Portfolio Development in the Visual Arts

Course Description:

The Portfolio Development in the Visual Arts course is a non-credit, on-campus course offered during Spring and Fall semesters in the Department of Art at Kansas State University. this class is ideal for students who seek to expand their skills through intensive study and studio art practice. The course offered to participants who hold a bachelor's degree and are interested in further developing their art within an academic studio environment. This guided experience is designed to produce artists who are competitive in the national area for sought-after professional opportunities such as grants, residencies, exhibitions, and post-graduate education, including the MFA in studio arts.

After acceptance into a focus area, participants will enroll via K-State Global Campus. Enrolled students will meet during an advanced class in their chosen studio arts area. Participants are expected to attend class regularly and maintain a high degree of professionalism and community engagement while advancing their own practice.

Course Requirements:

Time Commitment:

Meet 1-2 hours/month with area professor
Meet on average 5 hrs/month in critiques with other students on campus
Make artwork for 10+hrs/week

Review Process Checkpoint:

Approximately halfway through the course, students will have an individual meeting with host faculty to go progress.

Completion:

At the culmination of the semester(s) students are required to give a presentation on their studio work.

Start Dates:

Beginning of Fall/Spring semester (Maximum semesters: 2)

Applications Instructions:

To attend during the Fall Semester, students should apply by April 15th for full consideration

To attend during the Spring Semester, students should apply by November 15th for full consideration

To apply:

1. Contact the area host faculty listed below for the desired concentration and confirm that there is space available for your intended semester.

2. Send the area host faculty listed for the desired concentration the items below in one pdf via email.

All applications must be submitted by e-mail to the concentration area coordinator and need to include the following materials in one pdf:

A brief, Letter of Intent
Resume/CV
Artist Statement
Unofficial transcripts from degree issuing institution
List of 2 references with phone numbers and e-mail addresses to faculty in the area
PDF portfolio of 10 images of recent work with image descriptions. Include title, date, medium, and dimensions for each image (under 20MB). For video, audio, or web-based content embed links in the PDF file.

Fees:

(*Payment required at time of registration)

$1,050 Standard Course Fee
$15 Registration Fee
Material Fee varies by Area (Ranges from $25-$200)

Additional Semester Enrollment:

Based on positive participation, commitment to studio practice, and the successful presentation of portfolio activities, students may reapply for a second semester. This course may be taken for a maximum of 2 semesters in total. Acceptance cannot be deferred by the student, as acceptance is conditional, based on available space and the availability of the hosting faculty.

Participating Area Information & Resources:

Ceramics

In addition to a satellite 2000 sq. ft. covered, open-air kiln facility, the Ceramics Area has extensive electric, gas and atmospheric kilns on-site. Safety equipment is provided along with tools like digital pyrometers and oxygen sensors for students to quantify results when researching fire processes empirically.

Ceramics Area Equipment

Electric kilns
1 – 18.5 cu.ft. Skutt 1627
1 – 10 cu. ft. Skutt 1227
7 – 7 cu. ft. Skutt 1027
3 – 2.5 cu. ft. Skutt 818
2– .8 cu. ft. Skutt 614
2 – .6 cu. ft. Skutt 609 1 cu ft. test

Gas and Atmospheric Kiln
40 cu. ft. Down Draft Car
16 cu. ft. Down Draft
16 cu. ft. Up Draft
14 cu. ft. Cross Draft Soda
4 cu. ft. Experimental kiln
40 cu. ft. Wood-Fired Train
2000 sq. ft. Wood and Raku kiln facility.

The clay and glaze lab boast over 17 tons of material storage that house traditional and boutique materials from domestic and international distributors. Dozens of mason stains for students to experiment with industrially engineered colors in their clays and glazes are kept in-stock. The lab also features:

250 lb. batch capacity Peter Puger mixer with the complete extrusion kit including hollow dies
300 lb. batch capacity Soldner mixer
150 lb. batch capacity Soldner mixer
Sandblasting cabinet
Industrial Glaze Blunger
Fixed and Mobile Compressor
Ball Mill

Casting, prototyping, and mold making are in an important facet of the educational experience at K-State. The plaster room for model and mold making is over 400 square feet. In the separate casting room, there are three casting tables and an extensive mold library with 100's of continually cycling commercial and industrial molds for experimental casting and object creation. Other resources include:

2 Imported Vertical Plater Lathes
Plaster Mixer
72 cu. ft. Industrial Heated Drying Cabinet
2-33 gal. Slip Tanks with Blungers
20 gal. Slip Tank with Blunger
20 gal. Slip pump
Mobile Slip Blunger

In addition to the 2400 sq. ft. of private and semi-private studio spaces, students have extensive access to communal and general-purpose labs to work on assignments, projects, and personal research. Nearly 20 different underglazes for students to experiment with traditional and contemporary techniques such as sgraffito, inlay,
stencils, and ceramic screen printing are stocked. A selection of china paints and brushing mediums for
intermediate and advanced students interested in overglaze surface expression are available. The 300 sq. ft. Ikeda Gallery acts as a white space for installations, reviews, critiques, or to photograph work. Students can reserve this space on a day to day basis. For large sculptural or vessel work, specialty pallets and lift systems that move work fluidly from creative space to kiln and out again are available. In addition, the K-State program
has:

18 Electric Wheels
2 Extruders with hollow extrusion kits
Brent SR-20 Slab Roller
DLSR Camera and Tri-pod
2 Projectors for installations
Delta 3D Clay Paste Printer
Foam Cutter
Thermofax for creating silkscreens

Metalsmithing & Jewelry

The K-State Metalsmithing studio occupies 2800 sq. ft. and is divided into 4 areas: the main studio, a smithing studio, a large equipment/advanced studio, and a special techniques studio. Each studio well equipped with an array of tools and equipment for jewelry and metal fabrication, as well as a large variety of tools for silversmithing, enameling, casting, and digital technologies such as 3D printing for direct casting

Painting

The Painting area has over 5,000 sq. ft. of dedicated studio space, including studios for Water Media, Oil Painting, and 2500+ sq. ft. of senior studio space. Recent renovations have ensured that all workspaces are adequately ventilated to ensure a safe and functional environment for our students. Access to the department’s on-site Woodshop, CNC router and laser cutter, Photo Artwork Documentation Room, among other departmental resources such as large format printers.

Photography

The facilities and resources associated with the Photography area include: Large private lighting studio (Elinchrom light system), traditional wet darkroom w/15 enlargers, wet collodion, and alternative processes equipment and facilities, film loading room, a multi-purpose classroom, digital printing labs with Epson 3880 and larger printers; access to medium and large format cameras (120mm, 4 x 5, 8 x 10, Mamiya RZ 67Pro), wet scanning equipment; Recent renovations have ensured that all workspaces are adequately ventilated to ensure a safe and functional environment for our students.

Portfolio Development in the Visual Arts (PDF)

Participating Faculty Contacts:

Ceramics

Nicholas Geankoplis
(*Fall/Spring Applications)
ngeankoplis@ksu.edu

Metalsmithing & Jewelry

Dukno Yoon
(*Fall/Spring Applications)
dukno@ksu.edu

Painting

Kevin Bernstein
(*Fall Applications)
kevinber@ksu.edu

Nancy Morrow
(*Spring Applications)
nmorrow@ksu.edu

Photography

Shreepad Joglekar
(*Fall/Spring Applications)
sjoglek@ksu.edu