Study Abroad: Pont-Aven Courses

Each course in this intensive program is 1-credit (4 semester hours) and meets for 60 hours of contact time during the summer session. Students are expected to enroll in 2 courses. Students with no prior studio art experience should select Drawing and one other course. Each class has a maximum of 20 students.

Course Descriptions

VISA 0061 - DRAWING I and II: Introduction and Advanced Tutorial

Instructor: Prof. Dennis Congdon, Rhode Island School of Design

Working on site and in the studio with traditional drawing means- charcoal, pencil, inkwash - students will study the experimental and innovative potential of drawing. Weekly assignments will challenge students to encounter aspects of Drawing that are foundational to Painting and Sculpture. Other projects will develop drawings that stand independently as finished final works on paper. Working from direct observation beginning students can expect individual one-on-one support daily and experienced students develop means of visual research that build advanced-level projects. In the tradition of Parisian and American artists working in Brittany all students will be required to keep a journal/sketchbook. Drawings and personal notations will be collected during field trips, and each day’s work in this book will document all studio developments and on-site observations. This important research tool will be central to weekly dialog with faculty.

VISA 0062 - Printmaking

Instructor: Susan Lichtman, Brandeis University

Using the etching presses at PASCA, this course will focus on the versatile processes of monotype, dry point and collograph as means to exploring personal imagery and pictorial invention. Students of all levels will be guided through a range of techniques, including additive and subtractive inking, carborundum prints, and multi-plate color printing. This workshop will compliment the students’ work in painting, drawing or sculpture by generating an innovative body of work that expands on themes developed in other media.

VISA 0063 - Painting I and II: Color and Pattern/ nature and culture in Pont-Aven

Instructor: Wendy Edwards, Brown University

This class will investigate painting based on information collected from the surrounding environment. Each assignment will stem from research on selected visual findings in the town of Pont-Aven, the Breton landscape, or field trips to historic sites. This class will accommodate both beginning and advanced level students through individual and group critiques. All students will be assigned twenty-four hour access to an individual studio space allowing for a wide range of ongoing projects in relation to scale and materials. The minimum requirement of eight paintings is expected within a stimulating and highly productive and focused four-week course. Basic principals as well as conceptual critical thinking skills will be introduced. This course will include daily interaction with the professor and individual support throughout the program. Students will be required to attend faculty and visiting artist lectures, Saturday excursions to sites selected by the faculty. Slide lectures, articles and other visual materials will be provided to both the group and individuals.

VISA 0064 - SCULPTURE/Installation/Site work

Instructor: Jerry Mischak, Rhode Island School of Design

This class will focus on the local materials and exhilarating environment as a starting point to explore and implement ideas involving the object and the space it occupies. Stone, metal, plants, wood, wax, found objects, trash are all possible materials to manipulate and alter for use in your projects. The challenge to create and solve problems in sculpture is the means by which each student will investigate their own personal vision. Assignments will be worked on in the studio and in some cases on site. Single objects, multiples and site-specific pieces will all play a part in the class.