Art and Design

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GRADUATE DEGREES OFFERED:

Master of Fine Arts
Master of Arts

Department of Art and Design
Fine Arts Building, room 108
Phone: 812-237-3697
Fax: 812-237-4369
E-mail: ISU-Art.design@indstate.edu
Web site: http://www.indstate.edu/art-dept

Department Chairperson: Kira Enriquez Loya

GRADUATE FACULTY 

Professors

Ganis, William V., Ph.D., Stony Brook University
Professor of Art
Specializations: Contemporary, 20th Century Art History

Associate Professors

Cavanaugh, Alden, Ph.D., University of North Carolina
Associate Professor of Art History
Specializations: Early Modern Art History

Nichols-Pethick, Nancy, M.F.A., Indiana State University
Associate Professor of Art
Specializations: Painting, Drawing

Enriquez, Kira, M.F.A., Stephen F. Austin State University
Associate Professor of Art
Specialization: Ceramics  

Assistant Professors

Cela, Mark, M.F.A., Miami University

Assistant Professor of Art

Specialization: Graphic design, UX Design

Senior Instructor

Chester Burton, M.F.A., Indiana State University
Senior Instructor
Specializations: Sculpture, Printmaking, Drawing

INTRODUCTION

The graduate programs of the Department of Art are designed to prepare students for professional practice in applied and fine art disciplines served by their respective creative fields. The master of fine arts (M.F.A.) and master of arts (M.A.) degrees are recognized and accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and by the College Art Association of America.

The programs of the Department of Art and Design are located in several campus facilities. The Fine Arts Building, which underwent a $15M renovation in 2019, houses graphic design and digital art computer labs and collaboration spaces, the Media Realization Center, serigraphy studio, art education facility, classrooms, faculty offices and the department office. Studios for painting, photography, printmaking, and drawing are located in historic Fairbanks Hall. The Dick Hay Memorial Art Annex, a vast factory-like space, houses the ceramics, sculpture-metal and wood/furniture studios. Offices of 2D and 3D faculty are located in Fairbanks Hall and the Dick Hay Memorial Art Annex.

Students gain exposure to artists of national and international significance through scheduled exhibitions and lectures in the Yang Family University Art Gallery, located in the Landini Center for Performing and Fine Arts Building. The Bare-Montgomery Gallery, located in Fairbanks Hall, provides students with the opportunity to exhibit their own work or to curate exhibitions of student work. The Turman Art Gallery, located in the Fine Arts Building, offers professional artists and students an excellent space to display their work. In addition, the Indiana State University Permanent Art Collection, administered by the ISU Library, contains an impressive inventory of twentieth-century artwork that is exhibited throughout the University.

HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM

The M.A. graduate degree in the Department of Art and Design predates the M.F.A. degree, which was inaugurated in the mid-1970s. In 1974, the Commission of Higher Education of the State of Indiana approved the establishment of the M.F.A degree and the first group of students to receive the M.F.A. degree graduated in 1975. The graduate program was first accredited by the National Association for Schools of Art and Design in 1984 and has been accredited since that time.

GENERAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The graduate degree programs are offered with emphases in the following areas: ceramics, digital art, drawing, graphic design and computer graphics, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.  The programs are open and flexible enough to allow students to pursue studies that are suitable to their area. Career counseling, advanced instruction, and research consultation are provided in programs that are especially designed to satisfy the needs and expectations of each individual student. The objective of each area of emphasis is to develop the professional technical knowledge and expertise relevant to the emphasis that would allow graduates to perform well in a professional milieu. Further, the M.F.A. Program strives to develop in the student creative, experimental, and independent qualities, as well as an appropriately professional aesthetic.

Traditionally, the M.A. is intended to meet the needs of those students who do not choose to develop their professional studio skills to the terminal level. Many graduates have used this degree to upgrade skills and pave the way for entry into the job market, particularly for those positions in which a terminal degree is neither demanded nor desired. The M.F.A. degree is pursued by students who desire a program that is more studio-intensive and offers the professional standard of a terminal art degree.  The M.F.A. is the terminal degree in studio arts disciplines.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

The graduate programs of the Department of Art and Design are directed toward developing broad and versatile creative abilities in the student. The curricula of the department are designed to provide the student with a sequence of experiences that challenges the student and provides meaningful content. The objective is to foster the student’s development of intellectual, communicative, formal, professional and technical knowledge. The goals of the graduate program within the Department of Art and Design are: to deliver a suitably professional, quality education by bringing graduate students across the threshold of accomplishments within the studio; to develop in the student creative, experimental, and independent qualities, and an appropriately professional aesthetic; to provide those students who wish to teach at the university level with the knowledge of, and practice in, the visual arts; to provide varied and flexible pedagogic techniques and expertise in varied technical procedures in the visual arts; and to extend to the community and other constituents beyond the community, assistance and leadership consistent with the various areas of expertise within the Department of Art and Design.

TEACHER LICENSURE

Individuals interested in teacher licensure are encouraged to consult with Education Student Services, Bayh College of Education 812-237-3131.

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