THE MARCHUTZ SCHOOL OF ART - AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE:

Spring 2009 Courses

All courses are taught in English unless noted.

CURRICULUM DESCRIPTION
This program is open to students with any level of French AND any level of art experience. Students who attend the Marchutz School of Art for a semester take a minimum of 15 credits, as follows. You will have 9 credits of core classes at the Marchutz School, including an art criticism seminar, painting, and drawing (see below for course descriptions). In addition, you will take one art history course (3 credits) and one French language course (also 3 credits) at The Aix Center.

COURSES

ART 310: Art Criticism Seminar II (3 semester credits)
Weekly interdisciplinary seminars with slide comparisons and selected texts. Critical and comparative analysis of 2 dimensional, 3-dimensional, and architectural works from different periods and cultures with an emphasis on a particular aspect of art each week. Seminars address a range of diverse issues such as the imagination, symbol in art, Zen principles in eastern art, motif, and tradition. 45 contact hours and excursions.

ART 348: Drawing (3 semester credits)
The purpose of the studio drawing course is to develop the student's capacity to see into the visible world and to look within him/herself thus transforming his/her vision into art. The student is led gradually toward a deeper understanding of the relationship between natural and artistic forms through the challenges of museum study, landscape, portraiture, model work, and still life. Six hours of studio, landscape or museum instruction per week. Instruction is individualized and adapted to each student's needs and interests. Painting and drawing are taught concurrently and are complementary. Students must inter-relate their drawing, painting and aesthetic studies throughout the semester. Through rigorous perceptual drawing, students are asked to explore and articulate the relationships between content and form as well as technique and the imagination. ART 358 and 310 must be taken concurrently. 90 contact hours.

ART 358: Painting (3 semester credits)
The purpose of the studio painting course is to develop the student's capacity to see into the visible world as well as to look within her/himself, thus transforming her/his vision into art. The student is led gradually toward a deeper understanding of the relationship between natural and artistic forms through the challenges of museum study, landscape, portraiture, model work, and still life. Six hours of studio instruction per week. Instruction is individualized and adapted to each student's needs and interests. Painting and drawing are taught concurrently and are complementary. Students must inter-relate their drawing, painting and aesthetic studies throughout the semester. Students explore the relationships between the use of color, the imagination and perception. ART 348 and 310 also required. 90 contact hours.

ART 397/398: Independent Studio Study (3 semester credits)
Directed individual study for the advanced student. Students are accepted into the course after a transcript and/or portfolio review. Students propose a semester-long independent studio project to be approved by the director of the Marchutz School of Art. Students' work will be evaluated by a selected faculty member on a tri-weekly basis.

ART HISTORY class of your choosing (3 semester credits): Taught at The Aix Center.

FRENCH LANGUAGE class of your choosing (3 semester credits): Taught at The Aix Center.

SEMINAR
Weekly interdisciplinary seminars ask students to seek connections in their works with that of other artists as well as critics from different times and cultures. Music, poetry and theater are often compared to painting, sculpture or architecture. Intensive discussions around slide comparisons of works from all periods of art have their positive affect on the students' capacity to view their art in a larger context.

CRITIQUES
The purpose of critiques is for students to take distance on what they've done and have the experience of looking at a body of their work. Taking distance allows students to begin to judge the relative value of one work compared to another: how successful one painting is, or what promise another image shows in terms of a possible direction that might be explored in the future.

When you're involved in painting, you're much too close to be able to judge what you're doing. So, while painting, you must learn to simply let yourself go and immerse yourself in the visual experience you're having rather than trying to judge it immediately as to its ultimate value.

Critiques involve separating yourself from what you've done, looking at the work objectively, and then trying to judge it - in terms of how successful it really is - regardless of what you wanted to make of it or how you felt at the time you were doing it.

Often, some of the best paintings done by students have occurred during times when they felt they were doing their worst work. And sometimes paintings that students consider to be their masterpieces show themselves to be rather mediocre or conventional, because they are simply expressions of what was wanted or willed, and don't go beyond that.

Critiques are a time of looking carefully and, little by little, discovering what the images reveal.

EXCURSIONS
Excursions are an integral part of the program. Students visit small towns and villages of Provence, which in the past have included St. Remy, Arles, Luberon Valley villages of Bonnieux and Lacoste. In addition, the Marchutz program often takes students on a longer painting trip. Students have enjoyed such destinations as Paris, Giverny, and Venice.


Volunteer Opportunities

Participation in volunteer opportunities in Aix-en-Provence is an excellent way to immerse yourself in your host country's way of life while helping those in need. In effect, this will add another dimension to the study abroad experience through daily exposure and interactions, resulting in a greater understanding of the language, culture, and community of the host country.

If you're interested in volunteering, simply ask the staff at The Aix Center for details after you arrive in Aix. Please note that these volunteer opportunities are not for credit.

The following are the volunteer opportunities in which students can participate. A minimum Intermediate level of French is required to participate.

- English language tutor for schoolchildren ages 9-14
- English language tutor for adults ages 19-28 who are going back to school to try and pass their BAC
- Trimming olive trees on local farms
- Planting trees on Mte. Ste Victoire (Spring semester only because of planting season)
- Volunteering in a soup kitchen (December only)