Art Department

This course will introduce students to the art of drawing. Students will become familiar with conventional drawing materials including graphite, charcoal, conté, ink, and pastel. A disciplined daily working practice and routine will develop throughout the course, offering students transferable skills to all their academic pursuits. This course aims to encourage students to engage in further artistic study and life-long learning. ART 102 is strongly recommended as a complementary course. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 101 or ART 100. Three credits.

This course will continue students’ development in drawing based on the foundation of Introduction to Drawing I. Students will explore the use of conventional drawing materials and techniques while learning basic colour theory, advanced study of value and subtractive drawing, figure drawing, and abstract representation. An end-of-term self-directed artwork assignment is a summation of the course’s learning outcomes. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 102 or ART 100. Prerequisite: ART 101, or portfolio demonstrating drawing skills. Three credits.

This course focuses on design principles and elements such as unity, balance, repetition, line, shape, and colour. The course provides students with a vocabulary and working knowledge of visual communication. Students develop their visual problem-solving skills and explore their creativity through studio projects and class discussions. Three credits.

This course will afford students the opportunity of working in a variety of art media, (two-dimensional and possibly three-dimensional) while exploring techniques, presentations, concept and materials. Projects may include painting, printmaking, sculpture, animation, textiles and more. Students with some prior knowledge of drawing and/or art experience will benefit most from this course. Prerequisite: ART 101, 102 (100) recommended. Three credits.

Long before human beings developed written language, we were making works of art. This introductory survey examines art and architecture within the intellectual and social contexts of their historical production. It provides a working knowledge of the history of art from prehistory through Classical Greece and Rome, to the great cathedrals of the Medieval period. Students will begin to develop critical tools for studying visual culture, and achieve a deeper understanding of cultural history. Three credits.

This section of the art history survey begins with works of art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance, where new ideas (including the notion of genius) had major repercussions for the cultural and artistic history of subsequent periods, including the Baroque, Romanticism, the 20th century, and our contemporary era. Students will learn new ways of observing and interpreting art, enrich their appreciation of art and architecture, and further deepen their understanding of cultural and intellectual history. Three credits.

This course deals with the vocabulary, nature and physical properties of colour: hue, value and intensity. Studio assignments provide practise in learning colour relationships in unified and contrasting colour schemes. Three credits.

This interdisciplinary course develops drawing and observational skills alongside a critical awareness of the role of image-making in knowledge production about the natural world. Students will learn drawing techniques from a studio art instructor and apply them to the study of specimens, under the supervision of a biology instructor. An art history instructor will teach slow looking techniques and the history of collaborations between artists and scientists in the last 500 years. Three credits.

This introductory course will teach students the fundamental principles of representational painting – artworks created through the careful observation from life. Emphasis will be placed on learning techniques of studio painting and brushwork in conjunction with a thorough understanding of the formal qualities of colour: hue, value, and tone. ART 205 is strongly recommended as a complementary course. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 204 or ART 200 or ART 299 ST: Intro to Painting. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102. Three credits.

This course is designed for students to further their technical and conceptual skills of representational painting acquired in ART 204. Subjects of increasing complexity are explored, including an investigation into landscape painting, the figure and independently researched topics. Prerequisite: ART 204, or portfolio demonstrating painting skills. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 205 or ART 200 or ART 299 ST: Intro to Painting. Three credits.

This course introduces the copper-foil method of stained glass. Students will create original designs, with encouragement and support to engage with their unique style preferences, perspectives, and cultures. They will learn basic technical skills to complete a two-dimensional stained glass artwork using materials (including coloured, textured glass) and equipment in the studio. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102, 115 or portfolio demonstrating drawing and design skills. Three credits.

In this intermediate-level course in the copper-foil method of stained glass, students will create original designs inspired by their unique style preferences, life experiences, and perspectives. They will build upon and extend the technical skills learned in ART 211 to produce a three-dimensional stained glass art project, such as a lamp. Prerequisite: ART 211 or portfolio demonstrating stained glass design and studio skills. Three credits.

Tapestry weaving has been practised by cultures around the world for over 2,000 years. In this course, students will first learn the basic techniques of tapestry weaving and later apply them to a small tapestry of their own design. Tapestry-woven cloth plays numerous cross-cultural roles: social, spiritual, political, economic, and artistic. These many facets of tapestry will be explored through a series of videos that highlight cultural traditions and international perspectives. Three credits.

This course will examine societies in modern Africa. Western histories of this period will be weighed alongside a more Afrocentric perspective, examining a selection of social systems, economic organization, political institutions, religious beliefs and life patterns, and the impact of the outside world on them. Topics to be addressed include gender, culture, belief and identity, European imperialisms, contested nationalisms, independence movements, and the nature and experience of the African diaspora. Cross-listed as HIST 223. Credit will be granted for only one of HIST 223 or HIST 297 (2016-2017). Three credits.

This is a hands-on, introductory studio sculpture class with an emphasis on creating vessels and architectural forms, and exploring figurative approaches in clay. Students will be taught the processes of clay sculptural building, including mould-making, plaster-casting, and plasticine. Students will develop and hone hand-eye coordination as well as fine motor skills through tactile 3-D modelling in clay. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102. Three credits.

Vikings did more than plunder and pillage - they explored, farmed, and traded along vast travel networks that stretched from the east coast of Canada to the sophisticated cities of Constantinople and Baghdad in the East. Vikings! The Course will survey the spread of Norse influence and culture from their initial steps out of Scandinavia in the 8th century - attacking monasteries and cities - to the founding of Norse kingdoms in Normandy, Sicily and Novgorod. Cross-listed as HIST 236. Three credits.

From the public announcement of a viable process in 1839, to the present day, photographic images have come to dominate our visual world. This course will examine the history of photography through its technology and through the work of key photographers, styles, and purposes. It will also consider photography as a medium for art in itself, its position and relationships with the traditional arts, and its extraordinary power to construct a world. Three credits.

Students will learn elements of cinematic language, focussing on documentary film: the basic principles of storytelling, cinematography, editing, sound recording, and producing; how to operate as a one-person crew using their own equipment; and how to analyze films to understand cinematic vocabulary. Students must have access to a mobile device or camera that can shoot video and a computer that can run basic editing software. Additionally, students will expand their understanding of cinema through watching films, focusing on independent documentary works by Canadian filmmakers who are underrepresented in the industry (women, Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, and LGTBQ2S+). Credit will be granted for only one of ART 259 or ART 295 ST: Digital Video Production. Three credits.

Over a 70-year period beginning in 1860s Europe, what art looked like and what it was made for underwent dramatic changes, setting the stage for art in our time. Beginning with Impressionism, we’ll chart formal changes in visual art; art and politics in Russia and Italy; design and education innovations in Germany; North American movements (Beaver Hall Group in Canada, Harlem Renaissance in USA); Dada and Surrealism; and the inter-war period. Three credits.

In this course, students will learn the basics of animation. Projects include simple 2D animation and stop-motion. There is a self-directed final project in which students will expand on acquired technical and theoretical knowledge of animation fundamentals. Animation comes in many styles, so a high level of drawing skill is not a requirement for this course. A laptop and digital camera are necessary. Open-access free animation software will be used. Three credits.

Intimately linked to identity and experience, the human body has constituted a wellspring of formal and conceptual explorations for artists across time and space. This thematic art history survey critically examines the relationship between ideas about the body and artistic representation. Students will use visual analysis and key concepts, like the Gaze and intersectionality, to study a wide range of artworks, from scientific illustrations to performances, that stem from a variety of cultural contexts. Three credits.

This course is designed for students interested in learning to effectively use digital photography as a means for self-expression, artistic medium, or cultural comment. No equipment is required, except for a smart phone. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 271 or ART 297 ST: Digital Photography. Three credits.

Popular culture often presents the Church as all-powerful and medieval inquisitions their chosen tool of oppression. Yet the historical reality is much more complicated than that. Through an in-depth 6-week role play, this class explores the interconnections between individual identity and societal expectations, doctrinal debate and dogma, heresy and resistance, inquisition and power. Cross-listed as HIST 333. Three credits.

The course will begin with a look at events in Quebec just after WWII – Les automatistes and the Refus global. We will then examine the gradual development of artmaking in Canada up to the present. This will include the regional versus the national; Canada in the international arena; innovations in photographic practice; contemporary Indigenous and Inuit work; and the infrastructure which supports and defines the visual arts in Canada. Three credits.

This course will be concerned with developing drawing to accurately reproduce plant forms. Non-flowering and flowering plant form and diversity will be covered. Prerequisite: ART 101, 102 (100) or BIOL 202 or portfolio demonstrating drawing or painting skills. Three credits.

This course provides intensive study of human anatomy with the purpose aimed towards figure drawing. Students will focus on the skeletal and muscular systems, studying both bone specimens and live models. Using graphite and charcoal, students will gain the knowledge to accurately draw the human figure and place their work within the historical context of figurative art. Prerequisite: ART 101, 102 (100) or portfolio submission. Three credits.

Recentering women in the history of art, this course critically examines the structures that excluded them and the narratives that erased them. It looks at how gender has shaped the discipline of art history and at texts that envision more inclusive methods. Students will draw on their experiments with looking techniques to write about women’s contributions to various visual and material cultures, from the discovery of butterfly metamorphosis to the secret “invention” of abstraction. Cross-listed as WMGS 354. Three credits.

Iconography is the identification and interpretation of images. This course is an introduction to the iconography of Christian art, with an emphasis on images of the Life of Christ. The course will examine how images develop over history, and how they may be understood in light of historical events, changes in theological thought, and in the artist’s own spirituality. A key question is “Who is Jesus, and how shall we represent Him?” Cross-listed as RELS 353. Three credits.

This course builds on ART 259. Students will learn key components of cinematic grammar (for example, tone, casting, and pacing) and will create projects, to which they will bring their unique creative vision. Students will also analyze films, primarily those created by underrepresented filmmakers (women, BIPOC, and 2SLGTBQ+). To take this course, students must have access to a mobile device that can shoot video and also a computer that can run basic editing software. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 359 or ART 386 (2021-2022). Prerequisite: ART 259. Three credits.

The long 19th century was understood by Britons as ‘theirs’. An industrial powerhouse, grown on science and credit, Britain gained access to raw materials worldwide. Politically dynamic, British democracy went global, and a stable monarchy allowed for seemingly unparalleled Progress. Not everyone experienced this change in the same manner, however. It will explore how broad historical trends - changing ideals of citizenship and democracy, industrial growth, urbanism and the challenge of racial diversity - were experienced in this era. Cross-listed as HIST 383. Three credits.