2D Studies

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The division of 2D Studies encourages specialization in one of two areas of emphasis: Painting & Drawing and Printmaking. Here you will engage new areas of exploration and develop within your specialization by taking courses that advance your contemporary and historical awareness of the discipline.

Your courses in 2D will lead to your conceptual growth and the defining of your personal aesthetic. While you hone technical skills, you will learn to refine your ability to communicate the connection between the meaning of your art and the work itself.

Faculty from Painting & Drawing and Printmaking are committed to interdisciplinary pedagogy, a philosophy they share with their colleagues within the School of Art. Elective choices provide you with an opportunity to explore both inside and outside your area of emphasis. You are welcome to study with any of the Studio Art, Art History and Art and Visual Culture Education faculty, to broaden your selection of faculty through individual study, coursework, critiques, reviews and in thesis.

Resources and Facilities

All 2D courses are presented in well-ventilated classroom and lab facilities where personal and environmental safety is emphasized. Non-toxic and less hazardous substitutions for traditional toxic solvents, pigments and grounds are used wherever possible.

PAINTING AND DRAWING

Painting courses are primarily held in one of two large painting labs with tall clerestory windows providing abundant north light. A room used for critiques and projections connects both rooms. Additional well-equipped classrooms support courses in drawing, combined media and watercolor.

PRINTMAKING

The spacious printmaking facilities support work in Intaglio, Lithography, Relief, and a variety of alternative processes including photographic and digital processes, bookmaking, solar plates, polyester plates, polymer plates and monoprinting.

VIEWING AND EXHIBITING OPPORTUNITIES

The University of Arizona Museum of Art and The Center for Creative Photography, Joseph Gross Gallery and Lionel Rombach Gallery are just some of the on-campus sites to view contemporary as well as historic art works. Other contemporary venues are the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art and the Tucson Museum of Art in the downtown area.

There are a number of galleries on campus and additionally in Tucson and Phoenix where students have a wide variety of opportunities to exhibit by proposal, application or invitation. Graduate students can exhibit in three School Galleries, two Student Union Galleries, and several community gallery spaces. Lionel Rombach Gallery and the Graduate Gallery are currently two of the popular venues for students. Graduate students have their thesis exhibitions in the University of Arizona Museum of Art and the Joseph Gross Gallery, both adjacent to the main entrance of the School of Art.

Visit the Galleries at the School of Art website for more on current and upcoming exhibitions along with our News and Events page.

Visit our Resources & Facilities page to learn more about the excellent facilities available for instruction in 2 Dimensional media.