SDSU School of Art, Design, and Art History

Undergraduate Painting Studies

General Overview

The Painting sub-discipline is an integral part of the Painting and Printmaking emphasis. The Painting and Printmaking area provides an environment that encourages students to develop as professional artists. The area attempts to offer a solid foundation in perceptual and technical skills, and an awareness of historical and contemporary precedent in the disciplines of painting and drawing. The emphasis encourages students to use these basic principles creatively to explore a broad range of concepts and to develop independent directions. The primary focus of the Painting program is two-dimensional imaging through the traditional mediums of painting and drawing. As the student advances, attention is paid to the integration of these two with the other 2-D disciplines of printmaking and photography, and further integration with three-dimensional concerns where appropriate.

Coursework Overview

At the undergraduate level this is realized first by giving the student a strong foundation in perceptual skills and awareness of historical and contemporary precedence. Secondly, it is realized by introducing a variety of concepts that challenge the student to use the basic skills to explore a broad range of artistic issues, and finally, by encouraging the student to pursue a more independent direction in his/her own work. Within this framework, the emphasis also fosters broad experimentation and supports work in cross-disciplinary, collaborative, and new genres of artistic practice. This program is intended to lay the foundation for an individual's development as a professional artist, and also to prepare the student for further study at the graduate level. The undergraduate facilities include three large painting studios and one large drawing studio for life drawing classes. All of the studios provide excellent lighting and ventilation.

Strengths of the program include a well-qualified faculty who bring to the students a wide spectrum of viewpoints. The faculty is professionally active with strong exhibition records. San Diego's close proximity to Los Angeles allows students to view major contemporary and historical exhibitions on an ongoing basis. The faculty actively encourages students to attend significant exhibitions in the Southern California region. Students have the opportunity to curate and exhibit in a professional setting on campus. Students also actively exhibit in numerous alternative spaces in the region.

For more information on the degree requirements for the Painting sub-concentration, please download the undergraduate Painting and Printmaking emphasis checklist. Note: Documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader(external link).

Highlights

Recent graduates from the Painting discipline have been accepted into the following prestigious MFA programs: Yale University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rhode Island School of Design, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco Art Institute, Art Center College of Design, The School of the Visual Arts, New York University, Pratt Institute, Tyler School of Art, Claremont Graduate University, University of California at San Diego, and California Institute of the Arts.

Admissions and Financial Assistance

You can learn more detailed information about the admissions process on the Undergraduate Admissions page. For more information on financial assistance, please visit our Financial Aid page or our student scholarships page to find scholarships available through the School of Art, Design, and Art History.

Previous Visiting Artsits

For information on upcoming visiting artists, please visit our Upcoming Visiting Artsits page. Listed below are some of the visiting artists the School has hosted specific to the Painting discipline:

• Dave Hickey
• Nancy Chunn
• John Baldessari
• Terry and Jo Harvey Allan
• Llyn Foulkes
• Kim McConnel
• Andrea Zittel
• Robert Irwin
• Karen Finley
• Vito Acconci
• Jean Lowe

Facilities

Read detailed information on our facilities on the PaintingFacilities page, where you can also link to other interdisciplinary facilities within the School of Art, Design, and Art History.

You can also read more about local art material supplier resources on our Art Supplies page, as well as learn more about our library research facilities by visiting SDSU's Love Library website(external link).

The Faculty

To contact or learn more about individual faculty in this department, please refer to the Painting department directory listing.

This page was last updated at 9:40AM on May 9, 2011