Art (Studio Art)

At Alverno College the studio art major is not just business as usual. While you will receive traditional studio art training in many media, the differences between our program and other schools is significant.  Click here to learn more about Alverno's art majors. This site has been designed and is maintained by Art faculty.

You will not only focus on artistic creation but will also develop communication skills to present and discuss the concepts that are at the core of your individual process. Translating your learning to diverse audiences provides you with important expertise in writing, speaking, and exhibition design necessary to professional art situations.
Collaboration and socially interactive learning are at the core of all of your studio art learning. You will work with visiting artists, community groups and other students in Art Education and Art Therapy. The studio courses are designed to assist students in making art from the perspectives of their careers. Thus you will gain valuable studio art skills as well as explore the creative concerns of how and why communities, educators and therapists mold art for differing creative concerns.

The focus on the construction of an individual creative process is unified with technical and design concerns within the organizing frameworks of art classes. You will work with continual interpretation of your creative process and explore components and theories of creativity in four types of problem-solving:

  1. Intuitive problem solving asks the student to explore personal contexts of creativity.
  2. Analytic methods include using art history as influence and applying visual systems to analyze formal choices.
  3. The physical method allows for strong media material and tools experimentations.
  4. The fourth method of collaboration allows students to work in group creative efforts. 

Students will experiment with all of these creative methods in order to better understand themselves as creative individuals building a unique practice for career applications. Alverno offers fully equipped studios/classrooms in ceramics, metals, fibers, sculpture, printmaking, computer illustration, animation, digital photography, expressive film, painting and drawing. The college’s innovative assessment process allows you to demonstrate how well you have integrated your artmaking skills with your liberal arts education.

A full course of art history classes will provide you with the background necessary to the studio art field. These courses are designed to assist you in becoming a strong professional communicator in the arts.

The highly active discussion and presentation methods of the classroom will allow you to develop a personal voice regarding art history and its relationships to your own artmaking. You will develop opinions regarding the meaning of art history and be able to articulate your ideas in public settings.

Other professional opportunities for practicing art presentation in public settings are united to courses, community settings, and gallery design of exhibitions. Students may select courses in gallery management, grant writing, take experimental one-credit workshops in the community or work in the Art and Cultures gallery to explore facets of professional careers in presenting work to the public.

Students will have many opportunities to both exhibit their work in display areas, the Kellogg Student Photography Gallery and at juried and invitational exhibitions in the Art and Cultures Gallery. Students will gain valuable practice in writing and presenting proposals for public art display across the Alverno College campus. Students also formally present their portfolio of learning at several points in their career. The presentations are completed for faculty and peers and recorded in their diagnostic digital portfolio to allow students to continue their self-assessment of learning.

These classroom and community opportunities supply you expertise to approach internships in the community. Exciting and challenging options for study are developed to match your interests in working in community settings from museums, educational programs, galleries, artists studios or art/design organizations.

Study Abroad Opportunities

Studio majors are also encouraged to study abroad. There are many opportunities to apply your liberal arts prerequisites to international art study. Short-term two-week options or a full semester of an exchange program in England, Ireland, Mexico, Italy or Japan are but a few of your choices.

Art majors also complete two minors in other areas of study at the college. Art classes are developed to encourage you to apply this study and research into concepts for your artmaking and art history study. Examples of this might include the following: a business minor could be tied to explorations of business models for your art production; a minor in Spanish Language and Cultures might result in both international travel and an intensified application of Latin art forms in a Art History class; a Biology minor may lead to focus on scientific study of media and materials and greener practice.

The unique atmosphere of small studio classrooms filled with diverse learning groups, allows your faculty to help you integrate important ideas from your minor areas of study across the liberal arts curriculum. The small class size, shared creativity discussions and quality time with instructors allows you to receive in depth feedback from peers and instructors about the progress of your learning.

The Studio Art Major at Alverno College is not business as usual. We believe that studio artists are integral to the future. A strong knowledge of creativity theory across arts disciplines, communities and cultures when applied through your own artistic process can make impact upon an increasingly visual world. Art History, international travel, design theory, applied oral and written communication, personalized studio practice and making art in communities prepare the studio artist to creatively craft a professional role in chosen careers. And because of the college’s unique ability-based curriculum, your arts education will be well integrated with a broad range of studies to help you build the sophisticated communication, problem-solving and analytic abilities that today’s contemporary art world requires for success.

Your Next Step
To find out more about Alverno's Studio Art program, contact the Alverno Admissions office. An Admissions Counselor can answer your questions about the program, admissions, credit transfers and financial aid. Call 414-382-6100, toll-free 800-933-3401 or e-mail Admissions.