A Georgia Baptist Institution
Come join us and learn what being an artist, designer, or art educator can mean to you and your future.
Our primary mission is to facilitate learning, experimentation, research, and understanding of art. Through Shorter’s knowledgeable and talented faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, and one-on-one instruction, Art majors are guided, challenged, and encouraged to develop into highly skilled professionals in any of our six areas of study in studio art: Ceramics, Computer Art, Drawing, Painting, Photography (Black / White and Digital) and Sculpture.
The Shorter Art faculty is involved in a range of professional and service activities and serve as role models for aspiring artists, designers and art educators. Their knowledge and talent make this Art Department second to none in the region. Graduates of our program are readily sought after by graduate schools, the design industry, museums & galleries, and as art educators because of the talent, creative skills, and knowledge skill sets that have been fostered in our students.
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Degree Programs The studio art program offers a Professional Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art in the following areas: |
Faith in the Fine Arts (An Important Mission)
The Shorter Art Department encourages students through the visual arts to develop their particular callings to the highest professional level possible; to learn how to deal with specific problems in the field without compromising our faith and our standard of artistic endeavor; to provide opportunities for sharing work and ideas; to foster intelligent understanding, a spirit of trust, and a cooperative relationship between those in the arts, the Church, and culture; and ultimately, to establish a Christian presence within the secular art world.
The Shorter University Art degree is designed for those individuals who feel they are called to serve God through the artistic discipline of creative problem solving. Our professors are dedicated to helping students build a foundation for a successful career in visual arts. You will work toward developing a relevant art practice through combining visual skills, critical thinking, and practical entrepreneurial knowledge. We believe that all artists should engage society through an honest, humble offering of their gifts in service to the world. Our students are immersed in a combination of classical training and contemporary theory, mentored by faculty members who care deeply and work closely with each student to nurture his or her individual style while also helping to inspire new ways to create.
As you create, search and ask questions, you will discover that your life and work can be a way to authentically worship God and serve humankind. This synthesis of work and worship is redemptive and restorative for a world in great need of selfless love. And while you’re here you’ll be part of God’s unfolding story as you set out to discover God’s grand design for your life.
Internships
The department views internships and apprenticeships as vital learning experiences. The time spent applying professional knowledge and skills complements in-class instruction. Students work closely with the faculty to identify outstanding opportunities. Shorter art students are highly sought after by surrounding institutions and industries for their outstanding creative problem solving abilities.
Technology
The art department maintains an up-to-date Macintosh computer lab with thirty state-of-the-art workstations to support the digital photography and computer art areas of study. These labs are equipped with scanners, laser printers, large format ink-jet printers and graphics tablets. The Department utilizes the latest in Adobe Creative Suite software.
Studio Facilities
The art department provides individual studio space for its students to create and explore art. The Horseleg Art Centre is nestled in a wooded landscape amidst a bamboo garden, providing the art students with plenty of space in which to create.
The Arnold Art Gallery
Offers an opportunity for students to exhibit their artistic efforts once each semester through the “Juried Student Art Exhibition” (The artwork for these exhibits is selected by guest art experts such as: Museum Curators and Professional Gallery Directors). Also each art major will receive a solo exhibition in the art gallery their senior semester.
Exhibition in Arnold Art Gallery
Visiting Artists
The Arnold Art Gallery offers the students opportunities to experience professional art exhibits through its “Guest Artist Exhibitions”. In the past, the Arnold Art Gallery has provided the Shorter University community Guest Artist Exhibits including artists from France, Russia, Japan, Mexico, China, Spain, Great Britain and Africa, as well as, artists from throughout the United States. It is the mission of the Guest Artist Exhibitions to provide the Students with opportunities to gather experience through personal conversations with these Guest Artists while experiencing the actual artwork created by the artist.
Art Department Scholarships
The art department offers two types of scholarships, an in-coming freshman scholarship and a merit based scholarship for advanced students. The freshman scholarship is based upon a portfolio submitted to the department (please contact Shorter Admissions for an application form) and the merit based scholarship is based upon the level of student performance during the pursuit of course work at Shorter.
A Well Rounded Degree = Success in the Future
The art department encourages its students to pursue a minor course of study in addition to the BFA/Art requirements in order to further prepare the student for future success. Students have pursued minors in Psychology (which lead to successful graduate study in art therapy counseling), Business (which lead to successful employment in the design industry), Communications (which lead to successful employment in the publication industry), Education (which lead to successful graduate study in art education and studio art ), and Religion (which lead to successful employment in the Church Youth Out-Reach programs).
Undergraduate Degree in Art + Graduate Degree in Art Education (The Smart Way to Go)
While the Shorter University Art Department does not offer an Art Education Degree, we strongly recommend that students who wish to pursue this field of employment pursue a Minor in Education and upon graduation with a BFA in Art (with a minor in education) the student could apply for Graduate School in Art Education. Most Master of Arts in Teaching degrees only require an additional two semesters of graduate study (approx. 30 hrs) and the Masters Degree will increase employability as well as increasing salary range. It is not widely published but it is a fact that most Undergraduate Education Degrees require an additional 48 hours of course work in addition to the requirements within the concentration and the competitive salary range is lower with a Bachelors Degree. After extensive research the Art Department has determined that a student who pursues a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art (with a minor in Education) and then pursues a Masters of Arts in Teaching is the “Smart Way to Go” in planning for future employment in Education.
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Guest Artist Exhibit Artist Allison McElroy invites you to experience her exhibit and enlightens us with the following statement: "My visual language is the collection of materials too small to merit attention. My form of drawing is the process of grouping, handling, and arranging collected objects. Nature reduces itself through the changing of cycles and I am interested in documenting this natural process of deconstruction. Elemental objects are chosen for the belief that their meekness has the ability to open a viewer's eye to what is magnificent… Texture, History, Fragility & Strength, Natural materials, Decaying & Discarded, Observation and Analysis."
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Guest Artist Exhibit Artist Glenn Dasher invites you to experience his sculptural exhibit and describes his art in the following way: "My work might be described as surreal, playful, or iconoclastic "monuments;" which present "pseudo-historical" statuary fragments within an altered/improbable conceptual context. They derive from my fascination with our basic human desire to immortalize ourselves; our singular/questionable acts of heroism, brilliance, triumph, or tragedy; to embody our memories in statuary and public structures, of bronze and stone; their origins and meaning inevitably corrupted, lost, or mystified by evolving contexts wrought by the inevitable passage of time, selective memory, or societal change."
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Guest Artist Exhibit The Heroic Present: The Photographs of Jan Yoors presents a candid view of a people stereotyped, maligned, and persecuted on the eve of World War II, during the Holocaust, and into the 1970s. Jan Yoors, the son of a Belgian artist, began a life long journey with the Roma in 1934 at the age of twelve. Yoors photographed the Roma for over forty years as a "protest against oblivion, a cry of love for this race of strangers who have lived among us for centuries and remained apart."
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Guest Artist Exhibit Artist Bryce Lafferty invites you to experience his art in this exhibit with the following statement: "My paintings investigate themes of isolation and growth. Fish tanks, gardening, bomb shelters, islands, and "green" architectural design inspire them."
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Guest Artist Exhibit Artist Delores Surry-Smith invites you to experience her art and ideas with the following statement: "Black Sights and Sounds Retrospective.....is a look into the Black American lifestyle using color and texture to describe the sight and sounds of everyday life as seen through the eyes of an Artist. This body of work is intended to show the love of God, family and community that exists in the black family."
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Shorter University Student Art Exhibit
"The Shorter University Juried Student Art Exhibition"
March 25 throughu April 5, 2013
Arnold Art Gallery
An Exhibition of Artwork by Shorter University Art Majors and Minors, featuring artwork of a variety of media completed during coursework and selected for the exhibition by a Guest Art Professional.
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Mr. Kelly Mills As one of the newest Shorter University faculty hires, Kelly Mills is excited about his return to the arena of higher education. With a broad background in fine art and commercial photography, he brings experience and commitment to his classroom. Mills has worked as an Emory medical photographer, the manager of TBS corporate photography, and MARTA’s staff photographer. He has taught photography at Savannah College of Art and Design, Johnson County Community College, Avila University, and the Kansas City Art Institute, and has served in community-based arts organizations like Atlanta Photography Group, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, and Society for Contemporary Photography. |
He brings to the classroom a love for all manner of creative expression, believing that visual literacy is an important part of any education. A better understanding of the visual arts is useful in any discipline, and more so for imaging, considering its ubiquitous presence in our daily lives. “God must’ve loved potters and photographers, since he made so many of us.” Teaching classes in photography, computer art, art history and art appreciation, Mills strives to help students integrate theory, technique, and production.
M.V.A. Photography, Georgia State University
B.A. Photography, Eckerd College
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Jackson Zorn Jackson Zorn, Adjunct Professor of Art, takes advantage of his ability to educate and mentor students at all levels in painting and drawing courses, while continually exercising his own creative talent. His experiences in higher education include a Bachelor of Fine Art in Drawing from Clemson University, SC and a Masters of Fine Art in Painting from the University of Notre Dame, IN. He also brings notoriety as an active exhibiting artist nationally and abroad. As an instructor, his professional growth is facilitated by intense teaching experience, in an equally intense formal and critical environment, all the while culminating his own artwork, which has strengthened his artistic practice and the reputation of Shorter University's Fine Arts Department. |
Jackson's work explores traditional approaches to painting, drawing, digital media, design, engaging in critical dialogue with contemporary methods and themes in art. A strong investigation and knowledge of materials and techniques informs his studio practice and find a place for application within the classroom. His teaching methodology is rooted in strong fundamental development with an emphasis on working from life, utilizing art history, and demonstrating knowledge of contemporary art theory to enrich students' understanding of two-dimensional art.
In conjunction with teaching, he is deeply committed to maintaining active engagement in research to enhance his understanding of his chosen medium and further his development as an artist. This includes continued personal growth, an investment in emerging technologies, and contemporary art theory and discourse.
For website problems or questions, please email dthompson@shorter.edu