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The Department of Fine, Digital, and Performing Arts guides the skills, talents, and understanding of students in order to expand their creative abilities and worldviews. The faculty encourages artistic growth in all mediums, traditional and digital, and respects the many pathways and definitions that lead to artistic success. We believe that the process of acquiring a balanced education facilitates the understanding of individual identity, which in turn, forms the core of artistic and academic growth.

The department offers opportunities to study introductory and advanced courses in acting, animation, art education, art history, ceramics, digital and interactive design, digital recording, digital video, directing, drawing, game and simulation development arts, lighting, movement, music (traditional and digital), painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, stagecraft, and website arts.

For More Information

Matt Cram, M.F.A., Chair
Djwana Colegrove, Secretary

Dpt. of Fine, Digital, and Performing Arts
Shawnee State University
940 Second Street
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662-4344

Phone: 740.351.3118
Fax: 740.351.3418
E-mail: mcram@shawnee.edu
           dcolegrove@shawnee.edu

Vern Riffe Center for the Arts

Shawnee State University’s art programs are located in the 100,000 sq. ft. Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, which houses performance spaces as well as studios for art, dance, music, and theater.

Art studios fill most of the east wing of the building with 29 rooms of dramatic natural and artificial light. The first floor houses the Levi Ceramics Suite; the photography suite; the Kahl Studio Theater, a 2,000+ square foot student theater; and nine music studio spaces. The second floor houses the Richards Virtual Listening Studio with a unique infinite baffle speaker system; the Appleton Gallery; and studios for art education, foundations, drawing, digital design, interactive design, digital music, and digital 3D. The third floor has the Howland Recital Hall; the Waller Painting Suite; and five additional studios for theater lighting, design, and printmaking. George C. Izenour and Associates designed the Center’s main theater to seat 1,139 people and to have adjustable acoustics.

Shawnee State University is proud of its state-of-the-art studios that enhance the degree program by offering the latest in lighting, safety, ventilation, and access for physically challenged artists. The north facing window walls offer indirect natural light in most of the arts studio spaces.

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

The bachelor of fine arts degree is recognized as the professional degree in the arts. The BFA and the professional portfolios developed through the program may lead students to career opportunities in teaching; digital and interactive design; studio work; or museum, gallery, or corporate curation. The BFA may also offer students the opportunity to pursue advanced degrees to develop their creative and academic abilities.

All incoming freshmen are required to submit a disk with a minimum of eight art works of their own creation by the end of their first semester at SSU for our student assessment program.

Program Descriptions

Art Education

The successful candidate in this program earns a multiage visual arts teaching license that qualifies them to teach art in high school or to be a middle school or elementary arts supervisor/art teacher. It does not prepare nor allow the recipient to teach general elementary school classes. Students wishing to pursue this concentration must apply to the teacher education program (see requirements on page 108). This concentration adheres to the standards set forth by NCATE (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education) and Ohio Department of Education Rule 3301-24-02. It also meets the guidelines of the State Competency Arts Education Model in the field of visual arts. The program is generally broad in artistic scope and includes work in most studio areas.

Ceramics

Shawnee State has an excellent concentration in ceramics. The program has a fully equipped studio suite of six rooms, including two rooms of high-end, computer controlled gas and electric kilns and electric wheels. Our graduates have been offered MFA scholarships at schools such as Alfred University.

Drawing

Drawing is the heart of and most basic expression of visual art. We encourage and expect high level skills in this core discipline, which is an excellent precursor to graduate school.

Game and Simulation Development Arts

Entertainment gaming and serious gaming is a dynamic industry that continues to grow despite economic downturns elsewhere. It is a 21st century art form. The core of gaming graphics is a high skill and creativity level in 3D graphics. Students in the BFA program work throughout their degree with students in SSU’s new BS degree in simulation and game engineering technology (programming side) to produce a capstone working portfolio.

Painting

Painting is a core art discipline with a rich history. Preparation for figurative and non-figurative work is encouraged within this program. The development of a coherent portfolio of work is crucial to success. Our third floor Waller Painting Suite has 25-foot high north facing windows and an additional outdoor area for good-weather painting.

Photography

Photography is devoted to educating new artists in a contemporary world, where photographic imagery and new representations of media inform and define our everyday experiences. Photographs cross boundaries between culture, art, and individual personalities. Our program attempts to encourage development of the student through a range of courses from basic to advanced, historical to contemporary, analog to digital, and an array of critical concerns. Students grow through technical and creative allocations and various technologies that have redefined photographic imaging in the 21st century.

Studio Arts

The studio arts program is for those students who want to pursue a more diverse degree with a broader set of studio experiences.

Visualist Digital Design and Interactive Media

This unique program has placed many of its graduates in high-end design positions in the region. It focuses on design as process and critical thinking to give form to content. The visualist concentration treats the computer as a design environment, where students learn to convert their traditional design and color skills to the digital realm. Two high-end computer labs are equipped with the latest software and tools.

This concentration has three possible tracks. Developing an exciting portfolio for career interviews is a major focus.

• The design track concentrates on two-dimensional design and image manipulation as it applies to the graphic design industry.
• The animation track concentrates on 3D animation art as it is used for film and video.
• The interactive media track concentrates on interactive development for screen based media.

BFA Degree Requirements

General Education Program (GEP)

All bachelor’s degree students must complete the 34 semester hour General Education Program. The GEP allows students to receive a broad education outside of the major. Refer to pages 55-57 for information.

Internships

ARTS 4159 may be available for certain BFA concentrations upon approval from the fine, digital, and performing arts department chair. Information is available from the department secretary or chair.

Senior Show

All students applying for an art major must participate in a senior gallery exhibit. Information is available from the department secretary or chair.

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