The mission of the Sculpture/Fiber Arts program is to cultivate the creativity and develop the skills of those who have the aptitude and the desire to communicate through visual language. The program supports students to formulate, create, exhibit, and market a body of work informed by a wide variety of media. The program emphasizes knowledge of historical and contemporary sculptors and fiber artists and encourages students to think critically. The program is committed to Student Equity, and currency in the fields of Fiber Arts and Sculpture. The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program strives to develop creativity, confidence, and art-entrepreneurial abilities in students in preparation for art-business and professional careers and/or transfer to an Art/Design school or university.
Courses in Sculpture and Fiber Arts are in great demand. We currently have three full classes of 18-30 students in both Fall and Spring semesters. Courses are taught by one full-time faculty member and two part-time faculty members and supported by a part-time lab technician. In conjunction with the Printmaking program the Sculpture/Fiber Arts program maintains an Advisory Board whose longtime community members include successful, internationally known business people such as David Hopper(Orient & Flume, Paradise Pictures) Sandy Fisher (Sandy Fisher Woven), and Majbritte Mobrand (Glimakra Weaving Studio), and successful entrepreneurs such as Mick and Aaron Needham (Needham Glass Studio), CSU, Chico Art Department Chair, Robert Herhusky, and Sculptor Dave Barda. The Advisory Board meets together once a year to offer guidance on program direction and art-business curriculum. Sculpture and Fiber Arts courses are offered in a spacious classroom (ARTS 145), which allows for five floor looms, eighteen table-top looms, and eight large work spaces. The program also utilizes outdoor lab spaces equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for firing ceramic sculpture, glass fusing, slumping and casting, loom construction, welding and bronze casting equipment, and a wide array of wood and metal shop tools for the construction of student projects. Through intensive program area teamwork, and with the technical assistance of CSU, Chico Professor Robert Herhusky and CSU, Chico Sculpture Tech, Dave Barda, Intermediate level sculpture students were casting in metal and glass every other semester. Courses in the existing program allow beginning level students the acquisition of skills in 3-dimensional design, glass fusing, glass slumping, mold-making, casting of glass and metal, welding, weaving, felting, and papermaking, along with creative problem-solving skills.
Sculpture/Fiber Arts Program
PLO’s
Upon successful completion of this program the student will be able to
A. Employ aesthetics, creativity, and quality craftsmanship in creation of a body original artwork.
B. Apply art design concepts, art terminology, and knowledge of historical and contemporary artists and trends in the written and oral critique of art works.
C. Develop marketable art products/portfolio and professionally display art works in an exhibition space.
D. Demonstrate expertise and safety in the use of a variety of materials, tools, and techniques when creating two- and three-dimensional works.
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Assessment
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Strategy |
Prioritization Criteria |
Strategic Direction Priorities |
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Discussion on PLO A: faculty commented that students walk through our doors with lots of creativity and motivation. We acknowledged that in our individual courses we strive to help students improve their visual language in the expression of conceptual ideas and craftsmanship. However, one or even two courses, was not enough to bring about substantive improvement to prepare students for the art world beyond college. More access to classes and equipment during the summer would improve students’ skills and craftsmanship. We discussed the fact that many of our students are not interested in transfer to university. Faculty agreed that though we have strong outcomes for PLO-A in individual classes, that those outcomes are not sustainable due to the limitations forced on us by repeatability rules. Faculty lamented the fact that without a progression of courses of increasing difficulty, it is very difficult to observe progressive improvement in student abilities to create an aesthetically pleasing, original body of work that displays quality in its craftsmanship.
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Strategy 1 - Design and implement a new credit program – an Art Career Certificate of Achievement
Strategy 2 – Acquire equipment
Strategy 3 – Expand course offerings
Strategy 4 – Equity and Art Students
Strategy 5 – Increase Technician to 11-Months |
Addressing a shortfall identified during SLO Assessment
Directly supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards/goals
Maintaining core programs and services
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations |
Reaching the Sustainable Continuous Quality Improvement level on the implementation of SLOs
Evaluating standards/goals for course success, retention, degree achievement, certificate completion, transfer and credentialing annually
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Discussion on PLO B: We discussed the importance of tying students' assignments to knowledge of historical and contemporary artists. We also acknowledged the need to not just introduce design elements and principles at the beginning of the course, but to emphasize them all the way through. We acknowledged the importance of showing students the work of successful artists throughout the semester to help them imagine themselves beyond school. We agreed on how critical it is for them to understand the contemporary trends they would encounter in the outside world. We discussed the success of our writing assignments and explored different types of assignments that would provide real-world experience, such as writing a proposal for an installation in The Box or an artist statement. We agreed that one cannot write a decent artist statement until one has a body of work, and our students don’t yet have that. We discussed the skills and knowledge students need in order to critique art and defend their work if they transfer to university.
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Strategy 1 – Design and implement a new credit program – and Art Career Certificate of Achievement
Strategy 3 – Expand course offerings |
Addressing a shortfall identified during SLO Assessment
Directly supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards/goals
Maintaining core programs and services
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations
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Reaching the Sustainable Continuous Quality Improvement level on the implementation of SLOs
Evaluating standards/goals for course success, retention, degree achievement, certificate completion, transfer and credentialing annually
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Discussion on PLO C: Faculty explained how they didn’t have enough time to properly integrate marketing ideas and portfolio development into their curriculum. One or two of the projects are designed to have students apply aesthetics and creativity to the creation of a utilitarian object, such as a printed calendar or t-shirt. However, without time into materials and techniques, the quality of student artworks suffers. Most faculty members have been forced to take on Work Experience students in order to focus on product development and marketing. Faculty agreed that Repeatability rules and lack of courses that would develop students’ Art Business acumen make meeting PLO-C very challenging, and Work Experience is not cutting it.
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Strategy 1 --Design and implement a new credit program – an Arts Career Certificate of Achievement
Strategy 2 – Acquire equipment
Strategy 3 – Expand course offerings |
Addressing a shortfall identified during SLO Assessment
Directly supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards/goals
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations
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Reaching the Sustainable Continuous Quality Improvement level on the implementation of SLOs
Evaluating standards/goals for course success, retention, degree achievement, certificate completion, transfer and credentialing annually
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Discussion on PLO D: Safety is always a major concern. Faculty acknowledged Marc Cardinet, technician, for his diligence along those lines and a great safety record. We discussed cleaning without water use in the outside spaces, and conserving water in the felting and papermaking processes by saving water in tubs. We discussed the recycled paper from facilities. We each discussed how we talk about safety and sustainability with students. Again, we acknowledged that expertise with materials and techniques requires repeated experience- something our students don’t have. More access to classes and lab equipment would improve students’ expertise with media.
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Strategy 2 – Acquire equipment
Strategy 3 – Expand course offerings
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Resolving health, life, and safety issues
Addressing a shortfall identified during SLO Assessment
Directly supporting the college in meeting its student achievement standards/goals
Maintaining core programs and services
Supports Previous Program Review Recommendations
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Reaching the Sustainable Continuous Quality Improvement level on the implementation of SLOs
Evaluating standards/goals for course success, retention, degree achievement, certificate completion, transfer and credentialing annually
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The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program uses the most objective assessment methods of course-level SLOs it can employ. For Art 9, 3D Foundations, we focused on SLO A. Display basic skills and craftsmanship in sculpture media using the formal principles of design and visual elements. The most effective method we have found for increasing student achievement for this learning outcome it to do an in-progress critique. By critiquing student projects before they were finished, students were able to utilize the feedback they received to improve their visual language, material use and making process, thus producing a better outcome.
In Art 60, Beginning Sculpture, we focused on SLO G. Safely utilize tools and specialized equipment. While some students have extensive experience with this equipment and in some cases must un-learn bad safety habits in order to follow our protocols, other have no experience and bring a healthy respect, and sometimes fear, of the equipment. There are several effective methods we employ to insure student safety. We require students to create a sketchbook and take detailed notes during demonstrations on the use of power tools, welding equipment, etc. After demonstrations, students must take and pass a safety test on each piece of equipment. These tests are the same as those administered by CSU,Chico. Any issues that come up as a result of grading the tests are addressed immediately with the students. A second demonstration on equipment is given once a project has been assigned. Once students begin using the equipment instructors and technician are present to assist students. These practices have resulted in student competence and confidence, and an excellent safety record for our program.
| 2012FA | 77.19% | |
| 2013FA | 81.63% | |
| 2014FA | 93.33% | |
| 2015FA | 91.67% | |
| 2016FA |
84.09% |
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1. Enhancing a Culture of Completion and Academic Achievement
Connection: The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program currently has a plan for recruiting high school students and increasing enrollment in our program by recruiting community members. We need more support from the college in this area. Fulltime faculty member, Alexandra Meier attended the National Arts Education Association Convention in 2017 and was able to share with faculty a new understanding and appreciation for the challenges that High School Art teachers face, including the proscribed National Standards and the strong expectations of parents and school principals. The convention also allowed Meier to connect with North State High School teachers. We have an on-going internal recruitment plan: the full-time faculty member recruits from the GE Art classes, such as Art Appreciation and Art History. During class faculty advise students on potential careers in the arts and suggest art schools and university art programs that would meet students’ individual needs. Many of our faculty teach or have taught at Chico State making them ambassadors and transfer partners to our closest Art program.
Entry and Progress: Sculpture/Fiber Arts faculty answer students’ questions about art program pathways and college services all the time. Faculty take time to discuss the optimum order in which art courses should be taken, which art courses will transfer to university, which additional courses could benefit and prepare students for university, and which GE courses best support what students are learning in art. Faculty also talk with students about the difference between a BA and a BFA degree in art, how best to apply for the BFA program, and what the advantages are of earning an MFA over and MA in art. If students are not interested in teaching, curating, arts administration, or other professional careers, but would rather manufacture and market their art, faculty mentor students about what is required. Presently this kind of help often takes the form of Work Experience where student and faculty member write specific objectives with the goal of launching a successful Art business. Because there is so much student demand for this kind of knowledge, the program is developing an Art Entrepreneurship Certificate to address the demand for art-entrepreneur. In addition, art projects are focused on solving problems in the creative process, and during critiques students analyze the work of others.
Completion: Sculpture/Fiber Arts program courses are part of the AA-T transfer degrees. Beyond transfer degree completion the program encourages completion by supporting students to submit their artwork to exhibitions held in and outside the college. Our program focuses on quality construction and presentation of student artwork. We have spent the past several years developing an Art Entrepreneurship Degree/Certificate, which will provide students with the necessary skills to be a successful art-entrepreneur.
Strategic Scheduling: Faculty in the program are always looking for ways to expand course offerings to new markets. We feel the Baby Boomers are one such market niche. Because of the equipment needs of the program, most course offerings must be made at the main campus. We try to offer sections at times when students are interested in taking class – usually 11:00am and 2:00pm. We have offered late-starting sections to meet students’ needs and we also occasionally offer a night class. Not having bus service at night has interfered with the success of night art classes. Students have shown interest in a nighttime Fiber Arts class.
Technology: We have brought Glass Arts and Weaving to the college. Sculpture is becoming increasingly technical and we are considering purchasing a 3D Printer for casting glass and metal. Faculty use Canvas to connect with students and post assignments.
Workforce and Community Development: We have an Advisory Board that guides our decision-making toward student success. Our Advisory Board fully supports the Art Career Degree/Certificate and the development of Glass and Fiber Arts courses on all levels. We are focused on the development of art-entrepreneurs, not workers for employers. We are focused on helping students market their work through Internet and social media.
2. Supporting Student, Faculty, and Staff Success
Student Engagement: It is critically important to the Sculpture/Fiber Arts/Printmaking program that we create and maintain meaningful relationships with our students. Our success rate bears this out. We encourage students to participate in Arts functions and activities. We use Blackboard and email to communicate with students.
Employee Development: : The fulltime faculty member, Alexandra Meier, supports the part-time faculty and technician to apply for Travel & Conference funds and attend conferences and workshops in arts and in education, in order to enhance their skills and remain current in their fields. Meier attends 1-4 art workshops in Glass, Wood, Metal and Fiber Arts each year to maintain currency and learn new skills. She attends the Stanford Human Rights Education Institute (SHREI) Symposium annually. She is a member of The Arts in Society. In 2014 Meier and Dr. Ken Meier presented a paper at The Arts in Society conference in Rome on the Sustainable Art and Architecture Exhibition held in the Butte College Art Gallery/ARTS building in 2010. This year Meier will attend the National Art Education Association Convention in order to collaborate with Primary, Secondary, College and University teachers and discover the latest in the fields of art and art education.
Wellness: Aesthetics is our business. We know how the aesthetics of a room or a building can support or adversely affect motivation and achievement. We display student work on walls and in cases, provide works of art for display, and maintain the cleanliness of our spaces. We also have conversations with students about their physical and emotional health when they bring it up, and take them to the health center or appropriate college service when needed. We place high value on safety.
Collaboration and Decision-Making: The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program meets two to four times a semester to discuss students’ learning outcomes and assessment, budget, safety, staff development, classroom and equipment issues, and program direction and progress. The part time faculty are not paid for these meetings yet we rely heavily on their input. I reward them with a meal, certainly much less than they deserve.
3. Using Data-Informed Processes for Continuous Improvement
Training faculty and staff and using data for continuous improvement by: At our monthly meetings we discuss how we can improve our program and insure that it meets accreditation standards. We utilize data from Data Mart, LMI, and many other Arts data resources, such as Americans for the Arts website, to support our course and program decisions.
4. Maximizing Resources to Support Student Learning
Strategic enrollment management that integrates financial planning with student need and achievement: faculty members in the program have continually made suggestions at Budget Forums and in meetings with VP and Dean about ways to successfully manage enrollment. There is a large student-group in the community that has been ignored ever since the budget crisis, particularly in the Arts areas. The community continues to pay for the Bonds that allowed the college to build the new buildings, including $28 million for the ARTS building. Offering courses that meet their needs would be advantageous to the college because of the increase in FTES and would please the community, particularly if and when the college wants the community to pass another Bond. (Meanwhile, CSU, Chico is capitalizing with their elder-college.)
5. Modeling Sustainability
Providing educational opportunities in the area of sustainability by: faculty in the program promote green practices by having students use recycled materials in their art projects, and recycling art materials, such as wax and clay.
Continuing to reduce the college’s carbon footprint and waste by: faculty and staff in the program promote awareness and conservation of resources, including recycling Styrofoam, cardboard, glass, wax, etc., energy, and conscious use of petroleum, gas, and toxic products.
Demonstrating environmental stewardship through water conservation by: faculty and staff use water judiciously, and encourage students to do the same. For example, in the papermaking process large tubs of water are needed for pulp. The contents of the tubs are re-used rather than being dumped for each class session. Outside lab spaces are not hosed down but swept.
6. Enhancing a Culture of Inclusiveness
The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program is acutely aware of the diverse nature of its students. Aside from the afore mentioned statistics on the mental/emotional disabilities of arts students(22.5%) versus the control group(7.7%), the program serves a much higher percentage of identified Disabled, Foster Youth, and Economically Disadvantaged students than the college as a whole.
Disabled students in Sculpture are 14.3% compared to the college 3.7%.
Foster Youth students in Sculpture are 9.5% compared to the college 2.9%.
Economically Disadvantaged students in Sculpture are 50.0% compared to the college 36.4%.
In addition, Learning Modalities assessments taken in Sculpture and Fiber Arts classes show those students are predominantly Visual learners and secondarily Kinesthetic learners rather than Auditory, the mode so often equated with success in college. Art students learn by seeing and by doing, as opposed to listening and taking notes. Thus, art students often have difficulty in an educational system that, as Howard Gardner explains, “assumes that everyone can learn the same materials in the same way and that a uniform, universal measure suffices to test student learning.” Gardner continues, “as currently constituted, our educational system is heavily biased toward linguistic modes of instruction and assessment and, to a somewhat lesser degree, toward logical-quantitative modes as well." Of the Multiple Intelligences Gardner describes students who excel in school tend to show strength in Linguistic Intelligence and to a lesser degree Logical Intelligence, whereas arts students fall predominately into the Visual-Spatial, Logical-, Inter- and Intrapersonal Intelligences.
Art students, and many famous artists, often have “learning disabilities” such as Dyslexia and Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. These challenges can make art students’ achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics courses very difficult. Often talented arts students quit school because they cannot complete a program of study that requires them to achieve in the courses that follow the narrow confines Gardner describes. In addition, what is viewed as a “learning disability” by the mainstream educator is called a “learning difference” by art educators and is viewed as an advantage.Art students often intuitively understand that they have differing abilities and do not fit into the mainstream body of students who are able to achieve in the established and biased educational framework. These students are often risk-takers in terms of socially constructed norms surrounding personal expression by the time they reach adulthood. Sculpture/Fiber Arts/Printmaking is an ideal program for these “misfits” to fit and self-actualize as human beings, as bearers of cultural expression, and as valuable citizens.
The Sculpture/Fiber Arts/ Printmaking faculty view art students as historically underserved because they do not have equity at the college. Rob Johnstone, PhD. addressed this issue in his recent talk on Guided Pathways Approach to Increasing Student Completion & Success, when he questioned “why would we expect students to get excited about college when we force them to do the things that they failed at in high school, and we do it in such a way that doesn’t contextualize it to anything they’re interested in”? Analytical reasoning, Johnstone suggests, can be contextually based – in other words, we need a Math for Artists course where art students could apply math to the creation of art. Students’ success rates would climb substantially and there would be a large increase in the number of art students completing AA-T and AA Degrees in Art.
Program faculty often dialogue about how to better serve its diverse student population. To address the issue of Student Equity Alexandra Meier participated in the FAIR Classrooms pilot program and returned with a wealth of information for the entire Art, Design, Music, and Theater faculty.
Validation Team recommendation: As the Background Statement of the Art Department’s 2014 Program Review rightly states, “Art has been an integral part of human culture for over 30,000 years” (p. 1) and it remains essential by reinforcing our “shared beliefs and values” (p. 2), increasing our “empathy” (p. 3)
and reinforcing our “social bonds” (p. 3). Because of the Arts’ central importance in human development and behavior, it is extremely disheartening to see the cuts and restrictions Butte’s Art Department has suffered in recent years. Therefore, it is the Validation Team’s recommendation that the Art Department be allowed to expand its course offerings (which are also profitable for the college). It is also the team’s recommendation that creative solutions be sought to somehow address students’ needs for skills development in Studio Arts classes given current, inappropriate state-mandated limits on repeatability of classes.
The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program has been allowed to add Art 81 Intro to Fiber Arts into its schedule of course offerings. This course has filled to above capacity, brought students from the community who would not have taken any other art class.
Validation Team Recommendation: Instill departmental planning with entrepreneurial vision. The Validation Team recommends that the Art Department devise and implement strategies to showcase and maximize the use of Arts facilities, resources and talents, creating a community Arts venue. With District support, leverage the capabilities of other campus programs such as Drama, Music, Recording Arts and Digital Art and Design programs (and others), with events management staff, as necessary. Consider the collaboration with programs such as Child Development and the Child Development Center, generating revenues for Art Foundation accounts and adding value to the communities we serve by offering art-oriented children’s camp opportunities. Enhance Butte’s culture of inclusiveness to encompass the campus and local communities by supporting and showcasing faculty, staff and student success in our wonderful Arts venue.
The Sculpture/Fiber Arts program continues to maintain it entrepreneurial vision and has worked diligently to develop a Guided Pathway in the Arts - an Art Entrepreneurship Degree/Certificate that would assist art students in developing their professional and entrepreneurial goals. It has:
The goals of the Sculpture/Fiber Arts program are to:
Strategy 1 - Develop a Guided Pathway in the Arts - Art Entrepreneurship Certificate
Design and implement a Guided Pathway in the Arts – an Art Entrepreneurship Certificate of Achievement. The Art Entrepreneurship Certificate is a comprehensive program that addresses the need to prepare students to enter the art market as entrepreneurs and art-professionals, and offers a solid foundation in the technical and aesthetic aspects of their selected art medium. It is designed to meet the needs of students who desire to create, manufacture, and market aesthetically pleasing and functional objects in local, regional, and global art markets. The program develops student knowledge and understanding of the unique art business context with which they will be negotiating upon leaving school. The program prepares students to become successful wealth generators who will make significant contributions to both community economic development and the cultural advancement of global society.
The Art Entrepreneurship Certificate is designed to support students’ creativity and develop skill in students’ chosen art medium, while also developing entrepreneurial and professional skills and habits of mind. The program offers students the opportunity to: 1) to develop their entrepreneurial skills in marketing art products; 2) and, to develop as professional artists by creating high quality portfolios that will provide access to art galleries, commercial venues, and artist in residency programs.
This strategy is currently underway. Thus far we have:
What remains to be accomplished:
Defend certificate and courses in Curriculum Committee meeting
–The Art Entrepreneurship Certificate addresses the needs of Arts students who desire to be self-employed or to develop their arts business in tandem with other employment. The literature on arts economic development indicates that, “artists are self-employed at much higher rates than others in the workforce. About 34 percent of artists in the U.S. are self-employed, 3.5 times the national workforce average, according to a paper released today by small-business organization the Kauffman Foundation that cited research from the Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey.” “[Artists'] innovative challenges differ greatly from those faced by scientists and engineers. Artists and related cultural workers tend to fall through the cracks in traditional workforce and small business development programs,” Markusen says in her report. The Arts Career Certificate is designed to assist these arts entrepreneurs in successful professional and business practice.
According to many arts entrepreneurs the New Jobs are the jobs people are creating on their own/for themselves. In a recent interview with Meredith Kelley, artist and owner of Drifter Vintage she remarked that a lot of young people are reaching to entrepreneurship because jobs are not available. “Everyone I know who’s an Arts major or who recently graduated with an Arts degree, myself included, is creating their own employment. There’s a whole new wave of people living on their own creations.” Kelley explained that “ARTS training helps you to think outside the box, because to invent your own job you have to think creatively, you have to be able to identify a need, and then create a product or develop a service. So many of us are in this situation, we help each other and compare notes. Kelley went on to explain that there is an important correlation between this new wave of entrepreneurs and the technology they have at their disposal. Everyone communicates and promotes their businesses through internet sites such as Artfire, Etsy, and Pinterest, and social networking sites like Twitter, and facebook, she explained. The technology makes it more possible to be in business for yourself because it tremendously expands your market possibilities. However, she says, “it is vital to promote your business through a creative look on the web. If you don’t have these skills, or have someone on your team who has them, you won’t survive.” In a recent survey 42% of Butte College arts students responded with a resounding “yes” to a question asking for interest in earning an Arts Career Certificate.
Extensive economic data "points to an appealing argument in favor of arts entrepreneurship: The arts attract the educated, and the educated make more money. That means many arts-related businesses should profit, and so should municipalities, through higher tax receipts; developers, through more expensive homes; and all sorts of higher-end shops and restaurants, by locating near the cultural amenities that better educated people enjoy. Public officials and private-sector businesspeople might then stop looking at arts projects as charity and see them more as smart investments that attract the most appealing residents. Arts entrepreneurs are likely to find far more sympathetic ears among community leaders, who are more likely to offer tax incentives, lower rent for arts-related businesses in new developments or other mutually rewarding partnerships.”
Arts businesses not only revitalize dying downtowns in cities across the nation, they address the rise of robots as an economic force. According to Marguerite McNeal of Wired.com, “The robots haven’t just landed in the workplace—they’re expanding skills, moving up the corporate ladder, showing awesome productivity and retention rates, and increasingly shoving aside their human counterparts. One multi-tasker bot, from Momentum Machines, can make (and flip) a gourmet hamburger in 10 seconds and could soon replace an entire McDonalds crew. A manufacturing device from Universal Robots doesn’t just solder, paint, screw, glue, and grasp—it builds new parts for itself on the fly when they wear out or bust. As intelligent machines begin their march on labor” what are our young people to do when their entry-level jobs are taken by machines? It is not only entry-level jobs that are threatened. Some sources believe that by 2045 “robots will likely automate 50 percent of the global workforce”. While a small percentage of students will build the bots, the majority of them need alternatives. Self-employment in the arts is one answer. The handmade, human quality of the art products will offer a valuable counter-point to cold, machine-made objects.
The program finds its antecedents in the Arts and Crafts Movement in Great Britain and the United States from the 1850’s through the 1920’s. It will focus, like this movement, on the value of the well-made, handcrafted objects. Those who collect art and antiques can testify to their increasing value over time. Entire industries, such as appraisal and conservation studios, and auction houses are built/find sustenance in quality hand-made aesthetic objects. The program will promote the development of self-sufficiency and entrepreneurial abilities. This strategy is whole-heartedly supported by our Advisory Board who view this new certificate as the best way to insure that students who do not plan to transfer to university, have a fighting chance in the art-business world.
Strategy 2 - Equipment to enhance student learning
Acquire equipment to enhance student learning and skill building, and insure that students obtain currency in the technological developments of their disciplines.
Students need a variety of equipment to ensure quality craftsmanship, skill building, technological currency and preparation for the outside art world and transfer to university and Art Schools. In Sculpture a new 14” Band Saw would alleviate the continuous demand when students are working with wood. The program’s existing 14” Band Saw is very old and the blade falls off continuously, interfering with the progress of the students’ projects in both class sections and the completion of SLOs for the course. The Thermofax Imager, requested by the Printmaking program, could also be used by Fiber Arts for printing on textiles. This is the latest technology in use in these fields. Equipment, such as Reeds for the Ashford Table Looms, Nortel Minor Bench torches, graphite paddles and marvers, is also needed for skill building, craftsmanship and to give student artwork a more professional appearance, which effects marketability. These equipment requests are the result of Assessment discussions about Program and course Learning Outcomes.
Strategy 3 - Expand course offerings in Fiber Arts/Weaving and Glass Arts
Add Fiber Arts and Glass Arts courses to our course offerings.
There is robust demand for aesthetically pleasing handmade textiles and art glass. These are media that meet consumer demand for both utilitarian and aesthetically pleasing objects. These media form the core of our Arts Career Certificate pathways.
In terms of textiles, students need and want to gain the technical skills and aesthetic abilities in weaving and working with fiber. Weaving and Fiber Arts courses develop students' technical abilities and critical thinking and problem solving skills. These courses prepare students for more advanced level textile courses offered at universities, such as Cornell University, University of Oregon, Kent State, and Idaho State, art schools, such as California Collage of Art, and Oregon College of Art and Craft, and community colleges with Fiber Arts programs. Students who wish to gain work experience at one of the local or regional weaving studios need foundational knowledge and experience.
Locally, an organization called Chico Cloth that is experimenting with growing flax in this area. Linen is the product of the flax plant. Currently, the only place where flax is commercially grown is Belgium. Our part time instructor, Sandy Fisher, is the leader of this movement. She says the value of raising flax and producing linen locally is that it is a low water use plant, and developing an textile industry in the area would provide jobs to the local economy.
Local and regional Textile studios desire workers with knowledge and technical ability in working with fiber and weaving. Gallery owners, museum curators, art institutions, and the art world in general seek artists/students who are knowledgeable in studio art practices and historical and contemporary art. The Textile Arts courses prepare students for advanced level Textile Arts courses offered at various universities, art schools and community colleges, such as those listed above.
Like wise, students are extremely interested in gaining experience of working with the medium of glass, which has become a popular material in which to create salable artwork. Glass Arts courses develop students' technical ability and critical thinking and problem solving skills. These courses prepare students for advanced level glass courses offered at California State University, art schools and community colleges. Students who wish to gain work experience at one of the local art glass studios need foundational knowledge and experience. Local art glass studios, such as Satava Glass Studio, Orient & Flume, and Paradise Pictures desire workers with knowledge and technical ability working with glass. Gallery owners, museum curators, art institutions, and the art world in general seek artists/students who are knowledgeable in studio art practices and historical and contemporary art. The Art 40 Introduction to Glass is a transfer course, which prepares students for intermediate level glass courses offered at California State University, art schools and community colleges.
The program Advisory Board supports the development of Glass and Textile Arts courses. Illustrious members include Robert Herhusky, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History, CSU, Chico, Sandy Fisher, of Sandy Fisher Woven, Martha Hope, Fashion Instructor and former technician of Costume Design, CSU, Chico, founder of Orient & Flume Art Glass, David Hopper, Mick and Aaron Needham of Needham Stained Glass Studio.
The Program Review Validation Team also supported the expansion of Art course offerings in its 2013 Report.
Strategy 4 - Equity and Arts Students
Raise faculty members’ awareness and knowledge of Student Equity issues and revise teaching methods and practices as needed, and develop equitable programs.
According to a recent report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), Step Up and Lead for Equity, What Higher Education Can Do to Reverse Our Deepening Divides, American democratic ideals and economic vitality depend on expanding educational opportunity, “yet at all levels of U.S. education, there are entrenched practices that reinforce inequities – and lead to vastly different outcomes for low-income students and for students of color.”
Equity is about fairness and social justice. It is clear when analyzing college demographic data that a much higher percentage of art students (50.0%) are low income than the college average (40.9%). It is possible, then, to view art students as a group where an equity gap exists. Even more striking is the comparison between art students who have mental disabilities/illness (22.5%) and the control group of G.E. students (7.7%). This data was self-reported on a Fall 2016 anonymous student survey, and though survey results have not been fully tallied, the results represent 427 student responses.
Faculty members in the Printmaking program will join those in Sculpture and Fiber Arts in an effort to become equity-minded leaders. This will require developing an awareness of the historical context of exclusionary practices in higher education and recognizing the impact on students, particularly those in the arts. Art students have a great deal to offer society, yet so many do not complete a course of study because they fail the required General Education courses. They often fail those courses because GE courses predominately measure logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence. Many art students’ intelligence capabilities lie beyond this narrow intelligence construct.
To address entrenched institutional bias for only two (logical-mathematical, linguistic) of the eight or nine intelligences faculty members have undertaken research in Multiple Intelligence Theory. We developed an Art Career Certificate rather than a Degree, in order to create a pathway of success for art students. We see this only as an intermediate solution. Ultimately, we believe art students’ success lies in reframing institutional concepts of intelligence, which will insure equitable treatment for all students’ intelligence types. Humans would not have survived without individuals with a wide variety of intelligence capabilities. We believe that Student Achievement and Student Learning Outcomes would greatly improve if educational institutions were to reevaluate concepts of intelligence and student evaluation accordingly.
Advertising assistance.
We have developed a marketing campaign - Unleash Your Creative Side. We need help marketing this to local communities who are unaware of what we offer in Art, Design, and Performing Arts, or were put off by the lack of opportunities the college offered during the last deep budget cut and the repeatability changes.
Revenue is raised by the Sculpture/Fiber Arts program through donations of materials and funds, and the sales of artwork and merchandise.
| Original Priority | Program, Unit, Area | Resource Type | Account Number | Object Code | One Time Augment | Ongoing Augment |
| Description | Supporting Rationale | Potential Alternative Funding Sources | Prioritization Criteria | |||
| 1 | Sculpture/Fiber Arts - Sculpture | Equipment | 11-000-512-1-100220 | 56410 | $1,511.00 | $0.00 |
| Nortel Minor Bench torches, graphite paddles, marvers, and ACE safety glasses | This equipment is intimately tied to student success in the Arts Career Certificate. To properly prepared and to set up a working glass studio business, students need to be familiar with lampworking processes and techniques. This is also true it a student wants to transfer to CSU, Chico's glass program This equipment request addresses faculty Assessment discussion on PLO A and PLO D. |
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| 2 | Sculpture/Fiber Arts - Sculpture | Equipment | 11-000-512-1-100220 | 56410 | $1,279.00 | $0.00 |
| Powermatic PWBS-14CS 14 in. 1-Phase 1.5 HP 115V/230V Band Saw | A new 14” Band Saw would alleviate the continuous demand when students are working with wood. The program’s existing 14” Band Saw is very old and the blade falls off continuously, interfering with the progress of the students’ projects in both class sections and the completion of SLOs for the course. This equipment request addresses faculty Assessment discussion on PLO A and PLO D. |
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| 3 | Sculpture/Fiber Arts - Fiber Arts | Equipment | 11-000-512-1-100220 | 56410 | $1,260.00 | $0.00 |
| 18 size 8 Reeds to fit the Ashford Table Looms | 18 size 8 Reeds to fit the Ashford Table Looms. A reed keeps the threads at the desired thread per inch on the loom and is a part of the beater that compacts the weft into place. Size 8 reeds are the best size for students when first learning to weave. This equipment need addresses faculty Assessment discussion on PLO A and PLO D. |
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| 4 | Sculpture/Fiber Arts | Equipment | 11-000-512-1-100220 | 56410 | $656.00 | $0.00 |
| McDonald Hollander Beater | A Hollander Beater is a very important tool used for Papermaking. One of these in a class would allow students to cut up and shred everything from plant and cloth fibers into pulp. The results would be professional quality base materials for students to create paper art that better prepare them for careers in Papermaking. |
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| 5 | Sculpture/Fiber Arts | Equipment | 11-000-512-1-100220 | 56410 | $358.00 | $0.00 |
| Bobbin Winder-Thin Shaft -2 Umbrella Swift - 1 | Both items are necessary pieces of equipment used to wind thread onto a bobbin. The bobbin holds the weft threads placed into a shuttle. Umbrella Swift holds skeins of yarns for winding onto bobbin winder |
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| 6 | Scullpture/Fiber Arts | Equipment | 11-000-512-1-100220 | 56410 | $800.00 | $0.00 |
| Wide Drum Carder -1 | A drum carder is a useful tool used by Spinners and Felt makers to blend wool fibers both natural and colors separately or together to prepare roving. Roving is the textile term for combed wool where all the fibers are lined up in the same direction for ease of spinning and felt making. This tool allows the students to pursue professional mixing of textures and colors that is necessary for a career in textile arts. |
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