Category: Academic Programs & Courses

DPM-202 PRINT: DETROIT

Using the City of Detroit as its inspiration, students will employ various research methodologies as a starting point for creating prints. Projects will be approached through one of three perspectives: experiential, historical and political. Techniques introduced will include relief printing, laser cutting, print from found objects and silkscreen. Students will print both with and without a press to create limited edition prints as well as DIY or on-the cheap multiples using commercial print processes. Those students who have taken Intro to Printmaking or have prior college level printmaking experience will be encouraged to build on techniques they’ve already learned to develop their own creative voice.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DFN 103 DFN 104 DFN 120

DSC-280 ADVANCED WOODWORKING

Students continue to develop techniques in joinery, carving and turning through projects designed to build their visual and technical vocabulary. Specified course work increases the advanced student’s understanding of wood as a material for making fine art. Special emphasis is given to finishing processes and additive construction techniques.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DAF 180

SAC-106 SURVEY AND METHODS II

The Survey and Methods course sequence provides an introduction to six of the major studios in Art Practice and Crafts/Material Studies. In this dynamic course, students rotate in three 5-week sessions through the areas of, Ceramics, Glass, and Sculpture, Each five-week session provides students with an understanding of materials, processes, and protocols that are specific to the context of each studio. Hands-on projects will cultivate basic visual and technical skills as students examine how material exploration can drive innovation and shape individual processes of making. Students will be guided to explore critique methodologies while building vocabulary to articulate their own creative intent and analyze the work of others. Survey and Methods is a two-part course taken during the Freshman year. Survey and Methods I takes place the fall semester, followed by Survey and Methods ll during winter semester. The courses can be taken in either sequence.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

DPM-215 INTERMEDIATE PRINTMAKING

This course focuses on an in-depth examination of intaglio (copper plate etching) and lithography processes, while dealing with traditional and contemporary methods such as; stone and plate lithography, limited edition versus unique printing, and photo-transferring digital imaging.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DFN 103 DFN 104 DFN 120 DPM 115 (formerly DFA 115)

SAC-205 SOPHOMORE SEMINAR

How do artists develop the discipline to maintain a studio practice? What kinds of creative strategies support an ongoing, exploratory and expansive studio practice? What are the ways artists define research and how does that research fuel and expand ideas that influence processes of making? Sophomore Seminar addresses theoretical and practical concerns that are central to working artists. Topics include the role of artists in society, the artist/audience relationship, creative practices, authenticity and ownership, the role of judgment in critique, as well as subjects from a broad range of cultural, political, and socio-economic positions that inform contemporary art and craft-related practice. Through readings, research, and presentations, students will examine their own positions relative to the various topics and the trajectory of their individual paths as artists and artisans.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: SAC-105, SAC-106

DPM-243 PRINT TO PUBLISH

This course has been structured to develop a range of creative relationships, and the technical and conceptual skills, necessary to produce content in printmaking media. Forms including artist books, ephemera, and hybrid and collaborative print ventures will be investigated. Students will be guided and encouraged to develop strategies to publish, edition, and disseminate their work into a range of markets, and for a number of audiences, beyond the gallery and the museum. Working with faculty, each student proposes, in writing, a semester-long program of involvement and creative activity resulting in a personally directed body of work and publication. It may cross disciplines, combine processes, or be focused on more advanced technical issues. In all cases, it links to the student’s conceptual investigations in other disciplines.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DFN 103 DFN 104 DFN 120 DFA 115

DSC-332 ADVANCED FOUNDRY TECHNIQUES

This course investigates the interrelationship of process, creativity and concept through various casting techniques. Bronze, iron, aluminum, cement and nontraditional materials are used to explore casting as a process and as a means to a product. Open to non-majors with departmental approval.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DFA 130, DFA 233

SAC-240 MATERIAL RESEARCH METHODS

In this course students discover how research, design, and critique inform the creative process. Throughout the semester students learn and apply research strategies that advance design and foster critical thinking that impacts professional growth within their creative projects. Through assigned readings, presentations, individual research projects, class discussion and critique students explore historic precedent, and examine innovative contemporary ideas relevant to design and the production of successful craft objects. Themes include art, science, concept development, material studies, form and function. Students acquire visual acumen, and gain vocabulary necessary for professional discourse by reviewing and evaluating the work of contemporary artists and designers, critiquing artwork in class and exploring ideas in the context of their personal studio activities.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DFN 116, DFN 117, DFN 118, DFN 119

DPM-265 EXPLORING THE BOOK

In this course, students explore the interdisciplinary nature of the book form and its content from conception to execution. This course covers all stages of creating a limited edition book, including development of text, instruction of printmaking, letterpress and digital technology, and a variety of bookbinding techniques.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: DFN 117, DFN 120 and DFN 137