Undergraduate Award Program

• Associate Degree in Visual Art – an exit point after two years of full-time study.

 

• Bachelor of Visual Art – a four-year full-time program delivered over 36 weeks per year. Both courses are offered full time or part time to cater for the needs of a diverse range of students.

 

ACSA Undergraduate Award Brochure

 

 

 

Structure of Undergraduate Award Courses

Level 1

• General Drawing 1

• Life Drawing 1

• Art History and Theory 1

• Visual Language

• Sculpture 1

• Elective 

 

Level 2

• General Drawing 2

• Life Drawing 2

• Art History and Theory 2

• Level 2 Major

• Elective

 

The Associate Degree of Visual Art is awarded upon the successful completion of all Level 1 and Level 2 units.

 

Level 3

• General Drawing 3

• Art History and Theory Practice 3

• Professional Business Practice

• Level 3 Major Studio Practice*

• Elective

  

Level 4

• Art History and Theory 4

• Level 4 Major Studio*

• Elective

 

*Level 3 and 4 students receive a dedicated studio space in which to develop their art practice.

 

Upon completion of all Level 3 and 4 units, students are assessed by an external panel for the Bachelor of Visual Art award.

Candidates awarded a Distinction or High Distinction grade for their final examination will receive the Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours) award.

 

The course structure is based on the following premises:

  1. There are essential elements of a visual art curriculum which must be included in the courses. These are Drawing, Sculpture, Visual Language and Art History and Theory.
  2. These elements need to be included in the first level, as they are fundamental to visual art training and form the foundation for further study. Drawing, which is seen as the most fundamental element in visual art, is a compulsory subject through to third level.
  3. Professional artists need to have a grounding in business studies in order to arrange their professional art practise and market themselves and their work effectively. This element is included as a required subject in third level.
  4. The fourth level of the programme is designed to enable students to draw together the experience of the previous levels and to begin to operate as professional artists.

 


Subject Units

General Drawing 1

A structured and comprehensive course designed especially for those who have never studied at a tertiary level before. It begins with basic skills in drawing by observation, introducing the student to different ways of seeing. Form and structure, concepts, expression and imagination are explored in the second semester encouraging students to use drawing as a means of creative expression and the exploration of ideas.

 

General Drawing 2

General Drawing 2 further develops the student’s awareness of drawing as a personal language. Students are introduced to a more sophisticated notion of drawing and develop greater depth of skills, processes and conceptual understanding.

 

Life Drawing 1

Life Drawing develops the student’s abilities towards representation of the human form for professional practice and personal creative expression. Consideration is given to the study of anatomy, concepts of form and specialised skills and techniques relevant to rendering the figure.

 

Life Drawing 2

Students develop an increased understanding of the various formal, material and conceptual developments of drawing the human figure. Life Drawing 2 is used as an investigative tool in relation to systems of representation, meaning and communication, semiotics, narrative and expression.

 

Sculpture 1

The first-year sculpture course is a rigorous and comprehensive introduction to three-dimensional thinking. In the first semester students become familiar with the material language of clay and the skills associated with modelling and casting. The second semester introduces students to a wider range of materials and objects and asks them to consider their poetic and communicative possibilities.

 

Sculpture 2

At the second level, students can choose semester electives in Sculpture from Figurative Sculpture in Malleable Media, Site-specific Sculpture, Architectural Human Space, 3D Drawing in Space and Process-based Sculpture, through which to investigate ideas and develop practical and conceptual skills.

 

Painting 1

This is a foundation course in the basic skills and concepts of painting. It includes the use of tools, materials, techniques and colour theory as well as the ideas underlying the more common approaches to painting. Once the basic techniques are acquired, students are introduced to the development of ideas and conceptual approaches to painting. This subject requires a level of drawing skills equivalent to those acquired in General Drawing 1.

 

Painting 2

Level 2 Painting subjects can be taken as an elective or a major within the award structure. Students will develop an increased level of skill, knowledge and understanding of painting through work in the specialist painting subjects offered.

Current specialisations offered are:

Tonal Realism Students of Tonal Realism will gain the necessary skills required for a high level of representational painting. They will investigate the techniques of master painters and discover the compositional and constructive elements used to create a major work.

Abstraction A painting course designed with a strong material and experimental focus. Students will explore the materials and methods of painting by investigating colour, tone, line and composition to discover the meaning inherent within painting itself. 

Life Painting

During this course, students will gain the skills and techniques required by artists when working from the figure. Working with a life model, students will investigate the materials, methods, techniques and concepts of life painting.

 

Printmaking

Relief – This subject allows students to develop the basic techniques of relief printmaking and establish practical printing skills. Their practical expertise and aesthetic conceptual development are increased through critical discussion of both self-initiated and set projects.

Intaglio – Studies in etching and drypoint provide students with the skills and techniques to make prints using these media. Attention is also given to understanding the print medium with reference to historical printmaking and expressive possibilities.

 

Digital Imaging

Students are introduced to digital imaging techniques and the use of software applications exploring the use of the computer as a resource tool to extend the scope for their studio practice.

 

Visual Language

This course aims to facilitate a broad understanding of the conceptual language inherent in all the visual arts (eg 2D, 3D, digital, craft, architecture etc) and to develop an appreciation of the creative process.

 

Art History and Theory 1

Using a linear historical framework, the Art History and Theory 1 course develops an understanding of the relationships between the manufacture of works of art, their cultural and historical contexts and the interrelationships of art history with art theory. Covering the periods from Classical Greece to early Modernism this course gives students an introduction to ways of studying works of art, researching topics in art history and writing essays in art history.

 

Art History and Theory 2

Studies in Art History and Theory 2 cover the material and conceptual range of the visual arts from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. The course investigates the contexts of social, political industrial and philosophical movements, and aims to develop both a critical awareness of the relationships between the production of works of art and prevailing discourses and to provide an historical and theoretical basis for understanding contemporary art practices.

 

Art History and Theory 3

This course surveys issues in contemporary visual arts practice and criticism, explores the relationship between art practice and the art world and introduces ways of studying and researching the relationship between the student’s developing art practice, works of art, art history, literature and ideas.

 

Art History and Theory 4

The Art History and Theory 4 course requires students to situate their studio practice within a contemporary, historic or cultural context. The study of theories which have had a significant influence on the student’s past and current art practices, their technical skills and material processes, their skills in articulating their own art practice verbally and in writing are all consolidated to form a foundation for the student’s emerging art practice.

 

Professional Business Practice

Professional Business Practice will provide the student with a working knowledge of professional business practice as well as basic skills for survival and self management as a self employed artist. This course includes a component of Gallery Studies where students assist in the practical organisation of an exhibition.

 

 



Adelaide Central School of Art
45 Osmond Terrace
Norwood, South Australia 5067 Australia
Telephone +61 8 83645075
Facsimile +61 8 8364 4865
Email: info@acsa.sa.edu.au
www.acsa.sa.edu.au
CRICOS 01126M