Programs

The graphic design program focuses on the development of a cohesive, investigative body of work, also known as the student’s thesis. At Yale, the graphic design thesis is conceived as a loose framework within which each student’s visual method is deployed across many diverse projects during the two-year course of study. While every thesis project is unique, there are several common features: a focus on methodology, the application of a visual method to studio work, and the organization of the work in a thoughtfully argued written document and “Thesis Book.”

The individual collection of graphic design work by each student is supported on several levels simultaneously: studio work led by faculty meeting weekly; small six-person thesis groups meeting biweekly; individual sessions with writing and editing tutors; and lectures, presentations, and workshops.

Instruction in the program is rooted in the investigation of painting as a unique genre with its own complex syntax and history. Within this setting, the program encourages diversity of practice and interpretation, innovation, and experimentation.

Approximately twenty-one students are admitted each year. At the core of instruction are individual and group critiques with faculty, visiting critics, and visiting artists. In addition, students participate in a variety of seminars taught by both faculty and critics. The study of printmaking is integrated into the painting program, and a student may concentrate in painting, printmaking, or a combination of the two.

Students work in individual 300-square-foot studios at 353 Crown Street adjacent to Green Hall. Students have access to a printmaking workshop in the Crown Street building, equipped with two etching presses and a lithography press, a fully equipped silkscreen facility, as well as digital resources available in the print studio, throughout the School, and at the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media.

Photography is a two-year program of study admitting ten students a year. Darkroom, studio, and computer facilities are provided. Students receive technical instruction in black-and-white and color photography as well as nonsilver processes and digital image production.

The program is committed to a broad definition of photography as a lens-based medium open to a variety of expressive means. Students work both individually and in groups with faculty and visiting artists. In addition, a critique panel composed of faculty and other artists or critics meets weekly, as well as for a final review each term, to discuss student work.

The sculpture program offers students the opportunity to develop their work in a supportive environment consisting of critical feedback in a broad array of diverse voices. The field of sculpture includes a varied collection of working methods and outcomes—one set of tools is not privileged over another—creating a healthy and experimental program that mirrors the issues facing artists outside of the institution. Students work independently in individual studio spaces and have access to common areas for the critique of their work. 36 Edgewood houses the sculpture program and has a woodworking shop, a metal shop, and a computer lab, while additional resources are offered by the School of Art and the University at large. No metal-casting or ceramic facilities are available.

The main focus of this program is to facilitate the development of conversation and constructive critique among students and faculty. Our aim is to articulate student work vis-à-vis its own trajectory and in relation to art history and the current moment. This conversation is formally structured to take place one-on-one between students and faculty, in small groups, and within a larger group involving the whole sculpture department.