58 courses with the subject VIS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
VIS 1050ComX2
What are possible paths for the life and career of an artist or designer? ComX complements Foundations studio courses by bringing first-year Art+Design students together as a community. Classes include visiting lectures, field trips, alumni panels, and experiential activities. Students are assigned an upper-level peer mentor to meet with each week in small groups to help support their curricular experience.
Drawing is explored as a distinct practice inspired by particular media and traditions, as well as a fundamental tool for exploring ideas across disciplines. Observational skills are emphasized, but seeing extends beyond the visual, enriched by physical, intellectual, and personal experience. Analytical and intuitive approaches are developed toward the goal of communicating significant form and content.
How do you develop an idea? In this course, students take a thematic journey while learning research skills and building a personal archive. Through monoprint, transfers, screen print and relief printmaking techniques students explore printmaking concepts of series, sequencing and narrative. Emphasis is on the process of making and the challenge of expressing ideas.
How do we communicate visually? What makes a compelling visual experience? This course introduces fundamental graphic design-based strategies for making creative thinking visible that are relatable to all visual practices and media. Mixing theory and experimentation, students will engage in a reflective process of research, ideation, and prototyping-learning how to learn in an environment of boldness, joy, and curiosity.
This course introduces the fundamental skills and vocabulary needed to design, create, and analyze three-dimensional works of art. A variety of materials are explored, including wood, metal, plaster, clay, and mixed media while working with various techniques and tools. Students investigate sculptural concepts as they relate to objects, the body, and built and natural environments.
An exploration of collage through two- and three-dimensional methods. Using diverse media and processes, students will construct new compositions from found and original materials while examining formal and conceptual questions. Weekly lectures, demonstrations, and critiques support experimental approaches for making artwork.
Students explore traditional and contemporary approaches to photographic and time-based art. Projects consider pictorial space, narrative strategies, sequence, sound, video, social practice, screen interaction, and coding. Lectures, practical exercises, and discussions foster artistic growth, providing students a place to develop a focused practice of image-making. Students will explore objective and subjective ways of seeing.
VIS 1710Line/Space/Body: An Exploration of Antibes4
Students incorporate on-site drawing, ephemeral site-specific sculptures, and performance around the city, using both found and traditional materials. Exploration of the spaces that are Antibes is expanded to include not just the physical, but also the historical, political, and psychological.
Students explore the interdependence of form and color as an aspect of visual language engaging word, image, proportion, and order through 2- and 3-dimensional construction. The study of color as a reflective and contemplative endeavor engages writing and speaking skills.
Engaging the daily newspaper as a readily available and highly tactile form of communication, students use broad and deep research to develop an understanding of the printed medium as a visual abstraction of its content. Students engage in diverse mediums to present their evolving, experimental work as an abstraction of the newspaper in a visual cultural and social context.
VIS 2041Composition: Crossing over between visual arts, music, and performing arts3
Composition is an experimentation in synthesizing word, image, sound, and movement through close observation and cohesion presentation. Exploring the universality of composition in musical and non-musical terms engaging processes of translating and effectively communicating ideas from and within mediums and disciplines, students use their own evolving mediums of expression in diverse ways.
Students learn how to use Adobe Photoshop to expertly work with images to create expressive works. They experience making digital art for print, multimedia or social media. Each participant will make a body of work that articulates a central idea and their increasingly advanced skills. Readings and lectures will focus on the history of photo-editing software and diverse contemporary applications.
Color affects the work of all artists and designers. This seminar/studio engages two ways of understanding color: color behavior and color meaning. Assignments include color studies, readings, and discussions. Color is addressed as relevant to all media, and students are asked to make color studies and present analyses of how color is used in their own studio practices.
VIS 2105Art and Artificial Intelligence (Sculpture)1
Students use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the art-making process, exploring different methods for collaboration with AI’s. Students explore how the AI’s were taught, their defaults or biases, what they reveal about our world and themselves, ethical questions and future implications. The course is centered on hands-on learning through direct experience and reflection, augmented with readings, lectures, and discussion.
Color is the most relative of all visual attributes. The seminar makes use of this relativity as the means by which visual awareness is heightened and refined through fundamental studies in color action and interaction. This is not a course in color theory; rather, it is a practicum in color as experienced. Mastery of basic color grammar and syntax leads to a personal sense of looking and expression.
Juxtaposes art and science as inquiring and creative pursuits. Exchanging knowledge of the materials and processes used in their creative endeavors, students collaborate on three innovative projects that focus on perceived relationships between science and art. Visiting professionals, at work in studios and labs, provide insight into thinking and doing through and across the disciplines of art and science.
Introduces new transfer students to the School of Art+Design, its faculty, and core values. The class explores what it means to be an artist at SUNY Purchase. What are the expectations, challenges, and rewards? Activities include discussions, artist lectures, films, performances, field trips, and peer advising. Includes required meetings outside the scheduled class time.
VIS 2240Exhibition Design I: Experimental Observation & Presentation3
Students experiment individually and in partnerships within and without the class, broadening and deepening skills in observation & presentation as a primary means of comprehending exhibition design as a purposeful, comprehensive communication of form and content. 2 and 3-dimensional work incorporating journal writing, drawing, and continuing critique in diverse media underscore ongoing exchanges with the Neuberger Museum of Art and Yale University museums/institutes.
An overview of electronic media and its relationship to the fine arts. This course covers the genre from its infancy to the present and focuses on the study of the art and artists critical to the genre’s development. Lectures, hands-on demonstrations, and visiting artists are augmented by assigned readings, critical writing, and examinations.
Coordinated by faculty in Art+Design, this master class includes guest lectures by the resident artist in the Center for Applied Design and focuses on areas related to the particular artist’s pursuits. Students engage in collaborative research and studio production as they explore the cultural relevance and social impact of objects. Open to students in other disciplines; may be taken a maximum of three times for credit. PREREQ: SCP2080 And SCP2150
VIS 3105The Power of Art: Activism and Creative Expression6
Explores the sociopolitical dimensions of the arts across diverse creative outlets. Students examine and make art in relation to the politics of power in society and engage the activist dynamics of artistic expression with regards to persistent forms of inequality and oppression. Global Studies: Culture and Global Futures Concentration Description and requirements Faculty Courses Description: The Culture and Global Futures concentration explores the interconnectedness of the world and its diverse cultural manifestations. Students examine how global forces impact culture, politics, economics, and society at local, regional, and global scales. This concentration builds on the fields of anthropology, global communication, and media studies, and prepares students for work in arts and culture, museums and cultural heritage, tourism and travel, and communications and media. Requirements: Requirements Effective Fall 2027 Total Credits for Concentration: 15-18 One of the following introductory cognate courses:
Juxtaposes art and science as inquiring and creative pursuits. Exchanging knowledge of the materials and processes used in their creative endeavors, students collaborate on three innovative projects that focus on perceived relationships between science and art. Visiting professionals, at work in studios and labs, provide insight into thinking and doing through and across the disciplines of art and science. Graphic Design: Illustration Concentration Description and requirements Faculty Courses Description: The Illustration Concentration within the Graphic Design BFA program offers students with a keen interest in image-making and visual communications an opportunity to create complex and multi-dimensional visual narratives and pursue materials, history, context, theory, technologies, and professional practice within the expanding realm of illustration. The Concentration employs a Graphic Design lens to examine multiple analog and digital modalities of image-making such as drawing, photography, digital rendering, and collage within contexts such as pattern, ornament, and icon; and time-based, sequential, editorial, and gaming environments. Courses required for the concentration are completed in addition to satisfying the requirements for the BFA in Graphic Design. The Illustration Concentration requires a senior project in the general subje Updated 12.6.24 Requirements: In addition to fulfilling General Education requirements and other degree requirements , undergraduate students majoring in the Graphic Design Illustration concentration must complete the following requirements: Foundation Courses: 16-17 credits VIS 1050/ComX: 2 credits or VIS 2150/Key Class: 1 credit
Using still photography, students make a photo book inspired by their observations and experiences of Pisciotta, Italy. Students develop content using the visual languages of photography and artists’ books. Narrative strategies and consideration of sequence, rhythm, design and layout are discussed and tested. Working with digital cameras, editing/layout software and internet publishing, students create a self-published, printed book.
Students explore the land, our ancestors, and local wildlife to develop our relationship to this particular place. Through a combination of readings, time in the woods, and handcrafts with wild materials, students explore the Purchase campus as a site of past, present, and future interactions between humans, within nature, and human-wild relationships.
VIS 3240Exhibition Design II: Experimental Observation & Presentation3
Students experiment individually and in partnerships within and without the class, broadening and deepening skills in observation & presentation as a primary means of comprehending exhibition design as a purposeful, comprehensive communication of form and content. 2 and 3-dimensional work incorporating journal writing, drawing, and continuing critique in diverse media underscore ongoing exchanges with the Neuberger Museum of Art and Yale University museums/institutes.
An exploration of fiber art as an artistic medium through various methods and techniques, including surface/embellishment (embroidery), generative techniques (weaving, felting, crochet work), sculptural/structural techniques, and collage. Students will also investigate political and artistic concepts including cultural and societal implications, the artist-craftsperson, domesticity, gender, and labor.
An interdisciplinary exploration of collage and assemblage. Students will work with both two- and three-dimensional methods of combining materials, imagery, and forms into new compositions while investigating formal, conceptual, and cultural ideas. Working both digitally and physically, students explore found images and objects, and original content. Weekly slide lectures, demonstrations, exercises, and critiques will complement students’ own art practice.
An interdisciplinary investigation of making, using such methods as collage and assemblage. Working both digitally and physically, students explore materials, found images and objects, and original content, culminating in kinetic and animated projects.
This colloquium augments the Art+Design undergraduate program by focusing on the independent research of a current MFA student with advanced standing. The graduate student shares his or her unique research through readings, workshop activities, studio critiques, writing, and other assignments.
Students present their work for discussion by peers from across disciplines, creating a dialogue that mirrors those taking place in the arts at large. The result will emphasize interdisciplinary thinking and approaches to critique. Using the critical workshop as a model art world, students will exhibit work for the workshop-as-audience during each class period, examining how their studio practices (with its medium-specific or medium-diverse preoccupations) compare to those of students workin
Public art is used in this course to promote community engagement and cross-cultural interaction. Students use established, recognized methods of collaboration to explore local community issues, concluding with the physical implementation and exhibition of student-led solutions. School of Liberal Studies The Liberal Studies programs offer an array of pre-professional courses within the context of a liberal arts education. The School of Liberal Studies provides evening-enabled bachelor’s degree programs for students who are attracted to and will benefit from a distinctly Purchase education-one that emphasizes creativity, interdisciplinary work, and social activism. The experiential capstone project is designed to integrate coursework into a compelling piece of work to showcase graduates’ acco
VIS 3710Line/Space/Body: An Exploration of Antibes4
Students will conduct independent research on the landscape of the region in terms of borders, history, politics, geography, and migration. This research will be compiled in various ways and result in a final artwork or paper to be determined by the faculty and student.
Students will explore art materials and processes to broaden their artistic practice and develop learning experiences for a variety of settings including the traditional classroom, museum spaces, community centers, and pop-up events. Through individual and group projects, students will exercise problem solving, leadership, organization, collaboration and communication skills necessary to successfully teach hands-on art projects.
Independent research is introduced as a major focus. Students gather threads from classwork, with their humanities studies, to begin a comprehensive archive. Discussion and critique reinforce the loop between making, research, and analysis. Course topics focus on advancing key frameworks in the field. The seminar serves as a laboratory for senior projects and culminates in an independently driven project.
Students assist visiting resident artists in the School of Art+Design or the Neuberger Museum of Art with the creation of a new work. Duties are assigned, overseen, and evaluated by the faculty sponsor and may include fabrication, technical support, rendering, printing, or other artistic practices.
This seminar is focused on artistic research and designed to complement advanced art practice. It prioritizes research, theoretical and art historical readings, discussions, and development of student ideas through writing and presentations. The goal is to prepare students for their senior thesis and post-bac professional opportunities. To achieve this, each student will articulate a series of statements about their work.
In this seminar, which facilitates the peer-mentoring program, students are taught methods to support their roles as leaders and peer mentors of incoming students in the School of Art+Design. Their mission is to reinforce the student community, providing a support system that supplements the curricula. Tools are introduced in class meetings to enhance student experience and professional practice. Students meet weekly with their peer mentees.
The class meets at various museums, galleries, and alternative spaces in and around New York City, where students encounter a wide range of media, aesthetic sensibilities, and institutional settings. At least one class is devoted to discussing student work in relation to concepts explored during the field trips. Student-funded travel required. Visual Arts (BS) faculty include those teaching in the following Art+Design areas: Foundations , Graphic Design , Painting and Drawing , Photography , Printmaking , and Sculpture . Visual Arts, Interdisciplinary (BFA) Description and requirements Faculty Courses Description: Working in close consultation with a faculty advisor, students in this BFA major design a course of study that bridges two or more traditional areas in the visual arts. This degree is designed for students whose natural interests and curiosities lead them beyond the borders of a single major. Students must identify a primary and secondary area of focus, such as Graphic Design and Printmaking or Sculpture and Photography. The course of study should direct the student along a path of explorati For more information on declaring this concentration, please refer to the A+D Student Handbook . Updated 10-2-20 Requirements: In addition to fulfilling General Education requirements and other degree requirements , undergraduate students majoring in interdisciplinary visual arts must complete the following requirements (82-84 credits): Note: All students are expected to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 . All required studio arts classes must be completed with a grade of C or higher in order to advance within the degree. Any required studio arts grade of C- or below must be repeated. Foundation Courses: 16-17 credits
*Senior Project changed from 4 to 3 credits. Applicable to students entering the program Fall 2025. Students are also expected to abide by the policies and procedures laid out in the A+D Student Handbook. Note: Students who are wishing to obtain a dual degree (BFA/MUSB degree combined with a BA or BS degree or a BS degree combined with a BA degree) must satisfy the academic requirements for each degree and major. See complete dual degree policy. Additional credits must be completed in order to obtain a second degree, and that in many cases this will require a student to extend their studies by one or more semesters. Please see your advisor for more information and guidance.
Students meet weekly with a writing professional to develop their graduate theses, developing working bibliographies and submitting regular assignments and drafts of the final project.
VIS 5105Art and Artificial Intelligence (Sculpture)1
Students use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the art-making process, exploring different methods for collaboration with AI’s. Students explore how the AI’s were taught, their defaults or biases, what they reveal about our world and themselves, ethical questions and future implications. The course is centered on hands-on learning through direct experience and reflection, augmented with readings, lectures, and discussion.
Provides pedagogical methods for the graduate teaching assistantship experience. Students examine different approaches to the teaching of art through readings, discussions, and research. Topics and activities include syllabi formatting, common teaching problems, role-playing classroom situations, and course development.
Faculty members bring students to the studios of artists in New York City in order to gain an understanding of varieties of individual creative practices. Addressing their background and training, artists demonstrate ways of surviving in today’s challenging art world. Readings and writing complement the visits, helping students to assimilate and process their experience in the field.
Students visit a variety of professionals—dealers, curators, editors, grant-writing specialists, et al.—at their home bases in galleries, museums, nonprofits, publications, foundations, and other institutions to learn about how the art world functions. Readings and writing complement the visits, helping students to assimilate and process their experience in the field.
An exploration of fiber art as an artistic medium through various methods and techniques, including surface/embellishment (embroidery), generative techniques (weaving, felting, crochet work), sculptural/structural techniques, and collage. Students will also investigate political and artistic concepts including cultural and societal implications, the artist-craftsperson, domesticity, gender, and labor.
An interdisciplinary exploration of collage and assemblage. Students will work with both two- and three-dimensional methods of combining materials, imagery, and forms into new compositions while investigating formal, conceptual, and cultural ideas. Working both digitally and physically, students explore found images and objects, and original content. Weekly slide lectures, demonstrations, exercises, and critiques will complement students’ own art practice.
Students engage in intensive weekly group critiques with a full-time faculty member. Critiques are based on students’ evolving practices and are intended to hone both their artistic development and ability to articulate and communicate their observations on their own and their classmates’ endeavors. Throughout the semester, visiting artists, critics, and curators provide additional individual critiques.
A reading and writing seminar designed to complement and enrich studio practice and group critiques. Students are expected to fully participate in classroom discussions based on critical and theoretical reading on topics determined by the instructor.
Each MFA student meets regularly with a studio sponsor. All MFA students work independently in semiprivate studio spaces and have access to the majority of the school’s facilities. During the academic year, graduate students have 24-hour access to their studios. Successful completion of each graduate studio is a prerequisite for the following semester’s graduate studio.
Each MFA student meets regularly with a studio sponsor. All MFA students work independently in semiprivate studio spaces and have access to the majority of the school’s facilities. During the academic year, graduate students have 24-hour access to their studios. Successful completion of each graduate studio is a prerequisite for the following semester’s graduate studio. PREREQ: VIS5801
Each MFA student meets regularly with a studio sponsor. All MFA students work independently in semiprivate studio spaces and have access to the majority of the school’s facilities. During the academic year, graduate students have 24-hour access to their studios. Successful completion of each graduate studio is a prerequisite for the following semester’s graduate studio. PREREQ: VIS5802
Each MFA student meets regularly with a studio sponsor. All MFA students work independently in semiprivate studio spaces and have access to the majority of the school’s facilities. During the academic year, graduate students have 24-hour access to their studios. Successful completion of each graduate studio is a prerequisite for the following semester’s graduate studio. PREREQ: VIS5803
Students assist faculty members with the delivery of an undergraduate studio course. Duties include grading, critiques, lecture/demonstrations, and other tasks assigned by the faculty sponsor. Graduate students interested in teaching must participate as a teaching assistant and take VIS 5150 at least once before being allowed to independently teach a course. PREREQ: VIS5150 *MA/MFA Option: A three-year program leading to both the MA in art history and the MFA in visual arts is also available
