Art & Design BFA - Digital Studio Practice

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BFA - Digital Studio Practice

Digital Studio Practice (DSP) centers on the study and use of digital technologies in direct relation to traditional visual art. All DSP students take courses in video, interactive and electronic media, and choose a cross-disciplinary focus in order to combine these techniques with another of Art and Design's areas: Ceramics, Fibers, Graphic Design, Metals, Painting, Photography, Printmaking or Sculpture. They incorporate audiovisual and computer strategies into more established art materials, in order to create new forms.

The DSP program is committed to the underlying philosophies that:

1. Digital technologies are now essential to all arts practices. We provide courses that engage with new media for painters, printmakers, sculptors, etc, as well as those who use computers as a primary medium.
2. Digital arts must move off screen, connecting ideas, people and places. We encourage our students to work not only with Internet spaces such as Facebook, Wikipedia and Second Life, but in galleries and museums, in schools, on the street, and in other public venues.
3. It is more important to be of value than it is to be "new." The most essential innovation of our curriculum is that of the cross-disciplinary focus, where students learn to combine various concepts, materials and media, new and old. Want to be an interactive artist? You should understand the history of design, participatory art and installation. Kinetic sculptor? Learn to work with wood and clay. Wearable artist? Fibers and metals. And moving-image makers should work with painting, printmaking or photography. We teach students that media art has always moved alongside and within all contemporary arts practices and trajectories.

Digital Studio Practice trains professional artists who wish to be a part of the contemporary visual arts community, exhibiting cross-disciplinary and digital art work in museums and galleries, and furthering the field at large. In addition to careers as full-time artists, graduating seniors have gone on to work as commercial or experimental designers, museum technicians, exhibition coordinators or artistic directors. Many hone their practice further through MFA and PhD programs.

Faculty

For a list of current faculty and staff with contact information and biographies please visit the Art & Design Faculty & Staff page.

Facilities

UNDERGRADUATE FACILITIES

Digital Studio Practice incorporates several digital labs for its introductory and elective courses. Its core and advanced classes utilize a multimedia lab equipped with high-end desktops and various video and interactive applications, as well as a hardware and electronics lab for work with sensors and motors. We also utilize space and equipment from the Sculpture, Metals and Printmaking areas. Students in DSP courses have access to video, lighting and sound equipment for checkout, as well as interfaces for infrared, bluetooth and USB programming.

GRADUATE FACILITIES

In addition to the aforementioned undergraduate facilities, graduate students have access to two dedicated DV cameras (one HD) and a projector for sign out, as well as a graduate student only high-end desktop with Final Cut Studio, Max/MSP+Jitter and the Adobe Suite. A high-lumens, outdoor projector is also available for special events or guerrilla art, and printing facilities can be accessed through the Printmaking and Graphic Design areas.

For a list of all facilities offered within the Peck School of the Arts - Art & Design departments please visit the Art & Design Facilities page.

Admission Requirements

For a list of Peck School of the Arts admission requirements please visit the UWM Undergraduate Catalog

Course Descriptions

For a complete list of current offered courses please visit the UWM Peck School of the Arts Undergraduate Catalog

Curriculum

For updated curriculum please visit the curriculum section of the UWM Peck School of the Arts Undergraduate Catalog

Contact

Dr Nathaniel Stern
Associate Professor & Head, Digital Studio Practice
(414) 229-4200
sternn@uwm.edu