SUA regards imagination and creativity as essential qualities for global leadership. Creative Arts courses help students develop these qualities through individual and collaborative endeavors.
All Creative Arts courses are designed to fulfill the following goals:
Direct experience of the creative process in at least one artistic medium.
Appreciation for the universal human creative spirit.
Enhancement of creative thinking and problem-solving as skills that can be transferred to other endeavors.
Creation of a non-competitive community for individual and collaborative work.
The student learning outcomes for Creative Arts courses are:
Creative Artwork – Students will demonstrate development and improvement of skills or craft in the artistic medium in which they work, including the understanding and appropriate use of materials and techniques, resulting in successful completion of their artistic end product.
Tools of Creativity – Students will demonstrate development and improvement of internal skills that foster the creation of art, including expanded aesthetic appreciation, improved perceptual abilities (e.g., listening, seeing, comprehending), and flexible imagination.
General Creative Processes – Students will demonstrate development and improvement of attitudes and abilities that support creative endeavor in general, such as openness to exploring new possibilities, lateral thinking/brainstorming and, in specific situations, the ability to work in teams across artistic disciplines.
Students can take additional Creative Arts courses as electives at any time; more information and the full listing of courses including those that may count toward general electives are available on the Creative Arts Program page.
This course explores drawing as a process for seeing, generating ideas, and personal expression. It includes drawing the human figure, still life, nature, and the imagination and uses a variety of media and techniques. This course is open to all students, regardless of previous experience in this medium.
This course, open to students regardless of prior musical experience, focuses on developing musical imagination and the ability to realize and communicate the fruits of that imagination. The course emphasizes fundamental music skills (aural skills, basic performing skills, and music literacy) to support students’ future and ongoing musical endeavors.
This course will introduce students to the study of songs and songwriting, with special attention paid to the art of lyrics, melody, harmony, and structure to create songs. We will analyze and compose songs, and listen to popular American songwriting throughout modern history. There are no prerequisites, and no previous knowledge of music reading and notation is required, though students are expected to listen critically and create and collaborate on original song lyrics and music.
This course explores the fundamentals of acoustics and digital sound and gives students opportunities to use techniques such as software synthesis, sound sampling and editing, and MIDI sequencing in creating their own works. The focus is on the creative process, foundational principles, and familiarizing students with technology to support future endeavors in multimedia production.
This course explores the creative process in the art of ceramics. Students learn techniques of working in clay, building, glazing and finishing works, and traditional and contemporary approaches to ceramic art. This course is open to all students, regardless of previous experience in this medium.
This course gives students opportunities to create images in three-dimensional form using a variety of media and processes, including modeling, carving, and casting. The course focuses on human, animal, and non-representational forms from various cultures. Experiences with sculpting lay the foundation for discussions of the creative process. This course is open to all students, regardless of previous experience in this medium.
Students explore technique and creativity through descriptive and expressive approaches to painting. Projects emphasize the application of personal experience and vision to aesthetic problem-solving while helping students to develop painting technique, including mixing and blending colors and different methods of application. This course is open to all students, regardless of previous experience in this medium.
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the fundamental skills necessary to visually communicate ideas using photographic processes. These skills include technical proficiency, knowledge of the characteristics of photography which distinguish it from other media, and a cognizance of the role of the diverse uses of photography and their implications in society. Students are given the opportunity to explore their personal creativity by developing a final project of their own choosing within the larger context of the photographer as a responsible global citizen. This course is open to all students, regardless of previous experience in this medium.
This course explores the creative process in dance, with an emphasis on expression and improvisation. Students are exposed to different styles of dance and study elements of choreography such as form, composition, and the relation of body movements to music, through developing and performing their own works. This course is open to all students, regardless of level of previous training in dance.
This course, which requires basic music literacy skills, focuses on composing music based on the “common-practice tonal” tradition of European art music. Students will learn the key elements of tonal theory and practice, develop aural, keyboard, and notation skills, and create a series of compositions aimed at imaginative expression in the tonal idiom.
CARTS 101, 102, or Instructor Consent.
This course is an introduction to improvising music, and is open to interested students with all levels of prior improvising experience, including none. Students will explore approaches to improvisation found in diverse cultural traditions, learn both theoretical and practical tools and approaches, and engage in both individual and group improvisation exercises, all aimed at developing skill, creativity, and confidence as musicians.
This course is designed to serve students with some experience composing music, who want to further develop their abilities and explore new approaches to creating new music. Class meetings will consist of weekly seminars, in which various contemporary approaches to composition will be explored, followed by individual lessons, to support each student’s pursuit her/his own interests.
Prior composition course (CARTS 101, 102, 110, or 201) or Instructor Consent.
Developing an awareness of the relationship between dance, music, drama, and the visual arts, analytical and conceptual skills will be applied to the creative and collaborative process of art making. Working together through dance improvisation and arts experimentation, interactive collaborations will culminate in an original art event. When the arts intersect each other, their visual and aural potencies are enriched. Learning how to develop and control these images will be explored. The great collaborations of the 20th Century will be studied through readings, lectures, discussions and viewing videos.
This course allows advanced students to pursue their creative endeavors in Drawing. Students learn to investigate advanced drawing materials and techniques while completing substantial projects.
CARTS 120 or Instructor Consent.
This course introduces students to advanced techniques in ceramics, including use of the potter’s wheel and advanced hand-building techniques, glazing, decorating and treating surfaces of their ceramic work. The course will also present both historical and contemporary examples of ceramic work that illustrate ideas of design, functionality, and ceremony, so that students can gain deeper understanding and appreciation of the medium.
CARTS 125 or Instructor Consent. Prior experience in ceramics is required.
This course, intended for students with some background in painting, aims at further development of painting skills, observation techniques, creativity, conceptual thinking and a theoretical appreciation for painting. Students will examine historical and contemporary conceptual and theoretical issues linked to the art of painting, explore both representational and non-representational contemporary practices, and work with both traditional and non-traditional materials. The course will be structured to include a significant level of independent work, under the guidance of the instructor.
CARTS 140 or Instructor Consent.
The objective of this course is to enable students to advance and develop their own creative voice in photography beyond the introductory level through exploring both a wide range of processes and media and the study of history and theory of contemporary art. The course includes exposure to various equipment types and advance printing techniques, and is intended for those with prior experience.
CARTS 150 or Instructor Consent.
The ability to think creatively is vital to creating value and living contributive lives, and is one of the significant learning outcomes at SUA. The fundamental assumptions underlying this course are 1) that creativity is not limited to any one discipline or subject and 2) that the capacity to think creatively is inherent in everyone, and can be fostered and brought out. This course will examine both the theory and practice of creativity, at both the individual and team or group level, looking at application of creative thinking processes in a range of fields of endeavor.
