»Arts in Wilkinson

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in graphic design emphasizes conceptual design methods, appropriate aesthetics, history, writing development, verbal articulation and training in technology that prepare the student to enter the graphic design profession. Students have opportunities to explore all aspects of graphic design, such as packaging, illustration, information design, advertising design, web design, multimedia design, motion design, and book design.

Students in the BFA in Art program partake in many shared learning experiences throughout the comprehensive studio art curriculum.  Freshman and sophomores explore a broad range of media in foundational studio courses designed to develop technical proficiencies.  Sophomores and juniors explore a range of contemporary artistic practices through required courses in Contemporary Gallery Practice, Modernism and Contemporary Art History.  Juniors and seniors take four intermedia interdisciplinary studio courses that promote critical and conceptual thinking as they develop individual artistic voices. The senior seminar course is the capstone experience in the program requiring students to write a thesis statement and install an exhibition of their artwork in Chapman’s Guggenheim Gallery. Students also work together as they install shows that are judged by visiting professional artists and gallerists each semester.

Art History is one of the principal avenues of inquiry into the psychology of visual expression. All human cultures, regardless of time and geography, have resorted to visual communication to express, explore, understand, and reveal their public as well as their private lives.

The BA in Art History provides students with the practical, conceptual and methodological skills required to understand this visual communication. The act of viewing is neither passive nor naïve, but rather an active and intentional series of choices meant to create meaning: it is an act of visual intelligence. The study of art history allows students to develop and mature their visual intelligence by focusing on both visual and verbal thinking.

Tabula Poetica: The Center for Poetry at Chapman University is dedicated to creating an environment to celebrate poetry in a variety of forms and venues and to encouraging a collaborative exchange of ideas among writers and readers about all things poetry. Under the direction of Dr. Anna Leahy, we foster a culture of poetry appreciation by engaging and supporting the veteran writer, the novice poet, the student, and the general reader in an effort to share poems and conversation about this art form.

The Guggenheim Gallery sponsors an annual schedule of exhibitions by professional artists, students and community arts organizations. As part of the regular programming, the Guggenheim Gallery is proud to host a variety of collaborations with area institutions including: Confronting Nature: Silenced Voices with Cal State Fullerton, Art and Architecture with ten Southern California museums and galleries, and the 1994 Orange County Olympic Arts Festival. Solo exhibitions by internationally known California artists such as Manuel Ocampo and Tim Hawkinson alternate with group exhibitions. Chapman students mount group exhibitions each semester and are required to show their work individually as juniors and seniors. When classes are not in session, the gallery also hosts community arts organizations such as So. Cal. Artists, the Orange Unified School District, the Orange Art Association, and the Orange PTA sponsor exhibitions.

The Department of English produces three major publications (Elephant Tree, Panther, Prowl) in which all content is created by students in the Creative Writing and Journalism programs.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities during their stay at Chapman.