The Art and Design Department consists of a faculty of 11 full time tenure/tenure track professors and 10 lecturers. A staff of seven maintain the office, labs, a visual resource center, and the University Art Gallery. Although a relatively small number, the faculty represent a broad diversity of disciplines ranging from graphic design to painting, from photography to art history, from digital media to sculpture. Whether it is the design and creation of a composition of type, a piece of hand-blown glass, a camera image, a painting, a digital collage, or the study of a great work of art, this department develops students who learn the necessity of seeing with a discriminating eye as they bring together the worlds of thought, vision and emotion.
In the Fall of 2007, we admitted 55 new students. Initially, approximately 730 students made application to us and close to 200 of those sent portfolios that are a required part of admission to the department. The selection process is quite stringent. This is one of the most selective departments at Cal Poly.
A look at the curriculum will show that all students, before branching off into the specific concentrations, take several classes in studio art, photography, and art history. This common foundation prepares them for study in their selected disciplines. The university’s General Education requirements combine with the Art and Design major to provide students with a well rounded education…a must for those wishing to pursue a professional career in the visual arts.
Our faculty are professionally active, displaying their work nationally and abroad. Some are authors and all are committed to quality teaching. Class size is small, affording considerable one-on-one interaction. During the thirty years of the major, five faculty have received Distinguished Teaching Awards given as the result of a rigorous evaluation by a University Committee of their peers. This number is one of the highest per department in the College of Liberal Arts. The staff work diligently and with great competence to maintain and support the functions of the department. Together faculty, staff and students create a family filled with lots of creativity, fun and hard work.
Please enjoy a walk through the WEB site and pay us a visit to learn even more. - Sky Bergman, Chair |
