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PrincetonUniversity |
Program in Visual ArtsThe Program in Visual Arts at Princeton provides undergraduates with courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, ceramics, video, and computer graphics. A variety of courses in the history and theory of film are also offered, and opportunities to do extracurricular work in typography and film making exist as well. Students from any class or department may take one or more courses, or they may elect to pursue a joint major under the auspices of the Department of Art and Archaeology and the visual arts program. This major is called "Program II Art History and Visual Arts" and is unusual in the degree to which art history and studio work are interrelated. Studio courses encourage investigation of ideas and issues in the various modes of contemporary art and attempt to expose the student to a diversity of approaches and attitudes. Concentrators in art history and visual arts present an exhibition of a major studio project as a senior thesis, instead of the usual written thesis. In addition, they are provided with personal studio space in which to do independent work during the junior and senior year. All visual art studio courses are taught by working professional artists of established reputation, who are chosen for their commitment to teaching. Over the last fifteen years nearly a hundred well-known artists have taught in the program, providing an invaluable resource few other institutions could match. Princeton's Program II major can serve as a preparation for almost any postgraduate career. Among our graduates are practicing physicians, lawyers, and business executives, as well as scholars in a range of fields. A career as an artist is a difficult path to follow nowadays, but some of our graduates have had the drive and determination to succeed and are now exhibited in major galleries and museums. Other graduates have established promising careers in art-related fields such as curatorial work or criticism. A certificate program is also available to students wishing to major in any department and do serious work in studio art as well. A certificate candidate will take a series of studio courses and certain art history courses and will do a junior independent project and a senior exhibition. The arts today are primarily concerned with the what and why of aesthetic concerns. The how is increasingly less important, which is the reason technical skills are not overly emphasized in program classes. The liberal arts' concern with an understanding of cultural history and the meaning of ideas is the context within which the Program in Visual Arts positions itself. We have chosen not to try to emulate the preprofessional concerns of art schools but to play our part in providing a broad general education. Whether the student's ultimate interest in art is as a profession or an avocation, the necessary foundation is the same.
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