Art Education Coursework
The Art Education curriculum includes courses in the psychology and philosophy of teaching art, along with the methods that will help you hone your own teaching style. You’ll also take up to 18 credits in your chosen area of specialization, such as painting courses or sculpture courses. This curriculum, combined with the 800 hours you'll spend in traditional and non-traditional classrooms, will give you the experience you’ll need to be a successful art educator.
Art Education Core: 32 Credits
Sample Course – Classroom Management
The goal of this course is to enable teacher candidates to design, organize, and facilitate positive learning environments. Students will observe, document, devise, and discuss consistent teacher behaviors that encourage high standards of student involvement in classroom activities. Students will investigate how effective management skills and high quality instruction can facilitate learning environments where all students can learn and succeed. Proficiencies are determined by the candidate’s ability to plan and design clear expectations about appropriate and inappropriate behavior, efficient use of time, room organization, dissemination of materials, cleanup, and project storage. Study includes the teaching cycle, positive characteristics of classroom managers, and prescriptions for effective management of the classroom and instruction. Legal rights, due process, and school governance augment the course objectives.
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Illustration: 18 Credits
Sample Course – Animal Anatomy + Drawing
Students of all abilities learn wildlife sketching and drawing techniques based on comparative anatomical studies of the principle families of animals. Various resources available to the artist are explored in order to create accurate environments for animal art. Sessions take place at the Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. At the end of this course, the student shall have a developed sketchbook of animal drawings that demonstrate knowledge of the various proportions, anatomical structure, and characteristic gestures of a wide variety of animals, and a final composition project placing various animals into a storytelling picture.
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Painting: 15 Credits
Sample Course – Introduction to Painting
An introduction to the tools, materials and processes of painting including: building stretcher frames, stretching and preparing the canvas, and paint application with various brushes and tools. Topics include the cultivation of self-expression through exploring basic painting technique and developing art literacy, including terminology. Upon completion of this course, students will be technically prepared to undertake projects in higher-level painting courses. Students will demonstrate in critiques and projects their knowledge of canvas and panel construction, painting techniques, light and color, and an introductory knowledge of contemporary art trends.
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Photography + Video Art: 12 Credits
Sample Course – Digital Color Photography
This course is designed for students to learn to make, control and manipulate photographs with the aid of a computer. Students will need a digital camera to produce their own images, and the use of scanned and appropriated imagery is explored. Attention is given to refining technical skills in Adobe Photoshop but the major concern will be the ongoing development of skills in critical thinking and the realization of a personal vision. At the conclusion of this course, students will have a working knowledge of the history of color fine arts photography and its application to their personal vision.
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Sculpture: 12 Credits
Sample Course – Sculpture I
Students develop practical skills to successfully execute, exhibit, and document their art works. The course includes honing visual thinking skills, understanding real–world exhibition concerns, documenting works with digital and slide formats, and becoming more self-aware of their process through readings about contemporary artists and writing exercises. At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to construct various exhibition devices, be well-versed with the tools and techniques in the metal and wood shops, and have a strong understanding of the conceptual and technical consistencies in their individual process.
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Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, and Foundation Studies
Credit requirements will vary depending on your chosen area of specialization.