:30-10:30 a.m. EDT) or afternoon (4-5 p.m. EDT) time slot. Students should prepare a diverse sampling of 12-15 pieces. Directions for uploading images via Google form will be sent along with a confirmed time and a Zoom link. We will make an informed evaluation; however this should be seen as primarily a friendly advising session. Very few exceptions from Drawing I are given, and we recommend students with all levels of experience take the course.
Honors
Studio Art Director of Honors: Alexis Callender
An honors project is an 8-credit class focused on independent research during a student’s senior year. Interested students should meet with the director of honors to discuss the proposed project and, if appropriate, develop a proposal before the end of their junior year. The college's official requirements, guidelines and deadlines are available on the class dean’s website.