Studio Arts

Ceramics

The Ceramics Program at OU provides a comprehensive approach to the development of the skills and techniques necessary for successful work in clay. Through a series of progressively more complex assignments and self directed projects, students learn the medium specific skills necessary for successful completion of projects and for the continued development of the student’s personal artistic and creative expression. Students are encouraged to integrate concepts and experiences from their work in other mediums and disciplines into their explorations in clay. The ceramics facility provides over 5,000 square feet of space, with separate areas for handbuilding, throwing, glazing, glaze mixing, firing and materials storage. The organization of the ceramics studio is modeled on the workshop construct: that is, students are responsible for both their individual work and for group participation.

Painting

The University of Oklahoma's painting program is recognized both regionally and nationally, as an environment that promotes curiosity, exploration, and independent thinking. Through conventional and contemporary investigations, students expand their creative capacities while developing personal ideas of value. Not limited to a visual experience, painting students practice traditional skills including writing, verbalization, and research as they engage in cultural issues concerning art and design. In a continuously evolving and interdisciplinary field, our graduates enter the world as competent, confident, complete individuals that possess unique problem solving capabilities.

Printmaking

The Printmaking Department at the University of Oklahoma offers emphases in Screenprinting, Lithography, and Etching. The curriculum also includes courses involving Relief Printing, Letterpress, Digital Output, and Book Arts. The spacious studios have 24 hour a day access and students are given freedom to explore their ideas beyond the confines of traditional printmaking. An emphasis is given to interdisciplinary work, especially work containing aspects of community practice and installation. The facilities include two etching and three lithography presses as well as an oversized one-arm screenprinting press, capable of printing images up to 48 x 72 inches. The influence of emerging digital technology is constantly addressed and creatively  inserted into the curriculum.

Sculpture

Offering thorough instruction in both representational and contemporary methods, the sculpture curriculum incorporates a variety of approaches within three-dimensional expression. Students are encouraged to explore and integrate both disciplines as they construct their understanding of sculptural. Emphasis is placed on techniques, craft, production, creative development, experimentation and scholarship.
The representational concentration, under the direction of Artist-in- Residence Paul Moore and instructor Sohail Shehada, provides complete instruction of observational form and modeling processes using oil based clay, plaster, polymer clay and stone. Oriented towards the human figure, students may also investigate various representational possibilities and formats ranging from the small-scale to public & monumental works. Practical considerations, aesthetics, problem solving and craft concerns are integrated throughout the program.

The contemporary concentration, under the direction of Associate Professor Jonathan Hils, encourages experimentation with a goal of developing effective technical, theoretical, and critical skills needed within the context of current contemporary art. Students are also oriented towards professional practice, with significant attention towards building a portfolio, exhibiting, and practical knowledge designed to achieve success in the field of art. Utilizing a wide variety of materials and methods in regards to form development to producing discreet sculptural objects, students also investigate installation art, site specific/public sculpture and works that engage non-specific media. The program promotes using traditional sculptural methods (wood, metal fabrication, casting) while also engaging digital fabrication technologies associated with CAD, CNC, 3D rapid prototyping, and laser cutting fabrication which are available in the sculpture studio and the OU SoVA Digital Fab Lab.

Studio Art Faculty