Foundation CIA’s Foundation program will introduce you to the forms, methods, media, and concepts crucial to your future academic and professional success.
All first-year students take a full year of Foundation courses where they develop and strengthen the fundamentals that support each year of study throughout the Institute’s curriculum. Be prepared for lively debates and the camaraderie that develops as you and your peers work together in studio. Through a charette format, the foundation experience fosters a learning environment that is responsive to your aspirations, as well as to innovations in the world of art and design.
iPads for all CIA Freshmen At CIA we value creative collaboration, especially in our first-year Foundation classrooms. For that reason we issue an iPad to each freshman to use and keep. With this technology you’ll build a digital hub of concepts, ideas, and research. This allows you to engage classmates and your professors in real-time critiques and full-scale projects right on the tablet, right in the classroom. Creative collaboration builds the essential team skills and a solution-driven approach to art 22 and design that you’ll need in a successful professional career.
You’ll begin with core courses in drawing, design, color, and digital studies that introduce you to color, composition, drawing principles, and 2D and 3D materials and processes. Digital courses and fabrication safety labs build confidence in your ability to create. As you work on studio projects you’ll investigate visual dynamics, creative processes, and issues that inform contemporary art, design, and culture. In addition we present issues of self-exploration and audience
perspective through a series of charettes (collaborative work in small groups). To help guide the transition from Foundation studies into the majors, you’ll also have the opportunity to take an elective class in order to explore various disciplines in the arts, crafts, design, and media areas. The elective provides exposure to help you make an informed choice about your major and your future career path.