Areas of Study

Areas of Study

As a student in the Studio Art Department, you’ll have the opportunity to work with skilled faculty/artists who help you develop technical and creative skills and your individual artistic point of view in any of five media: Drawing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, and Sculpture.

Traditional and contemporary art practices, concepts, and culture are woven into the content of our courses and serve as a foundation for discovering your artistic influences and ambitions.

Susan Klein
Department Chair

Explore Your Creativity

Focus on any of our five areas of study.

Drawing

Learn to see, think, and organize your point of view on paper.
Develop your visual and drawing skills as you advance through the program from the fundamental elements of drawing and design: line, shape, form, value, texture, space, and composition, to a self-directed drawing project under the guidance and mentorship of a full-time faculty member.

Studio Art Focus on Drawing
Painting

Apply color to your visual world with brush and paint.

Learn traditional and contemporary painting techniques. Topics range from still-life, the figure and landscape to abstraction and color experimentation as you master techniques and progress from introductory to advanced-level classes.
Studio Art Focus on Painting
Photography

View the world through your personal photographic lens.
The photography area of study takes you from basic technical and creative concepts in black-and-white, analog photography, and the intricacies of camera operation to the principles of digital photography, its creative applications, technical considerations of color and photo software, and contemporary image culture.
Studio Art Focus on Photography
Printmaking

Draw lasting images on metal, glass, and stone.
Learn the fundamental techniques of graphic printmaking processes, including monotype, basic relief, and intaglio techniques, and move up to more advanced etching and lithography. Through the printmaking courses, you'll develop your personal imagery as well as a technical understanding of this exciting medium.
Studio Art Focus on Printmaking
Sculpture

Build dynamic 3D designs with multiple tools and techniques.
Learn the elements of sculpture using basic 3-D forms and materials for highly technical projects. Our vast sculpture facility contains the tools and equipment for traditional techniques like metalworking and woodshop, as well as non-traditional approaches like installation, public and kinetic art, and 3-D computer technologies.
Studio Art Focus on Sculpture

Department of Studio Art

Simons Center for the Arts
54 Saint Philip St., Room 366
Charleston, SC 29401

studioartinfo@cofc.edu

843-953-8286