The Painting department at the Cleveland Institute of Art has a long and storied history of producing successful alumni. In this major you’ll experience a wide range of approaches to abstract and figural painting as well as alternative media and installation.
At the core of our curriculum is an understanding of what it means to be a professional artist. We present a solid grounding in technical skills, art criticism, and theory, as well as contemporary practices in the visual arts. Our faculty of professional artists with diverse approaches to art-making will guide your work through individual and group studio critiques, workshops, seminars, and courses in special topics. Once you have received a firm grounding in both the technical and conceptual aspects of painting you’ll begin to develop a personal body of work and an imaginative approach to problem solving. As part of the Visual Arts + Technologies (VAT) Environment at CIA, Painting students share in an integrated curriculum that will give you a broad knowledge in the visual arts and in-depth awareness of painting as a studio practice. Your knowledge and experience will be enriched as you pursue collaborations and shared coursework in the other disciplines that make up the VAT Environment: Drawing, Printmaking, Fiber + Material Studies, and Sculpture.
A series of special events, exhibitions, artist visits, and scholar programs will present you with the issues and practices you can expect to face in professional life. In addition, you’ll have access to the VAT Environment Artist-In-Residence, who is an artist working at the top of his or her field. This artist teaches regular courses in the Environment as well as works individually with students. In the spring you have an opportunity to travel to New York during an annual trip sponsored by the VAT Environment, where you’ll experience first-hand professional galleries and exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial and the Armory Show. In our Professional Practices program you’ll develop small business knowledge that will empower you to set up your professional studio. You’ll be tutored in creating your professional portfolio and developing grant-writing skills. In addition, you’ll learn about the appropriate communications skills and proper etiquette necessary for successfully approaching dealers, curators, and collectors. Painting students have generous individual studio spaces, a well-equipped workshop, and excellent critique space, all within the sky-lit, factory loft space of the Joseph McCullough Center for the Visual Arts. The Painting curriculum culminates with a BFA exhibition that consists not only of presenting a body of self-initiated work, but also an oral defense and a written artist statement.
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