Art
Arts and Humanities
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Major Sheet | Courses | Sample Plan of Study

Majoring in Art
Our program in studio art is designed to satisfy personal interest in art, to permit direct involvement in the creative process, and to provide training necessary for graduate study or for a professional career in art. This program also includes courses required for elementary and secondary licensure in art education.

Early hands-on experience is stressed in this program, and some of the equipment for this experiential learning includes a darkroom, pottery wheels and kilns for ceramics, a foundry, and an etching press. The teaching faculty are practicing professionals who regularly show and sell their work at galleries across the country. Recent graduates of the program are now working as freelance illustrators, commercial artists, and as elementary and secondary art teachers.

The offerings in art strive to cultivate an understanding of the fine arts as an important factor in a liberal arts education and to provide experience in the theory, practice, and history of the arts which will prepare the student for teaching for further professional study.

Art/Visual Arts is a major for those who

• Question everything, how things look and sound and feel
  
  
• Yearn for unique images
  
  
• Are always in dialogue with themselves
  
  
• Turn their engagement with the world into statements made of pottery, stone, steel, charcoal, and paint
  
  
• Need to express their deep selves visually
  
  
• Are compelled to represent the self and communicate with others in visual ways
  
  
  

Major Sheet | Courses | Sample Plan of Study

Unique Opportunity

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh
A specialized curricula is available to the Defiance College student interested in a professional year (junior year) at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh as an option in earning a B.A. degree. The areas of specialization include Graphic Design, Interior Design, Photography, Media Arts and Animation, Game Art and Design, Media Arts and Animation, Interactive Media Design, Video Production, and Visual Effects and Motion Graphics.

The student may earn the equivalent of 30 semester hours during this three quarter junior year program. An optional quarter would add an additional 10 credit hours, the acceptance of which is determined solely by Defiance College.

After College - What's Next?

Artists working in business and industry are usually hired by printing companies, publishing firms, newspapers, retail stores, photo studios and processors, public relations and publicity firms, and some government agencies. Some of Defiance College’s recent graduates are working as freelance illustrators, sales merchandising display designers for major department stores, and as art teachers.

The Faculty

Professors of this major are working artists, so they literally get their hands dirty with the creation of art. Their hands-on approach carries into the classroom, where they encourage students to take risks with various media and with ideas about the deep nature of the world.

Steven J. Smith, M.F.A., Professor of Art
419-783-2451 | ssmith@defiance.edu | Faculty Profile

Professor Steve Smith is a practicing professional artist who regularly shows his work in regional, state and national exhibitions. Professor Smith serves on the boards of local and state organizations and markets his work through galleries and gift shops throughout the country. From his Smithworks Studio he produces decorative, functional and architectural artwork in ceramic, bronze and steel.
Professor Smith's current international economic development projects with traditional handcraft work are with Bodegon Cultural de Los Vilos in Chile, and the Indian Church Artisans Center in Belize.


Douglas Fiely, M.A., Assistant Professor of Art
419-783-2452 | dfiely@defiance.edu | Faculty Profile

Douglas Fiely is a practicing professional artist, prolific in printmaking and painting. A winner of numerous regional and national awards in both media, Fiely also experiments with combinations of prints and ceramics. Fiely is active on the regional art festival circuit and continues to create work and operate an in-house gallery and studio called “The Leaning Pine” near Stryker, Ohio. Also a musician, Fiely performs publicly in a variety of venues in the folk/storyteller genre.

Part-time instructors teach specialized courses in Metals, Color and Design I, Drawing, and Art Appreciation.