This immersive and innovative first-year experience is designed to provide undergraduate students with all the skills they will need to move forward within their major, whether that be graphic design, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture, the BS in visual arts, or interdisciplinary study within the School of Art+Design.
The foundations program is a progressive and rigorous one that honors the fundamentals and introduces students to new concepts, materials, and ways of learning.

Foundations Curriculum

During their first year, students are also enrolled in art history courses, College Writing, and in the spring, two electives of their choice:

VIS 1050/ComX (Community Experience)

What are possible paths for the life and career of an artist or designer? ComX complements Foundations studio courses by bringing first-year Art+Design students together as a community. Classes include visiting lectures, field trips, alumni panels, and experiential activities. Students are assigned an upper-level peer mentor to meet with each week in small groups to help support their
curricular experience.

VIS 1070/Extended Media

How do you develop an idea? In this course, students take a thematic journey while learning research skills and building a personal archive. Through monoprint, transfers, screen print and relief printmaking techniques students explore printmaking concepts of series, sequencing and narrative. Emphasis is on the process of making and the challenge of expressing ideas.

VIS 1080/Visual Language

How do we communicate visually? What makes a compelling visual experience? This course introduces fundamental graphic design-based strategies for making creative thinking visible that are relatable to all visual practices and media. Mixing theory and experimentation, students will engage in a reflective process of research, ideation, and prototyping—learning how to learn in an environment of boldness, joy, and curiosity.

VIS 1060/Foundation Drawing

Drawing is explored as a distinct practice inspired by particular media and traditions, as well as a fundamental tool for exploring ideas across disciplines. Observational skills are emphasized, but seeing extends beyond the visual, enriched by physical, intellectual, and personal experience. Analytical and intuitive approaches are developed toward the goal of communicating significant form and content.

VIS 1260/3-D Processes

This course introduces the fundamental skills and vocabulary needed to design, create, and analyze
three-dimensional works of art. A variety of materials are explored, including wood, metal, plaster, clay, and mixed media while working with various techniques and tools. Students investigate sculptural concepts as they relate to objects, the body, and built and natural environments.

VIS 1330/Lens and Time

Students explore traditional and contemporary approaches to photographic and time-based art. Projects consider pictorial space, narrative strategies, sequence, sound, video, social practice, screen interaction, and coding. Lectures, practical exercises, and discussions foster artistic growth, providing students a place to develop a focused practice of image-making. Students will explore objective and subjective ways of seeing.

Artwork created by our Foundations Students