The art major offers students a variety of concentrations, including painting, sculpture, photography, art therapy, graphic design, and computer animation. Students also may design their own interdisciplinary majors to prepare for careers in medical illustration, advertising, and other fields. Students majoring in the arts are exposed to a variety of conceptual, technical, and formal issues and work in a variety of media. Regardless of concentration, all art
students share a common core, while specifying an area of specialization. The program focuses on developing students' conceptual and technical skills. Art students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of opportunities for internships and assistantships both within and outside the department. After rigorous training, ALL degree candidates are required to participate in a senior thesis exhibition. Students planning on graduate study should strongly consider taking part in the departmental honors program in art during their senior year.
ANIMATION
The fastest-growing section of the art program is the exciting discipline of computer animation. Students learn to prepare two- and three-dimensional art for animation films, gaming, video, advertising, architecture, medical research, and web design in the most comprehensive and advanced courses available in this region.
Three on-campus laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art networked computers and postproduction units as well as 2D/3D and editing software. Many of our animation graduate students have worked in the 3D animation industry as art directors and technical directors for various companies, such as Blue Sky, Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Digital Domain, Ubisoft, BBC Earth, Quiet Man, Psyop, The Mill, Smoke & Mirrors, etc. In addition, they have participated making a variety of award-winning movies and games, such as Ice Age, Happy Feet, Frozen, Sesame Street 3D, Walking with Dinosaurs 3D, Assassin's Creed Unity, etc.
ARTS EDUCATION
Combined Five-Year B.A./M.A.T.
A combined five-year art education program--bachelor of arts (B.A.) and master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.)--is designed for students interested in active careers as practicing visual artists and educators. Students enrolled in the program will receive a liberal arts education focusing on one of the art program concentrations: animation, graphic design, painting/drawing, photography, or sculpture. During the fourth year of the combined program, students will be taking classes toward their M.A.T. degree.The fifth year of the combined program (fall and spring) will be focused on practice and supervised by a teacher licensed to teach art. The program aligns with the N.J. Department of Education code requirements. Upon completion of the M.A.T. program, students will receive their initial license to teach in public and private schools.
Art Therapy Certificate
The intention of this concentration is to prepare students for futures that may include graduate studies in art therapy, studio arts, art as social practice, careers in helping professions, and nonprofit arts organizations. Emphasis will be placed on art making as a means for self-expression, dialogue, and inquiry, as well as an opportunity to explore one's place within the context of community. Experiential learning opportunities such as travel abroad, internships, and community-based projects are encouraged.
This is a multidisciplinary concentration that will require students to build strong foundations in studio art, art history, and behavioral psychology. As part of the art therapy curriculum, students will be interning in a medical facility and completing psychology courses connected to the concentration. Students in their senior year will develop a self-directed capstone project that will be presented within a gallery context. A master's degree is required for professional practice in a medical environment, and students are encouraged to pursue graduate studies. This concentration contains all of the necessary ingredients, including individual mentoring, for students to make significant contributions in the world at large.
GRAPHIC DESIGNAn intensive bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree program in graphic design is heavily rooted in a liberal arts context--reading, writing, and critical thinking. The graphic design program at Rutgers-Camden focuses on interdisciplinary thinking and research through personalized interaction with faculty that are active researchers and practitioners. The program fosters and challenges technical and conceptual proficiency while developing an awareness of one's individual perspective and process through a constantly evolving and experimental curriculum. The goal is for students to become aware of their own creative methods and perspectives in order to extended them beyond the boundaries of traditional graphic design roles. Rutgers-Camden is one of the three campuses of Rutgers University, residing on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia. Many of our graduates have established successful careers in print design, advertising, interactive, and web design and product design--working in traditional graphic design studios to design think tanks. In addition, our student works have been awarded and recognized by national and international organizations including AIGA, Graphis, GDUSA, UCDA, CMYK, National DSVC Student Show, and Applied Art Magazines.
INTERMEDIA and ELECTRONIC ARTS
Intermedia and electronic arts (IEA) is a new, emerging area of study within art and design that explores new forms of creative output brought about by new technologies. IEA builds on the historical philosophy of intermedia, which combines different models of thought by bringing together seemingly disparate disciplines of arts, science, and technology. Students enrolled in the concentration focus on conceptual understanding of the arts, while using state-of-the-art technology to work on their projects. Technical components include programming, interactive media, graphic arts, sound, and video. IEA encourages project driven collaborations with students and faculty across different disciplines, both within and outside of the Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts.
PAINTING and DRAWING
What does it mean to be a practicing and successful contemporary painter today? The answer to this question continues to evolve. The painting and drawing program at Rutgers-Camden prides itself on regularly updating the program, assuring continued student success in the world at large. The painting faculty, diverse in their areas of specialization, are successful practicing artists who are committed to preparing students to become professional practitioners. Within a dynamic laboratory-like setting that encourages interdisciplinary and hands-on investigations, students are offered many options. Based on the understanding that painting as a medium has a rich historical lineage, students are introduced to and expected to develop a solid working knowledge of traditional as well as contemporary painting and drawing techniques.
One of the main goals of the painting program is to achieve creative and critical thinking skills. All majors in their senior year are required to complete a capstone project, a self-directed body of work that will be exhibited in the Stedman Art Gallery. Our program offers student-run activities, including the Art Students League and the Student Works Gallery. These university-supported organizations coordinate many activities, including trips to museums in New York City and Washington, D.C. Through this rigorous creative exploration in a liberal arts university setting, students are fully prepared to attain advanced degrees in studio-art programs, art-therapy, conservation, public and community art, as well as entering professional and creative fields of practice.
PHOTOGRAPHY
The photography concentration within the studio arts program provides students with visual communications skills that are designed to strengthen the creative, technical, and conceptual abilities of photography students and all visual artists. The program offers a wide range of courses that address both critical analyses of photographic content and context as well as technical craft. Our facilities include a B&W darkroom, state-of-the-art digital labs with current Adobe software, and a studio equipped with strobe and hot lighting. Fine art and commercial focuses are augmented by interdisciplinary opportunities with other humanities courses in English and history. Photo-based International Studies tours, residencies in the Poconos, and internships, both on and off campus, offer direct experiential learning not found in the studio or classroom. Alumni of the program have gone on to graduate schools, and have become teachers in higher education, or freelance photographers; some have opened their own studios and are active in fine arts gallery exhibitions.
SCULPTURE
Offering students an emphasis in either traditional practice or interactive media, the sculpture concentration provides both disciplinary focus and an environment for interdisciplinary exploration. Advanced students work independently in individual studio spaces; train at outside arts organizations; and have access to a woodworking shop, a ceramics lab, plaster facilities, interactive media and robotics equipment, in addition to further resources offered by the Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts and the university at large. Students may also apply for the Advanced Sculpture Internship, which provides training in digital fabrication at the LEAP Academy Fabrication Lab. This breadth of training supports graduates with the skills and thinking necessary for careers in today's diverse and changing art world.
Our emphasis on authorship in the built environment aims to strengthen and focus each student's sense of personal direction and efficacy within a wide framework of contemporary art practice. Through a course of study that begins with the Sculpture Foundation class, students may take an array of offerings which include ceramics, object making, new media, ecological art, conceptual art, sustainable design, community art, and programmable, interactive media. The culmination of work in this concentration is a capstone project. This semester-long investigation in a student elected area of advanced practice, becomes the beginning of a portfolio in fine art. The capstone work is formally shown at the annual Student Thesis Exhibition in a professional gallery space. Beyond professional practice, the ultimate goal of the concentration is to support students to creatively and technically communicate emotions, ideas, and inner visions by creating three-dimensional works of art.
