Ceramics

[ BA DEGREE ]

Visual Arts majors who choose a BA degree track will develop a general competence in the understanding, appreciation, and practices of visual arts. Each track is designed to serve students who are interested in a degree in the visual arts, but are unable or choose not to pursue a BFA degree, and who plan to enter professions within this field or pursue other paths that require artistic skill and knowledge, clear thinking, intellectual maturity, and aesthetic awareness. It is also designed to develop skills and nurture habits of thought and appreciation that will provide a source of life-long personal satisfaction to the student.

[ BFA DEGREE ]

The ceramics program, central to the studio core of the Visual Arts Department, continually seeks to unify students as artists, strengthen individual talents, and provide an environment in which students feel confident to explore the potential of clay as a means of giving expression to a range of experiences.

Pre-major students are required to complete the freshman core courses in drawing, figure drawing, two- and three-dimensional design as well as the sophomore foundations including courses in aqueous media, painting, ceramics, sculpture, intaglio, and lithography. These classes form the aesthetic foundation necessary for the successful realization of projects and technical sophistication of work in the ceramic studio.

After admittance into the program through a portfolio-based selection process, students enter a more intense investigation of the medium that begins with an introduction to a variety of contemporary approaches to clay. As students progress, they develop advanced expressive and technical skills in studios that focus on more specific areas of glazing, firing, surface studies, and advanced technology. Along with specialized studies of the medium, students are also encouraged to incorporate other materials into their work—ultimately creating an interplay of materials that results in a healthy interaction among the sculpture and ceramics students.

Though MFA and BFA students are provided with individual work space, this productive and creative atmosphere is common throughout the program. Each student plays an integral role in the day-to-day workings of the studio where ideas, materials, technical information, and equipment are shared—bringing students, faculty, and often guest artists shoulder to shoulder to solve problems, provide support, and share creative victories.

In addition to the experience gained in the studio, ceramics students participate in a visiting artist lecture program, NCECA student exhibitions and national conferences, student shows on campus, and the advanced ceramics students' annual gallery exhibition—which help develop professional skills and knowledge necessary for a successful career in the arts.

As a culminating project, students are required to mount an exhibition of work that is unified in direction and demonstrates innovation in material and concept and magnifies the student's unique personal style and voice. Former students hold teaching positions at the college level, and many are active artists with national reputations.

Faculty

Von Allen AREA COORDINATOR 207 B-66 801.422.4474 von_allen@byu.edu

[ PROGRAM MAP SHEET ]

BA in STUDIO ARTS Program Map (pdf) Get Adobe Reader here

BFA in STUDIO ARTS Program Map (pdf) Get Adobe Reader here