Studio Arts course delivery during COVID 19 period:

All information below is subject to change. Safety for all students, staff and faculty is our primary concern. See the University COVID 19 updates for Fall 2020 here:

https://news.uoguelph.ca/2019-novel-coronavirus-information/fall-semester-2020/

Note about Pre-requisites and Restrictions: Students are ENCOURAGED to inquire with teaching faculty about being signed into courses that you may not have the required pre-requisites for. Send your inquiry to the professor with a course waiver form found here:
https://www.uoguelph.ca/registrar/sites/undergraduate/files/forms/course_waiver_request.html

MEDIA STREAMS IN STUDIO ART:

Core and Foundation Studio

Main platforms for delivery: Virtual Classroom Via Courselink for the lecture.
Uncertain as of yet about labs, will need to consult TAs, but likely the same.

Technologies/equipment students will need to participate in courses: Smart phones, computer with video/audio capacity and internet access, free software, paper, notebooks/drawing media, common household materials and post office access.

Comments: Courses in Foundation Studio will be designed to be able to be completed safely at home, or in parks, and all can be done with social distance. We will take an inventory of student’ tech to help with assignment design. Students can use technologies available at home (smart phones etc.) and free online software, along with household materials and spaces to complete their assignments. There will be no need for fancy art supplies. Supplies you will need are pencils, markers, old magazines, scissors and glue. Students will post works in progress and finished works in One Drive or Courselink.

Experimental Studio

Main platforms for delivery: Zoom for some synchronous meetings, demos and lectures and online blog/links. May also use workbooks, and materials kits. Studio access if allowed - can be discussed as conditions evolve.

Comments: Courses in Experimental Studio will be delivered with assignments and exercises adapted to be made safely at home, or outdoors according to the public health advisories of the moment. Students can use technologies available at home (smart phones etc.) and free online software, along with household materials and spaces to complete their assignments. Together we will consider how to make art from the stuff of everyday life, and how to be artists now - in this unique historical moment. Courses will include both live and recorded materials - including technical demos, readings and podcasts, guided walks, group chats, critiques, and creative activities performed variously apart, or together. Students will post works in progress, and finished works publicly on-line in various formats. Ideas, exercises, and research - will be emphasized over the production of major finished projects.

Sculpture (Special Topics)

Platforms for delivery: I am exploring Zoom but also Microsoft Teams for synchronous teaching, meetings (individual and group), critiques and lectures, and Courselink as a repository for course docs, links, readings and references. I am, however, also exploring using Teams for storing readings, reference materials and a site for students to ask questions and to initiate class discussions through the chat module. And, finally, LinkedIn Learning and YouTube for additional asynchronous software instruction. I intend to follow a pre-existing Fusion360 course on LinkedIn Learning, but adapting it to the needs of the class, so emphasizing only particular chapters and videos. I am considering both Canada Post and curbside delivery of student projects and toolkits

Technologies students will need to participate in courses: Students will need a computer capable of running Fusion360, a 3-button mouse is recommended, a broadband connection or unlimited LTE cellular data service, a smartphone and a few measuring tools, a utility knife, clay modeling tools, drawing materials. I am preparing a sculpture student toolkit which will include a block of plasticine, a package of balsa wood and a small Vernier caliper.

Comments: Assignments will focus on the relationship between analog and digital building processes, scale and adaptation as both a technical/design process and a conceptual thread for exploration. The book, Siteless, by Francois Blanciak will act as a point of reference in exploring scale, variation/difference and the relationship of object to site. The course will explore various digital technologies for building: CAD/CAM, 3D printing, CNC cutting (lasercutter) and basic photogrammetry for capturing 3d information. Drawing and other analog processes will act as an important counterpoint to the digital processes and an important part of course activities. I intend to have many smaller assignments and limit class tutorials to no more than half the class/week in order to give students time to learn the software and for me to meet individually with the students. I am also considering one or two collaborative group projects, which I feel will help in creating a stronger class community. Review of work can happen through video conferencing and 3d viewer software. Images and accompanying written material wll be posted either to a blog or to Teams.

Printmaking

Platforms for delivery: Zoom for online meetings and critiques, shared blog for developing posts instead of presentations (https://sofamprintmaking.wordpress.com/). Courses will include live lectures, discussions, and critiques. PowerPoint presentations, readings, videos, technical instructions/demos, etc. will be made available online via. courselink. Assignments will be submitted on courselink, via. Canada post, or through the class blog. One assignment per class may require students to mail a drypoint plate to the University for proofing on the etching press by Allen and/or Instructors. Proofing will be live streamed for the class, and proofs mailed to students.

Technologies students will need to participate in courses: A pre-assembled kit of print tools and materials will be mailed or available via. curbside pick-up (including supplies such as water-based ink, roller, linoleum plates, papers, etching needle, copper plate, baren, etc.). Students will need access to a smart phone, computer, internet, Photoshop and/or free image editing software, paper, notebooks, drawing media, common household materials, post office access, access to home printer or xerox machine.

Comments: Assignments in print courses will be designed to be completed at home, with the possibility of one visit to the print studio in small groups, should public health regulations allow it. Students will consider the roles, histories, and futures of print as communicative and its potential to connect across distances through multiplicity and distribution. Students will also engage with DIY process and everyday materials, considering the roles of print in artistic, political, and home contexts.

Drawing courses:

Platforms for delivery: Zoom or Teams for synchronous online meetings and critiques. Courselink for all course administrative documents (syllabus, assignments, submission of assignments through Dropbox, and grades). Teams will be used for additional asynchronous discussion and posting of additional references and resources.
Instead of Teams, Drawing ll will use a class blog for additional asynchronous discussion and posting of additional references and resources, as well as posting of some submissions.

Technologies students will need to participate in courses:
Students will need internet access, a computer or tablet, and access to a smartphone for documenting work to submit digitally.

Drawing I:

A kit of materials from Wyndham art supplies will be prepared and made available for the start of class. Students can supplement other materials, so long as they follow guidelines as provided for individual assignments.
Students will be required to work in their sketchbook, but will need to be able to document their work with a smartphone or scanner to upload images of their work to CourseLink.
Drawing I focuses both on the fundamentals of observational drawing, and the exploration of mark making as a vehicle for ideation. We will be undertaking detailed and specific assignments on traditional approaches to contour, gesture and negative space drawing in direct observation of live subjects and still lifes. We will also work from reproductions and art historical sources to analyze compositional structure and make a detailed study of value (the greyscale).
Through ongoing in-class exercises (and a final, larger assignment) we will also consider basic elements of narrative, time and expression through the fundamentals of cartooning. We will be emphasizing the diaristic, therapeutic and expressive functions of cartooning conventions over notions of ‘Mastery”. We will be critically analyzing artworks of modern and contemporary artists and sharing and discussing our own work as a group, considering and articulating a broad array of ways in which drawing allows us to respond to the world both as we perceive it, and as we imagine or understand it.

Drawing II:

A list of supplies will published during the first week of classes. These will be available as a kit for purchase from Wyndham Art Supplies in Guelph. Students may also purchase similar materials elsewhere.
This course will look at various approaches to drawing, including extensive use of conventional materials like pencils and paper, along with basic digital techniques. Students will make extensive use of sketchbooks for drawing at home. Digital techniques will include vector- and raster-based software for producing still images and basic animation.

Drawing III:

Students are also able to complete the course with materials they might have at hand. A recommended supply list will be included on the published course outline in July. For those who are interested, an optional supply kit will be available for purchase from Wyndham Art Supplies in Guelph.

Drawing III will explore post-studio approaches to drawing, with the aim of expanding the range of tools, technology and conceptual approaches available to each participant. To this end, we will play with a range of materials - not all of them specifically art-related -- in order to respond to the specific historic moment in which we find ourselves. Forums for discussion will include nteractive presentations, seminar discussions and critiques. Projects will include site-specific drawing and drawing as performance as well as observational drawing, specifically in relation to technology - digital, photographic and otherwise. The aim of the course is to support each participant in the development of their own voice, research interests and its expression.

Photography:

Platforms for delivery: Zoom for some synchronous class meetings, critiques, and lectures; a Wordpress blog for posting presentations; Courselink for technical tutorials, links, readings, etc. There will be no requirement for in-person on-campus attendance. Some timed studio/lab access and curbside delivery of photographic prints might be permitted if conditions are favourable, but will be optional and is not be required to complete the course.

Technologies students will need to participate in courses: Students should have a smart phone, a computer with video/audio capacity, and internet access. Photo students will also need a digital camera that can shoot on RAW mode and be set to Manual mode, where both shutter speed and f-stop can be adjusted. Students can contact photo technician Paul Macdonald with questions about the suitability of their camera (pamacdon@uoguelph.ca). A tripod is recommended but is not absolutely essential. Students will require a laptop or other computer (Mac or PC) that can run Photoshop (for required specifications see https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/photoshop/system-requirements.html). Please note that Chromebooks will not work for this course as they cannot download software.

A 4-month Photoshop subscription will be provided to each student enrolled in the course. A package with basic materials, covered by the lab fee, will be shipped to each student via Canada Post at the beginning of the course.

Comments: Assignments will focus on concepts, creativity, resourcefulness and ingenuity, mostly using what is at hand at home, and what can be found outside in the immediately surroundings. For example, Photo I students will turn their bedrooms into camera obscuras, using simple, everyday materials. Students will make cyanotype prints outdoors using pre-coated paper (supplied), the sun, and water, and turn their living spaces into portable studios using what they have on hand.

Courses will include some live lectures, discussions, and critiques, but also some pre-recorded material and videos of technical demonstrations. Links will be provided on Courselink for technical demonstrations, readings and demos, as well as inspirational material (podcasts, virtual exhibitions, etc.).

Painting Courses

Technologies students will need to participate in courses:Students will need internet access, ideally broadband but cellular data is fine. Students will need access to a smartphone for documenting work to submit digitally.
They will need a laptop or tablet, as well as access to a home printer.

Painting 1:

Students in Painting I will be provided a pre-assembled kit of materials available via curbside pick up from Wyndham Art Supplies. This is covered through the course Lab Fee. A shipping option is also available through Wyndham.

Painting I will focus upon the development of solid observational painting skills using acrylic paint, with an option, should in-class meetings be possible, to extend that exploration into oil paint within the Zavitz studios. The focus will be upon developing core competencies in creating form, mixing colour, controlling value and light and assembling strong compositions that reflect the current environment and respond to the interests of the student.

Painting II and III:

Students in Painting II and III will be able to use either oil or acrylic paints as determined by the individual's studio situation and specific project. There will be no lab fees in these courses.

Painting II begins with a further exploration of observational painting begun in Painting I, then expands to consider the ramifications of digital technology and abstraction on contemporary practice. As a final project, students will be given the opportunity to explore individual interests through the production of a small body of work.

Painting III is an in-depth exploration of the "language/s" of painting and how painterly conventions shape meaning. Emphasis will be placed issues of process and critique through the first half of the semester. The second half of the course will concentrate on individual exploration and the development of a personal vision, in preparation for capstone Painting IV course.