School of Art Fall 2020 Academic Plan

BFA Fine Arts | BFA Photography | BFA Craft + Material Studies |  MFA Studio Art | MFA Book Arts + Printmaking

School of Art planning for Fall 2020 has been guided by an overarching awareness of the necessity for intensive hands-on studio experiences and critical discourse. Our three BFA programs – in Fine Arts, Photography and Craft + Material Studies – have scheduled courses to be delivered in the following manner:

  • Approximately 75% of School of Art classes will be taught using substantially in-person and on-campus delivery methods.
  • Of those, the majority of studio classes will be hybrid involving 75% on campus in-person teaching and learning and 25% remote modes of teaching and learning combined in each class.
  • The majority of School of Art seminar classes will be fully remote; these are not studio courses and do not involve the creation of art works.
  • Certain studio courses that depend almost entirely on in-person instruction are being carefully planned for on-site delivery, with faculty teaching in-person throughout the semester.
  • We are investigating new and inventive hybrid (in person and remote) methods for running student critiques and hands-on demonstrations of haptic processes that prepare our students for learning the making skills that are integral to the disciplines represented in the School of Art. 

The School of Art is working to ensure that every member of our community can and will participate in a compelling teaching and learning environment, but one that is also safe and healthy. In that effort:

  • Class start and end times have been moved to make certain that we minimize the numbers of students, faculty and staff moving through our buildings, shops and studios at any given time.
  • Studio, shop and lab spaces will be opened to enable a socially distanced but steady flow through them throughout the day.
  • All students will be assigned access to our shops and studios and usage will be monitored with careful consideration devoted to determining the amount of time required for each course and each project or assignment.
  • School of Art shops and studios will open to first-year students in mid-August when classes resume for that cohort.
  • Upper level undergraduate and graduate students will be given access to shops and studios, again under strictly observed safety protocols, by mid-September when these cohorts return in-person to our campus.
  • Students in the School of Art will return to much larger studio and classroom spaces, and/or to classes with significantly fewer students, in order to meet the most stringent social distancing protocols.

We look forward to welcoming all of our students, faculty and staff to campus in the fall and we are excited to join together in a close cooperation that will safeguard the health and well-being of our entire community while providing the catalyst and the impetus to make new art.