Arts
There are three main goals in the freshman art class: to analyze art, to make connections with the Albuquerque arts community, and to create art projects that communicate these connections and analysis.
Analyzing art is done in the context of history with connections made to contemporary culture and politics. The vehicle for this is done through a Socratic seminar format and then synthesized by the students in either a written essay or a power point presentation. For example, the students will examine the work of Francisco Goya through the lens of early 19th century Spain to understand how the political climate of the time influenced his paintings and to discover and identify differences and similarities to current U.S. political trends.
The students are required to produce their own original art work responding to what is being analyzed in the class using a variety of materials and techniques. It is during these projects that attention is given to the principles of design and the elements of art. For example, the students will be instructed to create an ink and brush painting, or a digital photograph directly relating to one of the etchings in Goya’s series Los Caprichos. They will be assessed on the similarities to the original work and their use of contrast to heighten the compositional intensity of their work.
Students in Freshman Art are also given opportunities to interface with arts organizations, galleries, and artists in Albuquerque. The purpose of this is to provide the students with a real life, hands on experience that will give a sense of relevancy to the role of art in the community. This is an on going, ever evolving component of the curriculum dependant on what sorts of collaborations can be set up. For example, one year the students worked with a local artist, Karl Hofmann, to create an installation piece that was included in the 516 Arts exhibit Here and There: Seeing New Ground Land /Art.
