ART & Design

CORNISH.

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Cornish College of the Arts does not discriminate in education or employ ment on the basis of: gender, race, national origin, religion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. This policy is consistent with relevant federal regulations and statutes, including those pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Questions regarding the application of this policy and information on services for disabled persons may be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs or the Director of Human Resources.

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ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

You know you want to study art, but do you

know all of your options?

During your high school years it is likely that

you explored a broad range of visual art forms—

painting, illustration, sculpture, graphic design

and more. Yet the tools, working environments

and opportunities for artists and designers

can be quite different. College is where you

start making choices so you can sharpen

your skills and discover your path.

Cornish provides you the opportunity to

understand what inspires you and appeals to

the future you see for yourself—fine art or

design? We will help you align your talents

and ambitions to the department and

concentrations that will help you succeed in

the future.

At Cornish, you have a range of opportunity

and choice in the visual arts, with two equally

strong departments: Fine Art and Design.

Both share the strengths that make Cornish

a special place to study all of the arts. Your

faculty are working artists and teachers. They

know the importance of developing your own

artistic voice and understand the real world

you’ll enter after college.

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In each department, you start with a strong

foundation year that gives you tools and skills

upon which you’ll build. These classes and

instructors will guide you toward the con-

centration (or concentrations) that will lead you

to becoming the artist you are meant to be.

In both Fine Art and Design, you’ll meet visiting

artists that open up new perspectives and be

supported as you start to develop your career.

Through assistantships and internships,

you’ll have the opportunity to apply what

you’ve learned in a real-world setting.

ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

You will experience all of this in Seattle,

a global center of creativity. Providing you a

wealth of museums, galleries, award-winning

design firms and some of the most innovative

companies in the world—combined with a

lively arts community in both the performing

and visual arts—you will be inspired in and

out of the classroom.

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“I wAS dRAwN TO [THeIR AppROACH TO TeACHINg] ART

ANd deSIgN — fOSTeRINg NOT ONly A COmmuNITy Of

ARTISTS TO COllAbORATe wITH ANd be INSpIRed by

buT AlSO AN eduCATION THAT Helped me TO develOp

my OwN SeNSe Of wHO I Am AS A deSIgNeR.”

— AShlEy wIdmAN, de ’08, deSIgNeR/NbbJ

At Cornish, you have the opportunity to explore

how your artistic choices can be enhanced

by all of the arts. You will find elective courses

to bridge Fine Art and Design. You also work

with students from other disciplines

(Art, Music, Dance, Theater, and Performance

Production) via elective coursework and

independent study. This potential for crossover

represents an exceptional, and highly

unusual, array of opportunities for Art and

Design students.

ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

ImAGINE:

working on a motion piece with original music

scored and performed by fellow students;

collaborating with theater students whose

voices bring your animation to life;

partnering with lighting design students to

illuminate a special installation;

designing a poster to promote colleagues’

performances and exhibitions.

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“CORNISH IS wHeRe I ReAlly STARTed wORkINg ON my

wORk. I wAlked AwAy wITH A SeNSe Of wHAT IT ReAlly

TAkeS TO be A pROfeSSIONAl vISuAl ARTIST.”

— KAREN guzAk, AR ’76, ARTIST ANd mAyOR, SNOHOmISH, wA

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Cassidy Depew, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012; Atuanya Priester, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012;

Chris Condra, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Andrea Jocom, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012; bottom right: Casssidy Depew, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012;

Taylor Pinton, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012. BACKgROunD: Jessie Maughan, Installation, Art Department BFA Exhibition 2012.

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The Art Department is committed to developing

the unique artistic potential of each student.

We seek out students with natural talent and

capabilities and offer a challenging approach

to your creative and educational development

—one that immerses you in the visual arts

from your first day on campus.

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

In the Art Department you are engaged in both

a curriculum and an atmosphere designed

for visual thinkers. The program encourages

personal aesthetic, inspires critical sensibility

and develops technical skills—building the

whole artist and providing an education that

offers many career paths after graduation.

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We attract student artists from around the

world who desire to work within and across

the boundaries of contemporary art practice,

establishing technical proficiency as well as

new forms of thought and expression.

Blending traditional processes with emerging

technologies, our rigorous program is part

practical skill building, part conceptual

development, and part personal exploration.

All Art majors work towards a Bachelor of

Fine Arts (BFA). The core curriculum fosters

the study of both traditional and contemporary

ideas and processes. We encourage all

students to explore a cross-disciplinary

approach. The BFA in Art is built around five

areas of concentration: Paint & Hybrid media,

Photography (Film & Digital), Print Art & works

on paper, Sculpture & Related genre, and

Video/Digital Media. Core Studio Concepts,

Drawing and Art History are integrated through-

out the curriculum in all areas of concentration.

“THe COmmuNAl SpIRIT AT CORNISH Helped fuel my

CReATIvITy ANd CReATed AN eNvIRONmeNT THAT

CATeRed TO fRee expReSSION ANd expeRImeNTATION.”

— lIz TRAN, AR ‘02

As a freshman in the Art Department, you

take introductory studios in all six media

areas. The focus is on skill building, and as

you broaden your experience you’ll begin to

stretch your awareness and develop

experiential knowledge of which media are

best suited to your ideas and interests.

As a sophomore, you explore several mediums

more deeply in preparation for your Second

Year Review and the selection of two areas

of concentration for your junior year. In the

spring semester, at the mid-point of your four

years, you engage in an all-faculty review of

your artistic and academic progress.

FINE ARTyOuR fOuR yeARS AT A glANCe

Your junior year is built around advanced

studio intensives in the media area(s) of

your choice. You explore how your areas of

interest inform and influence each other.

Each Spring, freshmen, sophomores, and

juniors are eligible to compete in the Art

Department Merit Scholarship Exhibition

and the Roll Call Exhibition. Both provide

an opportunity for exceptional students to

exhibit their work. Faculty selects the

recipients for scholarship funding.

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Your senior year provides the experience of

intense focus and creative exploration in your

own Senior Studio. You work in a personal

studio space, learning to prioritize your time

around making work. You are developing a

practice of making art without assignments,

outside of the classroom structure.

You also meet with a committee of selected

faculty on a weekly basis to discuss your

development of a cohesive body of work. In

Professional Art Practices and BFA Seminar

you learn to write grants, negotiate a gallery

contract, document your work, create a website,

and learn industry standards for exhibiton

lighting and installation. Your education

culminates in the BFA Exhibition, one of

Seattle’s most-anticipated art events.

The Art Department faculty includes 32

practicing artists, art critics and art historians

with diverse and renowned careers. All Cornish

faculty consider teaching to be a critical

component of a dynamic dialogue within the

context of their practice and discipline.

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

Half of our faculty is core—meaning they

continue to teach year after year—and the

other half is rotating adjunct faculty. Over the

past five years we have also hosted more

than 70 visiting artists, curators, gallery owners,

museum directors and arts professionals.

They have lectured, participated in senior

studio tours, offered personal critiques and

worked on site with students as visiting

artists-in-residence. Seattle is home to a

wide-ranging, energetic, vital art scene and

the Art Department is uniquely connected to

this community.

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There are few arts and cultural organizations

in the region that don’t intersect with Cornish

students, faculty, or alums. Alumni work in

many of Seattle’s arts and cultural mainstays.

Some curate, others open and run galleries

and alternative exhibition spaces, many

exhibit their own work, and others work in

the public and private sectors of our thriving

local art market.

Our alumni live and work in Seattle and

beyond—in new York, LA, San Francisco,

London, Tokyo, and nearly every other city

with a vibrant arts pulse—providing you with

a lifelong network of professional artists.

“AS A lONgTIme gAlleRy OwNeR ANd dIReCTOR, I vIew

HuNdRedS Of vISuAl ART pORTfOlIOS, ONlINe pRe-

SeNTATIONS ANd ART exHIbITIONS A yeAR. THe CORNISH

bfA exHIbITION IS AlwAyS A “NOT TO mISS” ART eveNT.”

— JohN bRASeTH, dIReCTOR, wOOdSIde/bRASeTH gAlleRy, eST. 1961

We begin to help you launch a career while

you are still a student at Cornish. The Art

Department Internship Program, community

partnerships and preparation of a professional

PR package—including a resume, digital

portfolio, a website, sharp presentation skills

and grant writing capabilities—all help to

extend your possibilities in your pursuit of a

career in the arts.

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

Many Seattle businesses as well as arts and

cultural organizations seek Cornish Art

Department students for exciting internship

opportunities, giving our students the chance

to work with other professionals in the field

of visual art. Many of these internships lead

to full time, paid positions once students

graduate, such as Videographers at Fred

Hutchinson Research Center, Visual Research

Associates at 4Culture and lead studio

assistants for several world renowned artists.

A range of community partnerships with

Pilchuck glass School and others offers

additional opportunities to develop as an

artist and polish your professional skills.

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Most of our students who apply are

accepted into the first graduate school of

their choice – new York Academy, VCu,

RISD, Rutgers, uC Davis, CCA, SFAI. Art

Department graduates work in an array of

exciting careers, in the arts and beyond.

From galleries and arts organizations to

large corporations and universities, our

graduates are professors of studio arts,

curators, photographers, videographers,

web designers, administrators and more

in a broad range of professional settings.

“I leARNed THe mOST OuT Of THe ONe-ON-ONe

INTeRACTIONS wITH fACulTy.”

— JuSTIN R. lyTle, AR ‘09

If yOu ARe A vISuAlly-ORIeNTed pROblem SOlveR ANd

ARe mOTIvATed TO CONvey yOuR peRCepTIONS,

THOugHTS ANd SeNSIbIlITIeS THROugH ANy fORm Of

vISuAl lANguAge yOu wIll THRIve IN OuR eNvIRONmeNT.

COme TO SeATTle ANd vISIT uS. TAke A SummeR

wORkSHOp. mAke AN AppOINTmeNT fOR A pORTfOlIO

RevIew. leT uS kNOw HOw we CAN Help SHApe yOuR

fuTuRe IN THe vISuAl ARTS.

— BoNNIE bIggS, ART depARTmeNT CHAIR

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

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You know that a solid Design education is an

exceptional long-term investment, and you

know that you want to be a designer, but you

may not be sure exactly what kind. So you

will be happy know that Cornish is an ideal

place to figure this out.

DESIGNAT CORNISH

From the first day of our rock solid Foundation

year and your decision regarding area/s of

focus in your Sophomore year, to the mentored

independence and exceptional internship

opportunities of your Junior year and the

culminating capstone project of your Senior

year, you will be surrounded by students with

the same passion for design as yourself. And

you will work with an exceptional faculty who

are deeply committed to your growth,

development and, most importantly, your

future success.

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“I feel THAT CORNISH fACulTy INSTIlled IN me A deSIRe

TO AlwAyS puSH my SkIllS fuRTHeR, TAke CHANCeS,

expeRImeNT, ANd be CONfIdeNT AbOuT my expeRTISe

IN gRApHIC deSIgN.”

— JEFFREy uNdeRwOOd, de ‘08

Our goal is to graduate broadly and deeply

educated designers with specific skills sets,

who are able to respond creatively, positively

and productively to the shifting realities of a

rapidly advancing field. We foster curiosity

and a generative connection with experience,

with context and with community. We are

profoundly invested in the generations of

citizen-designers to come.

The Cornish Design program is comprised of

three broad areas of concentration: Visual

Communication (graphic Design and

Illustration), Motion Design (Motion graphics,

2D Animation, 3D Animation, and Interactive

Design) and Interior Design. These three

concentrations are structured to broaden

your options. For example, you may select

from a range of curricular combinations such

as graphic Design + Motion graphics,

graphic Design + Illustration, Illustration +

Animation and so on.

DESIGNAT CORNISH

Within the Design program itself, opportunities

abound for students from all three concen-

trations to team up on projects, nicely

anticipating the primary configuration of an

actual professional environment.

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Critique is a fundamental aspect of our

departmental culture. We strongly believe

that you must feel both safe and challenged

to be fully present in critique. Presenting

work to a group of peers, offering and

receiving comment, and most importantly,

learning and growing from this exchange, is

at the heart of what we do. As a department,

it is our goal to positively and productively

balance rigor with nurture within the classroom.

DESIGNAT CORNISH

We have a truly outstanding faculty. All

maintain active professional lives. Many are

prominent in their fields regionally. Some have

international reputations. Our Visiting Designer

series annually draws from an international

Who’s Who of design practitioners.

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“CORNISH pRepAReS yOu TO be AT THe TOp Of yOuR

gAme IN ANy CITy, If yOu ARe wIllINg TO dO THe wORk.”

— JulIA CAmp, de ’10, RICH medIA deSIgNeR AT Imdb.COm

Seattle is a very cool city and it is a great

place for designers. We consistently rank

“number one” as the most educated city in

the united States and we are one of the most

tech-invested regions in the world (second

only to Palo Alto, but substantially more varied),

making us one of the top cities in the country

in which to recruit talent, particularly design

talent. Cornish is at the center of this activity.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Margaret Murray, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012; Benjamin Fuglevand, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012;

Misha Zaitsevsky, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Caitlin Larson, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012; Tori King, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012;

Leslie Wisocki, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012. BACKgROunD: Ashley Schaffer, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012;

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DESIGNAT CORNISH

One of the best reasons to study Design at

Cornish may well be our Design Internship

Program. Our internships provide students

with actual professional design experience

at the top studios in the region.

Our program integrates professional

engagement and community involvement

with our curriculum. Throughout the year,

Cornish Design students have access to a

variety of events and activities, including

guest designers, public lectures, extra-

curricular group projects, inter-departmental

events, student interest groups and very

active student chapters with links to

professional associations such as AIgA,

IIDA, and ASID.

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When you graduate from Cornish, you will

be noticed. Our graduates find placement in

top design studios or go into private practice.

Many of our students go on to full-time

employment in institutions with whom they

interned, such as Digital Kitchen, Superfad,

Hornall Anderson, Turnstyle, Modern Dog,

Amazon, Starbucks, Callison Architects, Interior

Architects, nBBJ Architects, and Microsoft.

Other graduates have gone on to first rate

graduate schools (among them RISD, Yale,

CCA) before entering practice and/or

careers in teaching.A

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“I wOuld lIke TO peRSONAlly exTeNd AN INvITATION TO

yOu TO explORe CORNISH fuRTHeR. vISIT OuR webSITe,

THeN feel eNTIRely fRee TO CONTACT ANy Of uS. we

wOuld be delIgHTed TO AddReSS ANy Of yOuR queSTIONS

ANd pROvIde yOu wITH INfORmATION.”

— GRANT dONeSky, deSIgN depARTmeNT CHAIR

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HUMANITIES & SCIENCES LiBeRAL sTUDies LeARning AnD THe BFA DegRee

An essential component of your BFA degree

includes the courses you will take outside of

your major in the Humanities and Sciences

Department. As the general education division

of the College, we provide a liberal studies

curriculum that engages Cornish students in

an exploration of the social, environmental

and cultural contexts in which artistic

production takes place, while developing

critical thinking, problem-solving and com-

munication skills. The curriculum helps you

consider multiple perspectives when looking

at complex problems and issues, drawing

on a variety of ways to understand the world

and our human experience.

Our curriculum is constantly changing and

inquiry based. It is intended to engage you in

active analysis and problem-solving in relation

to thematic issues that may have a long-

standing history, but that continue to challenge

contemporary societies and individuals, both

locally and globally. Classes are limited in size

and conducted “seminar style.” Students at

Cornish are not passive learners; they

contribute to and help shape the experience

in their classes. Many classes go into the

community, exploring the urban and natural

environment, doing field observations and

visiting local organizations and the people

involved in them.

Both in and out of the classroom, instructors

in Humanities and Sciences help you acquire

the kind of confidence and competence that

will serve you well both during and after college,

in your personal and professional lives. In the

end, our aim in Humanities and Sciences is

to inspire the curiosity and habits necessary

for life-long learning and development.