ART 310: American Art
Term: Fall
Course Description
GEP. Major, minor. Elective credit. Writing Intensive for Studio Art and Art Education Majors. This survey of art of the United States will explore the ways in which Americans have defined their identity through the production and dissemination of cultural objects from the 17th to the late-19th century. Over the course of the semester, we will explore an enormous diversity of visual materials in addition to painting and sculpture; we will look at maps, currency, lithographs, newspapers, natural history illustrations, and photographs. Taken together, we will explore how this visual culture was bound up with the shifting metaphorical and metaphysical meanings about what it meant to be American.
Course Objectives
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To become familiar with major artists and artistic movements affiliated with American Art
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To situate artistic production within broader cultural, intellectual, and social concerns of the United States from 1600-1875
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To develop skills in critical analysis and art historical research with primary and secondary sources
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Course Outcomes
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Students will become familiar with major artists and artistic movements affiliated with American Art
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Students will situate artistic production within broader cultural, intellectual, and social concerns of the United States from 1600-1875
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Students will develop skills in critical analysis and art historical research with primary and
secondary sources
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Project 1: Discussion Days
As part of your participation grade, active engagement in classroom discussion is essential. I will solicit participation in every class, but we will also have dedicated “discussion days.” On these days, we will analyze a scholarly article on the week’s topic.
For each “discussion day,” students will sign up to lead a brief conversation about a section or theme of the article. *Note: students will not be responsible for the whole article, but rather a small part of that article; this could a section, an argument, even one particular sentence that is deserving of more attention. It should be driven by your interests. The student-leader will prepare a brief explanation of the topic and provide a series of questions for the class to discuss; the leader will be responsible for moderating a discussion of 5-10 minutes.
This is a way for me to ensure that your participation grade relates to a concrete assignment. The goal is a more equitable form of discussion that allows you to focus on issues that you find particularly exciting, challenging, or revelatory. To receive full participation points for this class (15%), students will need to lead at least TWO of these mini-discussions.
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Project 2: Reflection Projects
The central trope of this course will be that of line: the physical and symbolic potential of lines in forging American identity. For artists of all kinds, linearity was a technical skill to be mastered as well as a vital agent indexing one’s personal expression; linear form was central to early forms of handcraft, engraving, printmaking, and currency. At the same time, the idea of an American nation has always depended upon marking and making visible geographic boundaries. This practice began with mapmaking and continued through landscape painting, architecture, and city planning. As we explore this concept over the course of the semester, you will have an opportunity to engage creatively with three aspect of line, each of which corresponds to the topic of that section: mapping, classifying, and demarcating.
On the assigned weeks, students will find a current example (in the art world, media, news, etc.) that corresponds to the topic covered in the readings. Accompanying the object, students must write a 300-word reflection post that makes specific connections to the historical material covered in class. These small projects are an opportunity to think through the ways that the historical topics and themes relate to our current experience. In your post, you may make connections to our in-class discussions as well as the readings covered throughout the course.
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Project 3: Visual Analysis Paper
In this first paper, no research is required! You will choose one artwork to focus on: an artwork of any media, created in the United States between 1600 and 1875. To find a work that interests you, I suggest perusing the textbook American Encounters and the American Collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Philadelphia Art Museum, as well as the Johnson Collection (in Spartanburg) and the Mint Museum (Charlotte).
A visual analysis (sometimes called a formal analysis) describes and evaluates the forms appearing in the work you have chosen. These forms give the work its expression, message, or meaning. This type of analysis assumes a work of art is a constructed object that has been created with meaning and that this meaning can be understood by studying the elements of the work and their relationships. Yet the analysis is not a random flow of ideas about the work (i.e. stream of consciousness writing). Rather, it should have a sense of order, moving purposefully through your description with regard to specific elements (such as composition, color, subject matter) that build towards some argument you want to make about the artwork: your thesis.
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Project 5: Scrollytelling Project
The project format is based on “Scrollytelling” examples that we have looked at in class.(Scrollytelling is a form of visual story-telling designed for the user to, literally, scroll through). The topic of this research-based presentation will be the same work of art you have chosen for your visual analysis paper. Combining research and description, you will produce a “scrollytelling” presentation that examines the historical context and significance of the artwork you have chosen. In class, will have an opportunity to practice with the Microsoft Sway technology that you will use to create this project (I suggest the “Portfolio” or the “Presentation” platforms). During these tutorials, we will also discuss the successful strategies that you may use in creating a visually engaging presentation.
Remember: this project is a variation on a traditional art historical research paper and is designed to introduce you to the methods of research in the visual arts. The aim is to weave together visual evidence with the historical context of the work’s production or its reception, considering its relation to specific social, cultural, economic, or political phenomena. To that end, you will also be submitting a written transcript that must include at least five scholarly sources related to your artwork or artist. Examples of scholarly sources include peer-review academic journals (such as the Art Bulletin), chapters of an academic book, and articles in exhibition catalogues. For citations, include consecutive numbers that refer to footnotes (at the foot of each page) or endnotes (at the end of the entire document). Your notes must be consistently formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style handbook: www.chicagomanualofstyle.org
