Visual and Creative Arts Diploma

 

Ten Reasons to Study Visual and Creative Arts at Fleming College

1. Earn your diploma in one year or at your own pace
2. Choose a specialized or general arts diploma
3. Learn from faculty who are internationally recognized working artists
4. Benefit from hands-on, studio-based learning
5. Experience an award-winning, architecturally spectacular campus in an inspiring lakeside setting
6. Create in state-of-the-art studios, designed by and for artists
7. Be part of a supportive, vibrant artistic community
8. Take advantage of our expertise - forty- year history in arts education
9. Be stimulated by an exciting, creative environment
10. Enjoy small class sizes

Choose a specialization in one of the following disciplines:

• Artist Blacksmith
• Ceramics
• Drawing & Painting (Visual Arts Fundamentals)
• Glassblowing
• Jewellery Essentials
• Photo Arts
• Sculpture ¿ Figurative and Representational
• Fibre Arts

Or build your own General Diploma by choosing from hundreds of Haliburton School of The Arts courses.

 

Program Highlights

The Haliburton School of The Arts has a vibrant history of continual growth in response to the needs of its students. This growth will now for the first time, encompass the option of the Visual and Creative Arts Diploma as a full time program in combination with our art certificates, spring, and summer courses. Within a flexible time frame, students in this program will be able to choose an area of studio specialization or complete their diploma with a more general investigation into the visual arts. They will develop the foundation skills and sensibilities which will enable them to produce a portfolio of work, and continue on to more advanced studies in the arts, or to proceed with their own studio practices. This learning experience embraces the full circle of the artistic endeavour. It begins with basics of tools and materials, and through the guidance and challenges offered by professional faculty, addresses issues of choice in style and themes in studio work. Through inquiry and investigation, they will be better able to see and share the world around them, the one inside them, and that of other artists. The Haliburton School of the Arts offers a unique retreat into an immersive learning experience for the student who is passionate about the arts. The dedicated faculty, support staff, and administration together collaborate to offer an optimal environment with small class sizes and state of the art studios at our spectacular campus.

 

Why Choose Fleming?

This program is delivered at Fleming's Haliburton School of the Arts in Haliburton, Ontario. The light and airy main campus building has carefully designed studios and classrooms, and was completed in the fall of 2005. The program is an immersive experience where students are able to devote themselves to their work. The Certificate Programs are an intense format in which two semesters of credits can be completed in only fourteen weeks. Each course is comprised of 32.5 hours of in-class studies and 15 hours of technical support in studio. Faculty members are not only professional artists and designers, but also dedicated teachers who are intent upon the development of students' technical skills, creative thinking, and artistic integrity. The forty-year history of Haliburton School of The Arts is proof of the passion and focus of its faculty, administration, and support staff, whose collaboration provides an environment rich in potential for studies in the arts.

 

What it Takes to Succeed

An interest in art, drawing, and painting is essential to your success in this program. Other skills, abilities, and personal qualities that would be an asset include:

• Oral and written communication
• An open mind
• Willingness to learn
• An interest in exploring the creative you
• Ability to commit yourself to an intensive format

 

Career Opportunities

You have started a life long learning experience in the world of art with endless options in your pursuit of a career in the art field. You might continue to pursue a career by taking more advanced studies or work as a studio artist to further develop your talents, become a teacher or work in a gallery, museum or art/craft retail operation.

 

Minimum Admission Requirements

OSSD with the majority of credits at the College (C) and Open (O) level, including: 

• 2 College (C) English courses (Grade 11 or Grade 12) 

When (C) is the minimum course level for admission, (U) or (U/C) courses are also accepted.

Mature Students
If you are 19 years of age or older before classes start, and you do not possess an OSSD, you can write the Canadian Adult Achievement Test to assess your eligibility for admission.

 

Selection Process

 

Related Programs

If you are a graduate of Sheridan College's Art Fundamentals Certificate program, you may obtain a diploma in Fleming's Visual and Creative Arts by completing a specialization in one of the following areas:  Ceramics, Fibre Arts, Glassblowing, Artist Blacksmith, Sculpture - Figurative and Representational, Photo Arts, Jewellery Essentials, Visual Arts Fundamentals - Drawing and Painting. Details are available at Transfer Credit Articulation Agreement.

 

Additional Costs

Material fees of approximately $800. 00 for the first two semesters.

 

University Transfer Agreements

• Athabasca University
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Course	Hours
Semester 1
3D Design - Studio	47.50
Art History - The Recent Century	47.50
Contemporary Art Investigations	47.50
Creative Writing	47.50
Critiquing Visual Arts	47.50
Design I	47.50
Drawing Disciplines	47.50
Media Explorations I	24.00
Visual Documentation	24.00
Semester 2
Business for Artists	47.50
Concept Development	142.50
Design II	47.50
Media Explorations II	24.00
Physical Storytelling	42.00
Portfolio and Presentation	47.50
Please Note: Second Year Specialization: Please refer to Program Information for various specializations available to meet diploma requirements.

Semester 1

3D Design - Studio

Course Number: ARTS959

In this course, students explore the use of various combinations of traditional and non-traditional materials, considering form, line, plane, textures, balance, unity, and negative/positive space in the study of three-dimensional constructions. This creation of hand-built forms in sequential learning cycles is designed to increase the capacity to ¿think with materials¿ while developing personal choices in content and themes. Students will use techniques involving proportion and measurement in order to construct objects/forms/figures that are built to scale from prototypes. Particular attention will be given to the chosen point of view and environment for the object. Through interactive studio lectures, discussions, and collaborative activities, students expand critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they examine their relationship to sculptural practices.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Art History - The Recent Century

Course Number: ARTS956

This survey course provides an introduction to the major styles and movements of Western art history, from the sources of Impressionism to the end of the twentieth century. It will briefly reference the roots of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists from ancient art to the movements of Neo-Classicism and Romanticism. The course provides an important frame of reference for further explorations in contemporary art issues or art history. Using studio, lectures, research, and presentations, emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of the key styles, methods and principles of artists and art processes of interest to the individual student.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Contemporary Art Investigations

Course Number: ARTS957

Students will engage in a study of artists, critics, institutions and curators from local, national, and international perspectives. What is happening today, and what is happening `in the streets' in art is an ongoing connection which enables the artist to relate themselves, their values, and their own work to the vast realm of events constantly unfolding in current realms of art, craft, design, science, and technology. The boundaries of these worlds are disappearing as collaborative endeavors share the materials, techniques, and design processes in the development of new insights. Through lecture, studio projects, research, documentation, and presentation, students will begin to establish their personal themes and goals in their own visual arts practices.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Creative Writing

Course Number: ARTS061

Discover new ways to gain access to your own unique imagination, learn how and why words have power, and then turn what you've discovered into stories! In this experiential course you will explore the archetypal energies that lie behind the development of vibrant characters, use words, action and point of view to bring your characters to life, and learn to use dialogue effectively. Understanding the sources of tension in plot construction will help you move your characters through different kinds of stories. This course can be taken repeatedly by new writers of fiction, creative non-fiction, and memoirs, as well as experienced writers who want to refresh and expand their skills. There will be time after class for individual consultations, if you bring writing samples.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Critiquing Visual Arts

Course Number: ARTS958

In this course students examine, identify, and discuss the pertinent issues of form and content in visual art and fine craft. Through references, examples, and practical application students examine imagery, style, and technique, in historical and cultural context. Students will engage in the process of the critique, from determining the parameters for discussion to reviewing their own and work of other artists. Emphasis will be placed on the mechanisms of the process and the benefit of the wealth of insights afforded by the critique. Through exercises and practical application, students develop a clear and strengthened vision and vocabulary about visual art.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Design I

Course Number: ARTS960

Effective works of art engage the viewer in sensory, emotional, and intellectual levels. Through an understanding of the principles and elements of design in the development of the art object, the student is able to reflect on both their own work and that of others. This course engages the student in an interactive examination of the basic elements and principles of two and three-dimensional design through a variety of applied exercises, examination of examples from design history, the built and natural environment, and application to one's own work. Using group work, research, discussion, critical thinking, and design projects, students begin to recognize and understand the powerful implications of different design solutions.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Drawing Disciplines

Course Number: ARTS961

In this overview the students will investigate the intent and purposes addressed in each of the disciplines of drawing. Visualization, ideation, notation and communication sometimes demand a more spontaneous process than that of rendering which usually provides more realism and detail in drawing the figure, environment, and objects. Observational, technical, and conceptual drawings will be examined in both historical and contemporary applications for the purposes of record, design, description and expression. Students will apply basic skills in each of these areas, from loose sketching to careful rendering processes that are used in fine art, craft, illustration and design. They will examine and identify the aspects of various drawing media and supports used in mark-making, as well as an understanding of how they can continue to develop drawing skills for their purposes after the completion of the course.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Media Explorations I

Course Number: ARTS962

Artistic expression can be realized through a wide range of media and artistic disciplines. In this course students have the opportunity to examine a variety of these through studio samplings, demonstrations, video references, and research with faculty and guest artists. Students will also be encouraged to investigate various combinations of media. The fall semester will include introductions to materials and basic processes for working in media such as clay, metal, textiles, paint media, and traditional photography.

Units: 24.00
Hours: 24.00

Visual Documentation

Course Number: ARTS963

This course focuses on fundamental skills and organization required to create images for recording and presentation of works. Students will use traditional and digital photography to produce these images for display in print, slide, digital and web formats for visual archives, portfolios, presentations, websites and publications. Attention will be given to staging, lighting and framing the work for the specified output. Images will be taken to the computer for the purposes of adjustment, cropping, and compositing of montages. Students will explore various methods of selecting or creating a series of images for a specific purpose, e.g. marketing, grant or commission applications, teaching, narrative, autobiographical, curatorial etc.

Units: 24.00
Hours: 24.00

Semester 2

Business for Artists

Course Number: BUSN099

Through discussion, examples and practical application, this course addresses the many aspects of business practices that apply to visual artists and artisans. Sound business practices ensure that more time and resources exist for artistic production. Knowing how to research and work with legal rights and responsibilities, financial structures, copyright, contractual obligations, ethics and negotiation skills, enables the student to engage in their chosen practice with improved management of time and money which are critical to survival and success. Through a combination of theory and practice, this course also examines the ways in which artists can assess the market, promote their work, and price it appropriately according to specific venues. Students will explore the processes required for responding to a call for submissions, commissions, and writing grant proposals.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Concept Development

Course Number: ARTS964

This course is designed to provide the student with a focused and challenging studio experience where they will choose and execute personal themes in studio projects. Exercising self-reflective considerations, the students will undertake the development and presentation of one or more series of works. The progressive nature of the studio process will be discussed and demonstrated through individual and group discussions with the instructor. Cultural, political and social comparisons will be referenced to the developing body of work in both historical and contemporary perspectives. Students will work with the instructor in determining their choice of media.

Units: 142.50
Hours: 142.50

Design II

Course Number: ARTS965

This course focuses on applying the skills and knowledge acquired in Design I. Through a variety of exercises and projects, students develop problem-solving skills by applying the design principles to achieve varied solutions to demonstrate the content of their own work. Students also examine current issues of design and how design is affected by social and technological developments. Emphasis will be placed on effective communication and presentation skills in demonstrating the results of research as applied to their design solutions.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Media Explorations II

Course Number: ARTS966

This is a continuation of Media Explorations I. Students will have the opportunity to continue their experience working in a variety of media including various sculpture, glassblowing, and jewellery processes. Students will investigate the work of artists who combine traditional and non-traditional materials in their work. Experimentation will be emphasized with attention to the use of tools along with research to solve structural and material design issues.

Units: 24.00
Hours: 24.00

Physical Storytelling

Course Number: GNED079

In this course students will discover for themselves the power in deliberately using their physicality to create their own truths, myths and legends. They will explore the principles of physical theatre such as improvisation, physical games, mask-wearing, a focus on impulses, various writing techniques and critical discussion. Students will discover their own unique approach to the material they write and to the pieces they perform. Students will be challenged in their perception of their relationship with the `audience.¿ The result will be a heightened self-awareness of the message they bring to the world through physical communication.

Units: 42.00
Hours: 42.00

Portfolio and Presentation

Course Number: ARTS967

This course focuses on the development of material for use in presenting and promoting their work to interested clients, prospective galleries, juries and other audiences. Students will apply and build on the skills developed in the Visual Documentation course to create key elements for professional presentation including portfolios, curriculum vitae, artist¿s statement, business cards and brochures and labels. Students will identify the different styles of presentation to address these specific audiences, as well as develop the visual impact of their own personal style in presentation materials through experimentation with strong and clear colour systems, typography, layout, and image sequencing for presentation. Students will use word processing and image adjustment software, in developing work for printed text and images as well as traditional and digital slide presentations.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50