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Yale School of Art
1156 Chapel Street, POB 208339
New Haven, Connecticut, 06520-8339

Yale College, the undergraduate division of Yale University, offers a Bachelor of Arts degree program with a major in art. Undergraduate applicants wishing to major in art at Yale must apply to Yale College directly.

Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, PO Box 208234, 38 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven CT 06520-8234, 203.432.9300 (www.yalecollege.yale.edu).

The program in art offers courses that, through work in a variety of media, provide an experience in the visual arts as part of a liberal education as well as preparation for graduate study and professional work. Courses at the 100 level stress the fundamental aspects of visual formulation and articulation. Courses numbered 200 through 499 offer increasingly intensive study leading to greater specialization in one or more of the visual disciplines such as graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, and sculpture.

The prerequisites for acceptance into the major are a Sophomore Review, which is an evaluation of work from studio courses taken at Yale School of Art, and five terms of introductory (100-level) courses. Four must be completed at the time of the Sophomore Review. Visual Thinking (Art 111a or b) and Basic Drawing (Art 114a or b) are mandatory.

In exceptional cases, arrangements for a special review during the junior year may be made with the director of undergraduate studies in art.

A student may repeat an art course for credit with the permission of the director of undergraduate studies.

Graduate courses may be elected by advanced undergraduate art majors who have completed all undergraduate courses in a particular area of study and who have permission of the director of undergraduate studies as well as the course instructor. 0, .5 or 1 credit may be awarded by Yale College for grad courses; please see your Residential Dean for petition.

Undergraduates are normally limited to credit for four terms of graduate- or
professional-level courses (courses numbered 500 and above). Please refer to the section on Academic Regulations in Yale College Programs of Study for further pertinent details.

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Lisa Kereszi. For all inquiries or to schedule an office hours advising appointment: art.dus [at] yale.edu

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For graduation as an art major, a total of fourteen (14) course credits in the major field
is required.

These fourteen course credits must include the following: (1) five prerequisite courses at the 100 level (including Visual Thinking and Basic Drawing); (2) four 200-level
and above courses; (3) the Junior Major Seminar (Art 395a) or Critical Theory in the Studio (Art 201b); (4) the Senior Project (Art 495 and 496); and (5) two courses in the History of Art.

Suggested program guidelines and specific requirements for the various areas of concentration are available from the director of undergraduate studies.

A suggested program guideline is as follows:

• Freshman year — Studio courses, two terms
• Sophomore year — Studio courses, three terms; Art history, one term
• Junior year — Studio courses, three terms including the Junior Major Seminar and/or Critical Theory; Art history, one term
• Senior year — Studio courses, four terms including the Senior Project

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Art 003a, Blue

Art 004a, Words and Pictures

Art 006a, Art of Printed Word

Art 007b, Art of the Game

Art 009b, Visual Book

Art 011a, New Voices in Photography

Art 012b, On Activism: The Visual Representation

Art 013a, Temperamental Spaces

Art 014a, Research in the Making

Art 110a, Sculpture Basics

Art 111a or b, Visual Thinking

Art 114a or b, Basic Drawing

Art 116a, Color

Art 120b, Introduction to Sculpture: Wood

Art 121b, Introduction to Sculpture: Metal

Art 122b, Introduction to Sculpture: Video

Art 130a or b, Painting Basics

Art 132a or b, Introduction to Graphic Design

Art 136a or b, Capturing Light with Black-and-White Photography

Art 138a or b, Digital Photography

Art 142a, Introductory Documentary Filmmaking

Art 145a or b, Digital Video

Art 184a, 3-D Modeling for Creative Practice

Art 185a, Principles of Animation

Art 223a and 224b, Figure Drawing

Art 225a, Adventures in Self-Publishing

Art 237b, Visual Voice in Analog Photography

Art 241b, Introductory Film Writing and Directing

Art 264a-1, Typography!

Art 264a-2, Typography 1 (Prelims)

Art 265b, Typography: Expression, Structure, and Sequence

Art 266, History of Graphic Design

Art 285b/925b, Digital Animation

Art 294a, Technology and the Promise of Transformation

Art 301b, Critical Theory In and Out of the Studio

Art 324b, Painting Materials and Methods

Art 331b, Intermediate Painting

Art 332a, Painting Time

Art 337a, Picturing Us: Representation

Art 338b, Intermediate Digital Photo

Art 339b, Narrative Forms and Documentary Style in Photography after 1967

Art 341b, Intermediate Film Writing and Directing

Art 342a, Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking

Art 346a, Dematerial/Material

Art 356a, Printmaking I

Art 368a or b, Graphic Design Methodologies

Art 369b, Interactive Design and the Internet

Art 370a, Communicating with Time, Motion, and Sound

Art 379b, Form for Content with the View Camera

Art 395a, Junior Major Seminar

Art 401a, Advanced Photography

Art 432a, Painting Studio: The Narrative Figure

Art 433b, Painting Studio: Space & Abstraction

Art 442a and 443b, Advanced Film Writing & Directing

Art 446a, Advanced Sculpture

Art 449a, Spectacular Grammar: Landscape as Cinema

Art 450a, Interiors as Cinema

Art 457b, Interdisciplinary Printmaking

Art 468a, Advanced Graphic Design: Series and Systems

Art 469b, Advanced Graphic Design: History, Editing, and Interpretation

Art 495a and 496b, Senior Project Seminar

**Permission of instructor is required in all art courses.*

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GOALS OF THE MAJOR

Students in this major will:

· Develop an understanding of the visual arts through a studio-based curriculum

· Apply fundamentals of art across a variety of media and disciplines

· Relate the practice of making art to the fields of art history and theory

· Gain a high level of mastery of at least one artistic discipline

COURSES

Undergraduate studio courses are numbered 100 - 499 and can be found at http://art.yale.edu/Courses.

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APPLYING TO STUDIO ART COURSES

In order to register for studio art courses, all of which are limited enrollment and require the permission of the instructor, students MUST register online in advance, in most cases, to be considered for admission to a given class. Art courses are often over-subscribed with wait lists, especially at the introductory level. Space is limited, and faculty make selections based on individual criteria, giving priority to MFA students, art majors, CPAR majors and intended art and CPAR majors. There may still be room during the drop/add period, but it is unlikely in Introductory classes, so please be sure to apply in advance in the Online Course Search system by clicking to apply for Permission of Instructor.

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General information:

Many students on financial aid have available funds at the beginning of the year, but they must take action to access these funds. Students may email scott.wallace-juedes@yale.edu in Financial Aid for advice on what funds they may have which could be applied toward these costs.

Art Course Fees:

Most Art courses carry a course fee. Course fees are listed in the course descriptions at https://courses.yale.edu/
o Creative and Performing Arts funds may NOT be used to cover course fees.
o The university considers art course fees in the same category as textbook costs in other fields. These costs are considered when Yale calculates a student’s financial aid.

This is a curricular expense and low-income students may apply for safety net assistance. Not all students will receive assistance, but these applications help document how many students are affected by these fees.

Art Course materials:

In many cases, there are costs above and beyond the course fee, including materials costs.

Students who are interested in exhibiting their course work at the end of the semester in a college gallery may apply for Creative and Performing Arts Awards (CPA) to cover materials costs associated with an art course. CPA awards are only available to support work to be exhibited. Most CPA application requests are granted.
o Low-income students who do not wish to exhibit their work may apply for safety net assistance. Not all students will receive assistance, but these applications help document how many students are affected by these fees.

Cameras:

Students may consider borrowing a family member’s or friend’s camera for the semester.

Students often find used cameras to purchase 2nd-hand for a fraction of the cost of a new camera.

The Yale College Arts office maintains 4 digital camera packages to be checked out on semester-long loan for students on financial aid who are not able to secure a camera through other channels. Students should contact daisy.abreu@yale.edu to access these cameras.

Yale College Arts maintains 7 analog cameras at the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM). Students may check them out via the CCAM online reservations system. Students enrolled in a photography course requiring such a camera may check them out for the entire semester.

Intermediate and Advanced photography courses also carry camera requirements, and, for this smaller group of more advanced photographers, cameras are available for loan from the School of Art.

Creative and Performing Arts Awards and Safety Net funds are NOT available to support camera purchases.

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Art majors or serious art students wishing to enroll in Art 471/472 must read the following guidelines before embarking on an Independent Project in Art. The course is a Pass/Fail, one credit, self-designed, one-on-one semester of independent work that could not ordinarily be accomplished within existing courses offered. If there is an advanced-level course in the area of interest that could accommodate the student’s project, he/she/they should enroll in that course instead.
The project should be designed by the student in conjunction with the participation of a School of Art faculty member. The student is responsible for approaching faculty with ample notice, writing the proposal, and securing the permission from both the instructor and the DUS. Please note that not all faculty will be able to agree to this extra advising outside of their regular responsibilities, especially in the Spring semester, when many of them are advising seniors on their thesis projects. Art majors are preferred for these types of projects.
A course proposal must be submitted via email for approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies only after the faculty advisor has already agreed and signed off. Only afterwards, the student should register for the course (471/472) online with his/her/their regular schedule. Expectations of the course include regular meetings, end-of-term critique, and a written evaluation. A reading list and written assignments may be necessary, depending on the nature of the research.
The course counts towards the major, and may be re-taken for credit at the discretion of the DUS. Since the course is P/F, it does not count in the calculation for Distinction in the Major.

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In “Undergraduate Studies in Art”

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An aerial photo of a gallery space during the installation of work by the undergraduate class of 2014.An aerial photo of a gallery space during the installation of work by the undergraduate class of 2014.

Class of 2014

c Lisa Kereszi

Applying to Yale College With Supplementary Materials in Art

Yale College, the undergraduate division of Yale University, offers a Bachelor of Arts degree program with a major in art. Undergraduate applicants wishing to major in art at Yale must apply to Yale College directly. Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, PO Box 208234, 38 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven CT 06520-8234, 203.432.9300 (www.yale.edu). Please direct all inquiries and questions to the Admissions office directly, not to the School of Art.

Whether or not you wish to major in art as an undergraduate, if you are an advanced visual artist you may consider submitting an art portfolio as part of your application to Yale. In deciding whether or not to do this, please bear in mind that it is Yale School of Art faculty members who will review selected portfolios, not admissions officers. You should only consider submitting work if your artwork is a strong and important part of your application and demonstrates a high level of ability for a high school artist. You should limit the work submitted to between 5 and 8 pieces, which should include at least one drawing.

If you wish to submit images of your artwork as a supplement to your application, you must do so online through the Common Application by the appropriate application deadline (November 1 for Single-Choice Early Action candidates; December 31 for Regular Decision candidates; March 1 for transfer candidates). Please do not contact faculty or art department directly to request portfolio reviews. You should submit a supplement through the Common Application SlideRoom program.

How to Submit Supplementary Materials
If you are going to submit supplementary materials, please check the appropriate box on the Yale Supplement to the Common Application, Section VI, titled “Supplementary Materials.”
Supplementary materials other than art or music or film may be attached to the Common Application as Additional Information or mailed to our office, clearly labeled with your full legal name as it appears on your admissions application, your date of birth, the name and state or country of your high school, and the subject of the materials. Please see the sections below for more specific information about submitting art, music, academic work, and web supplements.
While we cannot accept videotapes or DVDs of performances, applicants may include a link to a website or brief YouTube video in the space indicated on the Yale Supplement to the Common Application. In all cases, applicants should review the specific instructions below to ensure that materials submitted are appropriate.

If you wish to submit images of your artwork as a supplement to your application, you must do so online by the appropriate application deadline (November 1 for Single-Choice Early Action candidates; December 31 for Regular Decision candidates; March 1 for transfer candidates).

For complete information, please visit:
http://admissions.yale.edu/supplementary#art

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PDF icon
Download Undergraduate Art at Yale Catalog

Prospective Students/Visitors: Student-led Tours

Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies in Art at art.dus@yale.edu or (203) 432-2600 to arrange in advance for an informative student-led tour of the art school at regular business hours during the school year. We will not be able to accommodate every request, but will make every effort to do so when you visit campus, with ample notice. We apologize, but faculty will not necessarily be able to meet with prospective students. Catalog available upon request, or downloadable as a PDF above.

More questions? Visit: http://admissions.yale.edu/supplementary#art

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Download 2020 Yale College Viewbook

Resources for Current Art Majors >>
Undergraduate Thesis Show Archive >>



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