ART & DESIGN

CORNISH.

BFA

Sho

w In

stal

latio

n (d

etai

l), 2

011

Pho

to: W

inifr

ed W

este

rgar

d

QUESTIONS?

EMAIL: admission@cornish.edu

PHONE: 206.726.5016 or 800.726.ARTS

FAX: 206.720.1011

MAIL: 1000 Lenora St., Seattle WA 98121

WWW.CORNISH.EDU/ADMISSION

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

www.cornish.edu/facebook

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

@CornishCollege

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Cornish College of the Arts does not discriminate in education or employ ment on the basis of: gender, race, national origin, religion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. This policy is consistent with relevant federal regulations and statutes, including those pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Questions regarding the application of this policy and information on services for disabled persons may be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs or the Director of Human Resources.

ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

Cornish College of the Arts is a dynamic cre-

ative community where you will begin the

journey of finding your voice as an artist or

designer. This is an ongoing process, and

your study over four years will enable you to

explore and define your individual path.

Before college, most visual artists investigate

a broad range of media in identifying a creative

direction. The Art and Design departments

have developed distinct curricula, enabling

you to deepen your ability to read visual

language and expand the diverse skills re-

quired, both practically and intellectually, to

be artists and designers in the 21st century.

At Cornish you have a range of opportunities

and choices in the visual arts. In the next few

pages you will get a snapshot of the differing

identities and commitments of the Art and

Design departments.

Sha

ne L

ong

(200

5), B

oo

k D

esig

n

ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

In each department, you start with a strong

foundation year that gives you the tools and

skills upon which to build your creative prac-

tice. This first year experience will help guide

you to define your chosen route of study.

In both departments, you will meet visiting

artists and designers that open up new

and exciting perspectives and offer important

insights about career options and possibili-

ties. Through internships and external projects,

you will have the chance to apply what you

have learned in a community context.

You will experience all of this in Seattle, a

global center of creativity. Providing you with

a range of museums, galleries, art spaces,

collectives, award winning design firms and

some of the most innovative companies in

the world – combined with a lively arts com-

munity in both the performing and visual arts

– you will be inspired and challenged in and

outside of the College.

“MY DEVELOPMENT AS AN ARTIST AT CORNISH CONSTANTLY

PUSHES ME TO THINK AND ENGAGE CRITICALLY WITH THE

WORLD AROUND ME. WITH THE RIGHT BALANCE OF TECHNIQUE

AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT, I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY

TO EXPLORE MY INTERESTS IN A BREADTH OF DISCIPLINES

AND IN A DEPTH OF CRITICAL METHODOLOGIES. CORNISH

TEACHES ME TO VALUE THE EXPERIENCE OF ARTISTS AND

THEIR ABILITY TO REDEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN.”

— JUAN FRANCO, ART ’14

Juan

Fra

nco

, Pro

duc

ts o

f M

ater

ial B

odie

s (2

013)

, wo

rk in

pro

gre

ss d

ocu

men

tatio

n, (p

hoto

by

Hal

ey B

ates

)

ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

“CORNISH SET A HIGH BAR IN THE VISUAL ARTS MANY DECADES

AGO WITH FACULTY LIKE MORRIS GRAVES, MARK TOBEY, GUY

ANDERSON, AND IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM. CORNISH CONTIN-

UES THAT STREAK OF EXCELLENCE NOW WITH INSTRUCTORS

WHO ARE SOME OF THE FINEST ARTISTS WORKING IN OUR

COMMUNITY. OVER THE YEARS, MANY GENERATIONS

OF STUDENTS HAVE ENJOYED SUCH GROUND-BREAKING

FACULTY AND MADE THE MOST OF THEIR EXPERIENCES

ON THEIR WAY TO BECOMING PRACTICING ARTISTS. AMONG

MY GALLERY’S CURRENT STABLE OF REPRESENTED

ARTISTS ARE THE TRIO SUTTON/BERES/CULLER WHO BEGAN

AT CORNISH AS STUDENTS AND HAVE RETURNED RECENTLY

AS FACULTY MEMBERS. NOW THAT’S AN EXCELLENT

TRACK RECORD.”

— GREG KUCERA, (SEATTLE GALLERIST)

New

Med

ia H

ybrid

s (2

011)

, Art

Dire

ctio

n: R

eilly

Sin

anan

, So

und

Des

ign:

Dan

ie A

llini

ce, P

erfo

rmer

s: C

amry

n K

elly

, Deb

ora

h C

orr

ales

, Nic

ole

Dai

gle

IMAGINE:

working on a motion piece with original music

scored and performed by fellow students;

collaborating with theater students whose

voices bring your animation to life;

partnering with lighting design students to

illuminate a special installation;

designing a poster to promote colleagues’

performances and exhibitions.

At Cornish you have the opportunity to explore

other disciplines across the College,

expanding your practice. You can work with

students from other departments (Music,

Dance, Theater, and Performance Production)

via electives both in the studio disciplines,

Humanities & Sciences, and independent

study/project design.

“AS A PERFORMANCE ARTIST INTERESTED IN CROSSING

BORDERS AND BLURRING LINES, I TREASURE THE

OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY ALONGSIDE INDIVIDUALS OF ALL

CULTURES AND ARTISTIC DISCIPLINES. CORNISH HAS

PROVIDED A SPACE IN WHICH THIS CROSS CONTAMINATION

OF FIELDS CAN OCCUR — AN AESTHETIC AND PERFORMATIVE

POLLUTION CREATING A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF BEAUTY.

CORNISH HAS, TIME AND AGAIN, REWARDED THIS SPIRIT

OF EXPERIMENTATION AND RISK TAKING.”

— REILLY SINANAN, ART ’14

Kar

ina

Nyq

uist

, Con

vers

atio

n P

iece

: The

Sec

ret

to a

Suc

cess

ful D

inne

r C

onve

rsat

ion

(201

3), 3

6 x

36 x

36

inch

es, B

FA E

xhib

itio

n (p

hoto

by

Win

ifred

Wes

terg

ard

)

ART & DESIGN AT CORNISH

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

The Fine Art community at Cornish actively

promotes the creative environment and the

intellectual context for artistic experimentation

and risk taking. Aimed at aspiring artists

from a broad range of backgrounds, this

program offers a unique cross-disciplinary

environment where the margins between

drawing, video & digital media, print,

painting, sculpture, sound, photography,

performance, and writing are dissolved

in favor of inventive alliances.

JD B

anke

, The

bea

uty

of it

all

is t

hat

you

crea

te y

our

own

bea

uty

out

of it

all.

(201

3), B

FA In

stal

latio

n (p

hoto

by

Bel

levu

e F

ine

Art

)

Fine Art offers an exciting opportunity for

students to work from the depth of their

chosen discipline(s), while investigating the

interfaces between material, digital, spatial,

temporal, and textual media. The spectrum

of making through thinking, and thinking

through making, is enhanced by this exciting

and challenging exchange.

The Main Gallery has been a significant fea-

ture and resource at Cornish for many years,

and has hosted the work of many renowned

artists. Alongside the main space, students

are invited to submit proposals to create

work for The Collaboratory, a project space

located in the gallery that is dedicated

to interdisciplinary explorations across the

College. This represents the very best of

Cornish’s unique identity as one of only three

colleges in North America that offers both

the visual and performing arts.

External and community engagement is a

priority and embedded in the program. We

support study abroad, residencies, collab-

orative projects, commissions, exhibitions,

internships and competitions. One notable

example is the Loan Exhibition Partnership

established in 2005 between the Art

Department and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer

Research Center.

Numerous resources are open to Cornish

students such as the Mary Alice Cooley

Print Collection, and the Henry Art Gallery

Collections at the University of Washington.

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

Nat

alie

Frie

dm

an, A

ltitu

de

1-3

(201

3), p

hoto

gra

phs

64

x 43

inch

es, p

roje

ctio

n va

riab

le d

imen

sio

ns, B

FA In

stal

latio

n (p

hoto

by

Bel

levu

e F

ine

Art

)

“IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TO WATCH MY DAUGHTER DEVELOP

AS AN ARTIST DURING HER TIME AT CORNISH. SHE CHOSE TO

MOVE FROM HER NATIVE NEW YORK CITY TO ATTEND A

SCHOOL THAT OFFERED A STRONG FOUNDATIONS YEAR

WHERE SHE COULD EXPLORE ALL MEDIUMS AND VENUES.

AS SO MUCH WORK IN THE CONTEMPORARY ART FIELD

TODAY IS INTERDISCIPLINARY, CORNISH PROVIDES ITS

STUDENTS THE TOOLS TO EXCEL IN MULTIPLE ARENAS. IN

ADDITION, STUDYING WITH STUDENTS IN THE PERFORMING

ARTS OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINE ARTS MAJORS TO

EXPAND THEIR FOCUS INTO THE WIDE BREADTH OF WHAT

CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS ADDRESS TODAY.”

— BARRY FRIEDMAN, (NYC GALLERIST)

FINE ARTFOUR YEARS AT A GLANCE

As a freshman in the Art Department, you

engage in learning to read visual languages

and explore art practices through contextual,

historical, and critical studies. In this year

you will rotate through and explore media

studios, learning to situate work “within

process” and learning to value process itself

as “the work.”

The focus is on building technical, practical,

rhetorical, and conceptual skills so that

you can broaden your experience, challenge

yourself and work outside your comfort zone.

Year 1 is a time in which you will expand your

awareness, develop experiential knowledge,

and start to identify where your interests lie.

In the sophomore year, you will build on your

exploratory first year and continue to identify

key areas of interest. This is the time when

you start to develop agency and ownership

of your own artistic choices: media, method-

ologies, processes, materials, etc.

The acquisition of skills continues within the

context of your experimentation. Many stu-

dents prefer to specialize while others embrace

cross-disciplinary approaches. The program

enables and supports this diversity.

The contextual, historical, and critical studies

component of your education continues

throughout the four years, in the recognition

that the line between making and thinking is

always permeable.

YEAR 1EXPOSURE, EXPLORATION, PROCESS

YEAR 2EXPERIMENTATION – SHIFTING DESTINATIONS

Cam

ero

n B

ow

ers,

Foc

us (2

012)

, 3-c

hann

el v

ideo

, 3:4

2 m

in

The junior year defines and establishes your

emergent practice. You will extend and

develop your work through an informed rela-

tionship between content, context, and

audience. The spectrum of technique, practi-

cal application and research is fluid, and you

will identify your place within this exchange.

This is a time of self-directed practice and

further developing your critical skills.

This is normally the year that students choose

to study abroad, compete for participation in

the New York Studio Residency Program, or

take part in the AICAD Mobility Program.

As a senior you will consolidate your learning

and experience towards an authored prac-

tice, concluding with a public outcome at the

end of the year. This is the time when you

will propose, develop, and realize a body of

work, accompanied by critical writing.

You will participate in cross-disciplinary cri-

tiques and reviews. Professional practice will

be embedded in your studies and you will

apply these skills throughout the year, via net-

working, commissions, self-promotion and

related writing. Your time at Cornish culminates

in the BFA exhibition, a widely attended event

for the Seattle community. This is both a point

of departure and commencement.

CRITIQUE IS AN EXPLORATORY AND SPECULATIVE APPROACH,

AND IS USED TO ENCOURAGE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION AND

EXCHANGE OF IDEAS.

YEAR 3 DEVELOPMENT – ESTABLISHING PRACTICE

YEAR 4 CONSOLIDATION, REALIZATION, DISSEMINATION

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

The faculty’s knowledge and expertise is

wide ranging and supports our commitment

to cross-disciplinary methodologies and

practice. 2012-13 was an active year for fac-

ulty exhibitions and screenings, including:

Robert Campbell’s experimental feature film,

Pulchrior in Luce premiered at the International

New Media Festival, Santa Fe Center for

Contemporary Art; Cable Griffith’s painting

installation Natives at SeaTac International

Airport; Kathleen Rabel’s work included in

the exhibition Black and White Color Study

from the Permanent Collection at the Museum

of Northwest Art, Washington; Bonnie

Biggs, Campbell and Griffith in the exhibition

Chamber Music at the Frye Art Museum;

Ruth Tomlinson’s recent residency and instal-

lation entitled Lost Long: a landscape at

Jack Straw New Media Gallery, Seattle; Tina

Aufiero’s installation Distillations and Eruptions

at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery in

Ontario; and Eirik Johnson’s (2012 Neddy at

Cornish recipient in Open Medium) exhibition

Barrow Cabins at the Rena Bransten Gallery

in San Francisco.

Students have been equally successful, for

example: Sierra Kohler was awarded a

placement at the New York Studio Residency

Program in Brooklyn, NYC; Syd Brown

and Danielle Allinice awarded scholarships

from the Puget Sound Group of Northwest

Painters; and Reilly Sinanan, who is currently

a company member for the performance

troupe Degenerate Art Ensemble, being

selected as one of twenty artists to study

with legendary performance artist

Guillermo Gomez Peña in Tucson, Arizona;

and recent graduate Emily Joseph has

been awarded a public art commission by

InCity Properties to create a site-specific

work in the summer of 2013 in the Capitol

Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

Stu

den

ts v

iew

ing

Wor

k in

Pro

gres

s b

y S

utto

nBer

esC

ulle

r (2

011)

, Co

rnis

h M

ain

Gal

lery

The College has established exciting external

partnerships to enable you to expand your

study experience and extend your practice.

Pilchuck Glass School

TheFilmSchool, Seattle

AICAD Mobility Program

New York Studio Residency Program

Being educated as a contemporary artist,

your career options are non-linear, wide and

far-reaching. It is our aim to give you the

diverse and flexible skills necessary to open

up potential directions for your future profes-

sional life, which could include: research

at the postgraduate level (MFA); or becoming

a professional artist, filmmaker, project

manager, studio manager, fabricator, animator,

curator, writer, printer, photographer, arts

administrator, publisher, educator, technical

instructor, preparator, producer, picture/ar-

chive researcher; working in public art

contexts, museums, or working in the areas

of digital imaging, production and post-pro-

duction, web authoring, new media production

...just to name a few.

OUR ALUMNI SPAN THE GLOBE AND OFFER YOU A LIFELONG

PROFESSIONAL NETWORK.

FINE ARTAT CORNISH

John

Rad

tke,

(lef

t) S

ticks

and

Sto

nes

(201

3), p

lyw

oo

d, g

esso

and

mix

ed m

edia

on

pap

er; T

he C

ut W

as T

oo D

eep

(201

3), f

oun

d o

bje

cts,

BFA

Exh

ibiti

on

(pho

to b

y B

etsy

Mo

bb

s)

“WE ARE COMMITTED TO AN INTEGRATION OF PRACTICAL

EXCELLENCE, ACADEMIC RIGOR, AND TECHNICAL FLEXIBILITY,

GIVING YOU THE SKILLS REQUIRED TO SUCCEED IN A TIME

OF COMPLEXITY AND CONVERGENCE. THIS VALUABLE AND

MEMORABLE TIME OF STUDY WILL PROVIDE THE SPRING-

BOARD FROM WHICH YOU WILL LAUNCH AN EXCITING CAREER

WITH CONFIDENCE AND REFLECTIVE AWARENESS.”

— CHRISTY JOHNSON, ART DEPARTMENT CHAIR

DESIGNAT CORNISH

Media, information systems and created

environments mold the ways we live and

work today. At Cornish, we believe that de-

signers are people who use their talents

to shape our world for the better—creating

spaces and experiences that promote

innovation, environmental and economic

sustenance, and that contribute to the

health, well-being, and dignity of all people.

Des

ign

stud

io, 2

011

Cornish Design offers a student-centered

education. Our department is small enough

to work with every student personally, and

we support each student’s particular range

of talents. First, students develop the time-

honored foundational skills: drawing, painting

and 3D fabrication. Then, while using the

most current in digital tools, they incorporate

design history, visual intelligence, creativity

and design thinking into their skill-sets.

DESIGNAT CORNISH

Ro

ss M

cCam

pb

ell,

Des

ign

BFA

Exh

ibiti

on,

201

2. P

hoto

: Win

ifred

Wes

terg

ard

The Cornish Design foundation year gives

our students the basic skills they need to

excel in our three concentrations of Visual

Communications (Graphic Design and

Illustration), Motion Design (Motion Graphics,

2D Animation, 3D Animation, and Interactive

Design) and Interior Design. This first year—

a year of project-based learning—hones the

student’s skills with work that deals with top-

ics ranging from designing for social change

to conceptualizing futuristic worlds.

Through their four years as a part of Cornish

Design, guided and mentored by a faculty

made up of award-winning, practicing de-

signers, students master the tools and skills

needed to become working designers.

Perhaps just as importantly, they understand

design’s role in the world and their respon-

sibility to that world and to their own talent

and well-being.

DESIGNAT CORNISH

Ours is an important time to be a designer.

Design thinking is being recognized by many

different fields as a valuable way of thinking

about and solving the problems of a complex

and interconnected world. In order to adapt

to society’s increased demand for innovation,

today’s creative practices are becoming

more and more hybrid. Motion and VisCom

designers find themselves working on User

Experience and User Interface design; Interiors

firms are growing their VisCom capabilities

and Interior designers find themselves work-

ing with exhibitions design teams.

Cornish Design prepares students for this

hybrid way of working by encouraging them

to think innovatively, to break barriers, col-

laborate and create new definitions for their

activities. It’s part of our school’s mission

statement: we have pledged to develop de-

signers, citizens and innovators. Unlike more

traditional schools that are bound by the old

belief that designers design in a vacuum, we

emphasize collaboration, team projects and

team solution-finding. These are the values

that today’s industry leaders are seeking.

Des

ign

BFA

sho

w, 2

011

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Animation still: Jethro Paler, 2009, Nina Malevitsis, 2011, Morgan Conley, Design BFA Exhibition, 2012

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Johanna Fitzgibbon, Design BFA Expo, 2013, Tim Sircoloumb, Design BFA Expo, 2013

BACKGROUND: Design Studio

DESIGNAT CORNISH

Our Design Internship Program is one of

the most attractive reasons to study design

at Cornish. Internships give students

professional design experience with the most

important studios in our region. Our intern-

ship program brings professional engagement

and community involvement into our

students’ education, dissolving the bound-

aries between student and professional life.

Throughout the year, Cornish Design students

have access to a variety of events and

activities, including our Visiting Designers

program, public lectures, extra-curricular

group projects, inter-departmental events,

student interest groups and very active

student chapters of the professional associa-

tions AIGA, IIDA and ASID.

Our graduates work in large design firms, small

studios, large and small corporations, large

and small nonprofits committed to positive

social change, non-governmental organiza-

tions (NGOs) and, of course, private practice.

Many of our students go on to full-time

employment at the organizations for which

they interned, such as Digital Kitchen,

Superfad, Hornell Anderson, Turnstyle, Modern

Dog, Amazon, Starbucks, Callison Architects,

Interior Architects, NBBJ Architects, and

Microsoft. Other graduates decide to further

their education at schools like Rhode Island

School of Design, Yale University, School of

Visual Arts, and California College of the Arts

Sha

ne L

ong

, 200

8

“OUR CONNECTED WORLD DEMANDS SMART, CREATIVE

INDIVIDUALS TO ENVISION NEW POSSIBILITIES. COME VISIT

OUR CAMPUS AND MEET OUR COMMUNITY OF INSPIRED

STUDENTS AND FACULTY EXPLORING TODAY’S

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES.”

— JEFF BRICE, DESIGN DEPARTMENT INTERIM CHAIR

HUMANITIES & SCIENCES LIBERAL STUDIES LEARNING AND THE BFA DEGREE

An essential component of your BFA degree

includes the courses you will take outside of

your major in the Humanities and Sciences

Department. As the general education division

of the College, we provide a liberal studies

curriculum that engages Cornish students in

an exploration of the social, environmental

and cultural contexts in which artistic

production takes place, while developing

critical thinking, problem-solving and com-

munication skills. The curriculum helps you

consider multiple perspectives when looking

at complex problems and issues, drawing

on a variety of ways to understand the world

and our human experience.

Our curriculum is constantly changing and

inquiry based. It is intended to engage you in

active analysis and problem-solving in relation

to thematic issues that may have a long-

standing history, but that continue to challenge

contemporary societies and individuals, both

locally and globally. Classes are limited in size

and conducted “seminar style.” Students at

Cornish are not passive learners; they

contribute to and help shape the experience

in their classes. Many classes go into the

community, exploring the urban and natural

environment, doing field observations and

visiting local organizations and the people

involved in them.

Both in and out of the classroom, instructors

in Humanities and Sciences help you acquire

the kind of confidence and competence that

will serve you well both during and after college,

in your personal and professional lives. In the

end, our aim in Humanities and Sciences is

to inspire the curiosity and habits necessary

for life-long learning and development.