Art majors craft life after GCSU
Bill Fisher, chair of the art program, describes the GCSU art program as being unique in curriculum and environment.
“I’d say that one aspect that makes us stand out is that we do offer the four tracks we have,” said Fisher. “About eight or nine years ago, we completely rewrote the curriculum and redesigned the program on a graduate school model.”
The program, Fisher said, is designed to create cumulative and consistent body of work for students to be able to present to employers and graduate programs around the country.
“All of these things are designed around what you might experience in graduate school,” Fisher said. “What results is a coherent and cohesive body of work as opposed to having your five top scoring project over your time here and just putting them up on the wall, which a lot of programs do that offer the B.A. At the very least, I think we rival any B.F.A in the country.”
Having this body of work has proven to increase student’s success in being accepted to some of the top graduate art programs in the country including University of Madison Wisconsin, University of North Carolina and the University of Rhode Island. Fisher describes a student’s portfolio as being “highly attractive” to graduate programs.
Another unique part of the GCSU art program is its concentration in museum studies, which Fisher says is distinctive at the bachelor’s level.
“You’re not going to find Museums Studies area anywhere within the University System of Georgia,” Fisher said. “Those students also participate in the capstone. Their capstone is to organize and curate an exhibition of a professional artist.”
Katey Follett, Fine Art major, was an art major from the beginning of her college career since she loves working with her hands. But her main frustration with the art major is the criticism she gets from other majors.
“I spend three hours in a day, two days a week in my studio classes, and I only get three credits,” said Follett. “And that’s not including the immense amount of work I do outside of the classroom. No one knows how much effort goes into creating the final piece. Whether it’s a photo or a painting, it takes a lot of time.”
But what other careers do art majors enter into after graduation? Fisher gives a wide variety of jobs that students have received after graduating from GCSU.
“We’ve had really good placement of people going through the M.A.T. program after they’ve gotten their B.A.,” Fisher said. “They’ve been placed in schools all over Georgia teaching K-12 art. We have people working with community arts organizations. I think as the Master of Art Therapy program develops, we’ll be preparing our students to get into that program. That’s a growing field.”
Fisher also talks about jobs in graphic design, teaching at a university level and being a professional artist as some of the many opportunities. Just recently, the art program at GCSU has become significant enough on campus to be considered a department.
“Whatever (students) interests are across those various disciplines, they are able to develop a unique and individual way of expression,” Fisher said.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Apr 24 2009. Filed under News.
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