Kaylee Rae Wyant

Focus your interests, refine your skills, and learn to create a compelling and personally meaningful body of work. In-class exercises and individual painting assignments will act as the catalyst for you to discover your point of view through painting. You’ll learn to communicate your vision and receive feedback and support from your instructor and peers in one-on-one meetings, group critiques, and discussions. You may work in the painting media (acrylic, oils, tempera, watercolor) of your choosing. Prior painting is helpful but not necessary. Introductory painting skills will not be addressed in this course.

This course is about learning to see using the wonders of the Art Institute of Chicago as subject and the activity of drawing as the tool to learn to see. Each day will explore something new - the figure, composition, perspective, and gesture. Class sessions will begin with a demonstration and discussion of one approach to drawing after which the class will visit the Art Institute of Chicago and look carefully at specific works that relate to the theme. Morning drawing sessions will be directed. In the afternoons, students will work independently and develop their drawings or find a new subject in the museum's collection to which they can apply principles introduced earlier in the day. Class sessions will conclude as a group to share drawings and report on the experience. The instructor will support students individually and in small groups as they work. Previous drawing experience is beneficial.

Painting Practice is an introductory painting course offering. The curriculum addresses basic skills as related to a painting studio practice. Topics and curricular goals include material, facility and technique, space and color, as well as concept. This course is a prerequisite for all Multi-level Painting, Figure Painting and Advanced Painting Studio classes.

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers strategies for students to explore, reflect upon, and connect common themes and interests in the development of an emerging creative practice that will serve as the basis of their ongoing studies at SAIC and beyond. Students will examine historical and contemporary influences and contextualize their work in relation to the diverse art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary each semester. Presentations by visiting artists and guest speakers will provide the opportunity for students to hear unique perspectives on sustaining a creative practice. One-on-one meetings with faculty will provide students with individualized mentorship throughout the semester. During interdisciplinary critiques, students will explore a variety of formats and tools to analyze work and provide peer feedback. The class mid-term project asks students to imagine a plan for their creative life and devise a self-directed course of study for their time at school. The course concludes with an assignment asking students to develop and document a project or body of work demonstrating how the interplay of ideas, technical skills, and formal concerns evolve through iteration, experimentation and revision. Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll.