Department of Art

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Introduction

Traditionally, the arts have celebrated the most glorious possibilities for human life. These ideals are becoming realities of creative expression and daily life for students at Maharishi International University. The Department of Art is dedicated to nurturing the deepest values of creative expression. Students discover their own inspiration by accessing the unbounded source of creativity within themselves. Studying within such a supportive environment fosters the students’ continual growth toward their full potential and the realization of that potential in their own art practice. Our art programs integrate practical training in studio art, depth of intellectual understanding, and the progressive development of consciousness. Fine arts are the creative self-expression of consciousness, articulating the awareness of the artist and enlivening the awareness of the audience. While mastering the skills and knowledge of art, our students become well acquainted with the mechanics of creativity, thereby enjoying more effortless, stress-free, and spontaneous creative expression. Our faculty, who exhibit and lecture around the country, have been recognized for excellence in both artistry and teaching. Our students have been accepted into top-level graduate programs in art including Cranbrook Academy of Art, Yale University, Tyler School of Art, the University of Iowa, and the University of California, Davis. Others have gone on to successful careers as artists, educators, art therapists, arts administrators, designers, animators, and in video production, advertising, and web design.

Special Features

Mentored by accomplished faculty artists who are experts in guiding aspiring artists, MIU art students explore their creativity in personal expression. Coursework offers opportunities to:

• Interact with distinguished visiting artists from around the country and with established local artists who have given Fairfield, Iowa a regional reputation as a center for the arts.
• Explore great art of the past and present in the light of consciousness.
• Take field trips to major cultural centers such as Chicago and New York and are exposed to the art of many cultures.
• Develop tools for self-evaluation and career development, forming the basis for professions in the arts and related creative fields.

Painting
Courses encourage students to:

• Explore painting and drawing as a special means to see and express one’s Self in relation to the world.
• Explore the nature of painting - its forms, tools, materials, and processes.
• Develop a deep knowledge of the language of painting and the overarching visual principles that connect all forms of painting.
• Learn from in-depth interactions with faculty in small classes.

Ceramics
Courses offer opportunities to:

• Relate the knowledge and experience of ceramics to the growth and evolution of one’s own consciousness.
• Develop knowledge of form, materials, processes and their relationship to the traditions that have fostered the creation of works of art in clay.
• Work in a fully equipped studio, which allows students to develop experience with a variety of methods of working in clay - including hand building, wheel throwing, and basic mold making. Firing methods include low-fire, high-fire stoneware, and raku.

Sculpture
Courses provide opportunities to:

• Learn the underlying principles that apply to the space/mass, proportion, size, scale, and light, and the formal language that is fundamental to sculpture.
• Gain knowledge of materials, structure, and forming methods.
• Address a range of topics that include knowledge of the figure, surface possibilities in relation to form, narrative development, installation, and site-specific outdoor work in nature.
• Use facilities for various materials such as plaster, clay, paper, wood, plastic.

Art History

The MIU Art History Program is designed to be of unique benefit for Art majors and non-majors alike. Each course offers an enjoyable opportunity to enrich one’s life by further developing cognitive skills in the areas of visual literacy, aesthetic discrimination and sensibility, critical thinking, and verbal articulation. Special emphasis is placed on extensive viewing of art works from designated periods, cultures, styles, and individual artists specific to each course. Viewing will be coupled with focused analysis of form, content, and context through classroom discussions and comfortable, stimulating writing assignments. It is particularly worth noting that an essential pillar of the mainstream art world of today consists of a lively, dynamic dialogue among artists and the informed public, which encompasses aesthetics, philosophy, current social issues, art theory and criticism, art history, and more. In this way, we, as engaged students of art and art history, become active participants in the art world at large. While the mainstream art world of today has become truly globalized in its embrace of the art, artists, and cultures of all parts of the world, the story of how such an evolved state has been achieved cannot be fully understood or appreciated without a basic knowledge of the sequential, epic narrative of the unfolding of Western Art History. MIU offers a series of sequential upper-level Art History courses that trace the chronological development of the art of Western Civilization.

Degree Programs Offered

• Bachelor of Arts in Art, Consciousness, and Creative Practice
• Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art, Consciousness, and Creative Practice
• BAAS Specialization in Pre-Professional Art Therapy
• Minor in Art
• Master of Arts in Studio Art
• Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art

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