Changes to Studio Art Offerings during COVID-19
Artists work with and through difficult circumstances; some of the best work emerges as we search for new ways to operate in the face of uncertainty. Art is responsive, reflexive, adaptable, complex and, at its core, communicative. Active dialogue and exchange in a shared studio community not only strengthens the individual but also clears a path for greater empathy and social engagement. We all need Art; it is our way of expressing the complexities of the human experience. Art investigation helps us reflect, look ahead and care for one another with expanded awareness.
This academic year is one that requires a new kind of exploration, inventiveness and responsiveness. As we began the new year, you’ll have noticed that we made some changes: most significantly, we modified each of our studio offerings to take advantage of the new 7 week format. We also streamlined the path for seniors who are majoring or minoring in Studio Art. Given that not all students or faculty will be present on campus at once this year, we’ve developed policies to ensure that our studio practices and assumptions about access to supplies and facilities are safe and equitable.
Here are some of the key changes you need to know:
Enrollment Caps
This year we have slightly reduced the enrollment capacity for some studio courses in order to ensure the quality of interaction, safety of facilities and, above all, the health of our community.
A new emphasis
Our introductory studio courses will emphasize ideas and conceptual investigation while utilizing Wellesley’s resources, collections, and creative connections in fresh ways. The intensive 7 week schedule allows all studio classes, whether they are offered online or on campus, to focus more actively on the cultural context and theoretical questions driving contemporary artists in various disciplines. This does not mean that we are setting aside technical instruction or the development of visual and haptic skills, but that we will cultivate more sustained conversations about the theoretical and social concerns impacting images and objects as we make them. By prioritizing these considerations, we aim to provide you with a theoretical and conceptual foundation to inform your ongoing artistic development over time.
The new 7 week intensive format will also shift the nature and timing of project work undertaken in our intermediate and advanced level studios. Advanced students who may have been envisioning independent studies or thesis work in 2020-21 should enroll in a 300-level studio course and develop advanced projects in coordination with faculty and peers in those courses, which will be more interdisciplinary.
A new path to honors in Studio Art
This year we will ask all seniors pursuing honors to focus on advanced projects within the framework of their 300-level studio courses and enroll in ARTS 318 (our capstone seminar) in term 4. During this final term you will expand or refine the projects begun in your 300-level courses, develop an artist’s statement and project statement, co-organize a publication and exhibition of your work in a senior show. A faculty committee will meet to conduct a final review of this show, assess the senior projects, and determine who shall receive honors in the major.
Studios access
This year, the use of all Wellesley campus facilities will be limited to students living in Wellesley College provided housing. Given the importance of contact tracing and physical distancing, only students enrolled in specific studio art courses will be allowed access to the studio facilities. Drop-in studio visitors will not be allowed.
Each professor will explain the appropriate use of the spaces as well as equipment, the schedule of use, cleaning procedures, and required safety protocol. Schedules and access sheets will be posted in the studios.
Appropriate use of PPE and social distancing will be required at all times in the studios.
To limit the introduction of new risk factors, we must adhere to designated public health guidelines and limit the number of people working in the studio spaces. We will need your full commitment and follow through to ensure the safety and well-being of every student, faculty, and staff member. Continued access to the studio depends on this shared sense of responsibility and embodied care for one another as we work.
Clear movement paths will be indicated and are required to be followed at all times.
Most studio access will follow library hours, but some studios may require a more restricted schedule. Once the library closes, the art buildings will be locked. Students must be out of the building before closing.
Recommendations for prospective majors or minors in Studio Art
Students contemplating an Arts-based major (Studio Art, Architecture, Media Arts or Art History) are strongly encouraged to complete ARTS 105 and ARTH 100 at some point during their first three semesters at the college. We are offering sections of these courses throughout the four terms that will comprise academic year 2020-21; some will be offered remotely while others may be taught on campus, but the content will be coordinated. Prospective studio art majors or minors from the classes of 2023 and 2022 should aim to complete ARTS 105 and/or ARTH 100 in one of the fall terms. If this is not possible, please consult the course browser for descriptions and times of other 200-level offerings in Studio Art and Art History: many will be open to students without prerequisites in 2020-21.
Seniors who are completing majors or minors in Studio Art should plan to enroll in the studio seminar, ARTS 318, in the final quarter of 2020-21.
Senior Theses
This year we decided to consolidate ARTS 317 (.5 credit course) and ARTS 318 (.5 credit course) into ARTS 318 as a 1 credit course in the last quarter. At that point we will be on campus and students will have access to work spaces. Seniors will bring to that course projects they worked on in other advanced courses during the year, and will work on expanding or refining them in the seminar. Students will contextualize the work, write their artist statements and project statements, present the work publicly and privately in small critiques, curate and design the final exhibition, host visiting artists, etc. At the end of the quarter the exhibition will open and a faculty committee will decide on honors for applying students, assessing a portfolio with the process of the project and the final presentation during the senior show.
