TEACHING EXPERIENCE: COURSES
California State University Monterey Bay (2001-present)
Photography as Art I
This is an introductory course in black and white photography where students are exposed to the conceptual and technical aspects of photography as a fine art form. This visual arts course emphasizes photography as a means of artistic expression as students work in the darkroom with traditional silver based photographic printmaking techniques.Photography as Art II: Alternative Processes
Students explore the photographic medium as a means for artistic expression in a course dedicated entirely to unconventional photographic processes. Students use non-silver printing techniques, such as cyanotype and van dyke brown, olaroid manipulation, digital negatives, pinhole cameras, and liquid emulsions in the communication of ideas through images.Ways of Seeing: the Ethics of Public Art
This is a course which explores the ethics of the production, concept development, design, and display of public works of art in contemporary life. We focus on four major public art pieces in-depth over the course of the semester that will highlight the larger implications of public art in our world and the artist as an important agent of social change. Note: This course was originally developed by Dr. Amalia Mesa-Bains.Regional Art History: A Central Coast Vision
This course is part of an ongoing research project which investigates the artistic and cultural past of the Central Coast as it has emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries. Based on the concept of cultural citizenship, this approach will look at the arts from the point of view of both traditional fine arts as well as everyday community celebrations and contributions. While the focus will be on the visual arts, the course will also examine literature, including poetry, as it serves to expand and enrich an understanding of regional expression. Principle populations to be examined are African Americans, Chinese, Italians, Japanese, Latin Americans, Native Americans, Northern Europeans, Portuguese, Sicilians, and Spanish and how they have come together geographically, drawing from and redefining the various ethnic and national heritages of their specific individuals, and creating a new and unique Central Coast artistic community. Note: This course was originally developed by Dr. Lila Staples for the Dept. of Visual and Public Art at CSUMB.Senior Capstone
This course is the culmination of the Visual and Public Art major. Students within the concentrations of Painting and Mural, Sculpture and Installation, Integrated Media and Photography, and Museum Studies and Art Education complete the process of designing, curating, and presenting their own senior exhibition/project as a display of their cumulative learning in the major. Capstone exhibitions take place in the Spring of the senior year.Mixed Media Drawing
This 4-unit course will focus on image making through the application of various artistic genres including painting and drawing, collage and assemblage, mosaic, photomontage, print technologies and found objects. Students will gain a fundamental understanding of the formal concepts of color theory and design principles through class projects and concept-based assignments. Critical readings will be assigned in conjunction with course projects. We will also develop artistic critical skills as we regularly engage in group critiques and discussion of student projects.Media Analysis
In this course, we will investigate advertising, film, visual art, anime, music video, TV, digital media and many other forms of popular culture and imagery that influence our perceptions and identities. A number of themes will be revisited throughout course discussions and assignments including issues of authorship, authority, audience, and access. We will also explore issues of representation and ethics in order to develop a critical consciousness about the mediated world in which we live.Beginning Drawing
This is an introductory level course in drawing. Students will develop skills in the representation of form working from a variety of subject matter including the still life, the model, architecture, the outdoors and one’s own imagination. Students will be introduced to a number of drawing materials such as pencil, charcoal, ink and pastel and gain experience with various drawing surfaces. This course will function as a basis for other courses in the visual arts as one gains a fundamental understanding of composition, representation, and visual communication and art historyLife Drawing
This rigorous studio course provides the framework for beginning and intermediate drawing skills development using media that focuses on the human figure. Students will explore the human figure as subject matter and its vast potential for expression in a variety of visual art forms. You will be encouraged to examine your personal affinity for the human figure in your artwork including its role and aesthetic function through a variety of projects both in the classroom and through outside homework. Students will work from live models to explore a range of techniques. These will include the intensive study of line, gesture, proportion, value, mass, composition, design and color.2-D Fundamentals
Students will learn creative imaging, production and technical mastery of a medium through the completion and presentation of a body of artwork. This course will focus on fundamentals of drawing, value, color and composition. The relationship to audience and artistic expression will be addressed through discussions of the formalist versus relativist models of art theory and practice. By developing the skills of seeing, translation into 2D form and use of a range of materials, students will come to a better understanding of how to create art that communicates to diverse audiences.
Hartnell Community College, Salinas, CA (2005-present)
Intro to Photography
This is a beginning photography class designed to introduce students to the basic concepts and techniques used in photographic image making processes. No prior experience in photography is expected. Students are introduced to the techniques and application of the photographic process as well as composition, theory, and history of photography. This course provides the basis for continued study in traditional photography, digital processes, video and filmmaking. Instruction for this course will include lectures, slide shows, demonstrations and class discussion and critique.
Bellevue Community College, Seattle, WA (1997-2000)
Photography I
This is an introductory course in black and white photography where students are exposed to the conceptual and technical aspects of photography as a fine art form. This visual arts course emphasizes photography as a means of artistic expression as students work in the darkroom with traditional silver based photographic printmaking techniques.Non-Traditional Printmaking
In this course, students explore the relationship between text and image using a variety of print media including diazotype, photography, relief printing, and a variety of image transfer techniques. Students create concept driven projects combining non-traditional print practices.Drawing: Beginning and Continuing
This is course in drawing is designed to meet the needs of students at multiple experience levels. Students will develop skills in the representation of form working from a variety of subject matter including the still life, the model, architecture, the outdoors and one’s own imagination. Students will be introduced to a number of drawing materials such as pencil, charcoal, ink and pastel and gain experience with various drawing surfacesPainting: Beginning and Continuing
This course in painting is designed to meet the needs of students at a multiple experience levels. Students develop skills in the representation of form, believable space, color theory, perspective, and light as they work with acrylic paint on a variety of surfaces. Students are also introduced to various genres of painting through historically based slide lectures.Advanced Figure Studies
This is an advanced workshop in figurative drawing and painting. Students work in multiple mediums as they explore the human figure as subject matter and expressive form. Students are encouraged to work on longer projects that span several class meetings.
Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA (1998)
Workshop: Cyanotypes and Polaroid Transfers
This is an intensive two day workshop exploring two alternative photographic techniques. Students learn how to create “low-tech” negatives for contact printing, and bring in transparencies for Polaroid enlargement, transfer and lift techniques.
University of California, Santa Barbara (1996)
Photography I
This is an introductory course in black and white photography where students are exposed to the conceptual and technical aspects of photography as a fine art form. This visual arts course emphasizes photography as a means of artistic expression as students work in the darkroom with traditional silver based photographic printmaking techniques.