Printmaking | BFA

The BFA in Printmaking curriculum provides students the opportunity to work with lithography, intaglio, screenprinting, letterpress, artists’ books, and relief. Digital methods for the production of two- and three-dimensional works are integrated throughout.

Printmaking merges some of the oldest artistic processes of replication with the newest. Artists who use printmaking at SFAI critically examine such concepts as multiplicity, reproducibility, and the “matrix” of the print in relation to contemporary art practice, ranging from popular to “high art” forms. Students also expand ideas of the display, exploring the full range of exhibition possibilities from traditional print editions to sculptural, installation-based, and interactive approaches.

Curriculum

Summary of Required Credits

TitleUnits
Liberal Arts Requirements (Examples: Global Social Movements, Un/Natural Ideologies, Concepts of Creativity, Mathematics: A Visual History, Extinction)33
Studio & General Elective Requirements 72
Art History Requirements15

Printmaking Studio Requirements

TitleUnits
Contemporary Practice 3
Beginning Printmaking3
Intermediate Printmaking6
Advanced Printmaking 6
Printmaking Electives (Ex: Digital Tools for Printmakers, Multiplicity, Intaglio (Etching), Letterpress for Artists)18
Senior Review Seminar3
Electives in any Studio Discipline (Ex: Introduction to Robotics, Expressive Drawing) 24
General Electives (Ex: Surfaces: Illusion/Abstraction, Soundscape 5.1) 9
BFA Graduate Exhibition0

Art History Requirements

TitleUnits
Topics and Foundations in Global Visual Culture3
Topics and Foundations in Contemporary Art3
History of the Major3
Art History Elective3
Art History Elective3

Program Learning Outcomes

  • Students learn three to four major print media beyond Introduction to Printmaking. This would include Intaglio, Lithography, Artist Books, and/or Multiplicity.
  • Students gain a specialization and the beginning of an expertise in at least one major print media upon graduation.
  • Students complete a body of work, including an artist statement, which fundamentally addresses the work, both aesthetically and technically.
  • Students have a one-person exhibit in the Ascension Gallery. This work must be done in the Senior year and must be a cohesive body of work. One or more Printmaking faculty reviews this exhibit.

Past Courses

  • Lithography I
  • Relief Printing I
  • Screenprinting I
  • The Painterly Print: Monotype and Monotype Printmaking Process
  • Art of the Street
  • Letterpress for Artists
  • Photo Intaglio Printmaking in the Digital Age
  • Conceptual Cartography in Print