Visual Arts
Art Practices at CU Denver provides a comprehensive education in visual art practices, which includes creative influences, ideas, materials, tools and skills, as well as theory and art history, with an emphasis on current trends in contemporary art. Art Practices is designed for students whose creative ideas move across media and who are looking for a more comprehensive critical approach to developing their art practice. The program provides students with focused professional skills in multiple areas of studio art, which allows them to develop a fully formed and thoughtful body of work and/or writing with conceptual impact.
Art Practices is designed to address the needs of students looking to become successful emerging artists and creative minds with the skills to become active individuals in the art world through multiple outlets—in exhibition/sales routes, arts education, art writing, curation, business employment and much more.
The resources on campus for the studio arts and art practices are competitive with those at dedicated art schools, without the hefty private art school cost of tuition! Our spaces are some of the most unique in the nation, offering a large and spacious foundry, fully equipped wood and metal studios, a state of the art ceramic shell investment room, separate sanding and metal finishing studios and a fully equipped tool room with hand, power and pneumatic tools and assorted supplies. Students work with 3D printing software and equipment, laser cutting and vacuum forming, as well as all digital software and computers to produce digital art and video. Connected to the 3D space is a student gallery for the hands-on exploration of installation work, lighting and performance. The painting studio is spacious with high ceilings, natural mountain light, a full ventilation system, work and solvent storage along with a walkout balcony, as well as tools and equipment for building stretchers from scratch and working large. The drawing studio has two full walls of natural lighting, flat files, drawing horses and boards, a model platform as well as two small presses for experimental printmaking techniques associated with drawing.
Students who work throughout the various secondary concentration courses will also enjoy an extensive photography facility that includes digital photography and large format printers along with a full wet lab for film exposure, offering a unique experience that few art schools can offer. Those working in illustration work in full digital labs with facilities that combine physical drawing and painting with digital applications and equipment as well as a large working space that includes screen printing facilities and equipment. There are several group technological working spaces that include various types of printing and equipment. Those that study art history more extensively get access to the outstanding museums and galleries of metro Denver by attending an urban institution that utilizes the city as its extended classroom in exciting ways.
Students gain professional skills in the studio arts, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and transmedia (digital art, video, performance, concept an socially conscious work). Students then select a secondary concentration that allows them to further focus their personal interests with their work.
Art Practices graduates exhibit work in galleries and museums, produce commissioned work, operate businesses in the arts, create public art and performance art, and collaborate within national arts collectives. Visual Arts and art practices alums own and work at galleries and museums, are fabricators at companies, are creative directors for immersive arts institutions, are teachers and chair major arts programs, among many other things!
Art Practices combines the work of illustration, painting and drawing, photography, transmedia sculpture. Check out the amazing work of the previous graduating students.
For more information about the Art Practices emphasis, contact the College of Arts & Media at CAMinfo@ucdenver.edu or area faculty Melissa Furness (2D) melissa.furness@ucdenver.edu or Rian Kerrane (3D) rian.kerrane@ucdenver.edu. Call the CAM office at 303-315-7487 to schedule a meeting or tour. We would love to meet you!
For full information about degree requirements and curriculum visit the program page on the CU Denver catalog.
