Art Foundation
Program Overview
Humber’s Art Foundation certificate program offers you the opportunity to investigate different areas of artistic media and develop portfolios for entry into further study. Expand your horizons with comprehensive training in the basics of current visual arts exploration within a diverse studio environment. Discover your strengths and creative options, and your future in the world of art.
This program integrates visual art skills across several media and is designed to encourage you to explore a wide range of techniques and concepts. You will work closely with experienced faculty from a variety of creative industries developing innovative approaches and building your strengths through a variety of painting, drawing, photography, digital design, video, animation and fine art classes as you gain valuable insights into the art world. In just two semesters, you will gain a thorough understanding of many artistic disciplines and build well-developed visual literacy and creative skills. You will apply your acquired skills to create a portfolio that will support your personal work and/or prepare you to pursue related programs at Humber and beyond.
Semester 1 |
|---|
| MSAF 100: Drawing 1 |
| MSAF 105: Painting and Colour 1 |
| MSFP 102: Image Capture and Editing 1 |
| MSFP 108: Visual Literacy |
| MSFP 113: Digital Design |
| WRIT 100: College Reading and Writing Skills |
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
Analyze, simplify and deconstruct complex forms to solve artistic problems.
Employ basic measurement systems to produce accurate proportional and perspective renderings.
Create traditional and digital artwork which reflects adherence to accepted design principles.
Apply basic principles of visual perception, simplification, organization and the nine-point value scale to create realistic images.
Identify types and applications of drawing, painting and photographic tools and equipment used to produce original artworks.
Apply basic principles of colour observation, colour and pigment mixing, and digital colorization to accurately depict value, hue and saturation.
Create the illusion of three dimensions on a plane surface by applying techniques of texture, shading and linear perspective.
Discuss and present a range of critical issues of visual culture, examining how images gain meaning in cultural arenas.
Develop, refine and present drawings, digital images, animated images, video and photographs in professional portfolio format suitable for presentation to higher education admission panels or employers.
Research and pursue opportunities for on-going artistic development.
Define and use correct terminology to discuss and critique the impact of historical and contemporary visual, digital, animated, video and photographic images.
Create photographic and video art for specific purposes using basic technical capabilities of cameras and computer imaging software.
Plan and design animated sequences using basic classical animation.
The Humber Advantage
The newly constructed Humber Art Commons was designed to foster creative collaboration and experimentation. The flexible space allows Art Foundation students to conceptualize, create, and exhibit work all in the same place.
Launched as a live lab, the Art Commons building provides students with a creative space to explore and discover new techniques. Located at Lakeshore Campus on Lakeshore Blvd, the building acts as a hub for art students. The open concept allows for a modern studio space flooded by natural light. The space has been modelled on the general concept of transformability. Four large multi-purpose rooms on two floors can be turned into any kind of collaborative space depending on need.
Take a 360 Degree Tour!
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Expert Faculty
Marc Colangelo
Marc Colangelo is a visual artist specializing in representational works of portraiture, figurative compositions and dream imagery. Areas of instruction and expertise are figure drawing and painting, artistic anatomy, and composition.
Eva Kolcze
Eva Kolcze creates short films and video installations that investigate themes of landscape, architecture, and the body. Her work has screened at venues and festivals including the National Gallery of Canada, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC), MOCA Toronto, the Gardiner Museum, Nuit Blanche, Cinémathèque québécoise, Birch Contemporary, and the Images Festival. She currently teaches filmmaking at Humber College and OCAD University. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University and a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from York University.
Cole Swanson
Cole Swanson (BA Studio Art, MA Art History) is an artist and educator based in Toronto, Canada. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Canada and throughout international venues in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. He is a two-time national fellowship winner through the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for his research on miniature painting, fresco, and natural pigment production in Jaipur, India. His current artistic practice includes a multidisciplinary study of the complex relationships shared between humans and other organisms. Working in painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and sound art, Swanson has created exhibitions in partnerships with scientists, ecologists, community groups, and social activists in order to confront critical questions in art, nature, and society today.
Swanson has performed many professional roles within the arts and has held positions in curatorial work, museum and gallery administration, and post-secondary education. As full-time professor and program co-ordinator for the Art Foundation and Visual & Digital Arts programs at Humber College, Swanson has developed and taught courses in painting, material methods, art history, collaborative and experimental art, and professional practice. Alongside Professor Anne Zbitnew, Swanson is a founding member of Art in Access, a research initiative that seeks to expand opportunities for community members faced with physical, social, and cultural barriers to art education. Swanson also held sessional teaching positions in the Faculty of Art, Ontario College of Art and Design University in painting, colour theory, and material processes.
Swanson has appeared as author and subject of numerous publications and catalogues, and has guest lectured at academic and arts institutions throughout Canada and abroad. He has been featured in print, video, and academic publications, and his recent work on Toronto's double-crested cormorant colony was profiled on The Nature of Things with David Suzuki (2020).
Swanson has received financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Musagetes Foundation, and the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. His work appears in private and public collections throughout Canada.
Carolyne Topdjian
Carolyne Topdjian is an interdisciplinary writer and educator whose work explores existential issues of aesthetics, consciousness, and identity. With a background in visual art theory and practice, she received her PhD in Social and Political Thought from York University and has since published numerous scholarly essays and stories. Her latest novel, The Hitman’s Daughter, is forthcoming from Agora Books in January 2022. You can find her at carolynetopdjian.com.
Your Career
The Art Foundation certificate program offers you your first step into a creative career. The generalized training in many aspects of art will be a launching pad to more study or into the world of work. Some of the areas that you may choose to pursue include web design, multimedia design, animation, and advertising and graphic design.
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Program Availability
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About the COIsNews Feed
Senior Dean Update: Media & Creative Arts Anti-Racism Action Plan
Fri, October 15, 2021
In June 2020, I committed the FMCA to seven action items to address the attitudes, behaviours and structures that act as barriers for students from Indigenous and equity-deserving communities.
Update: Humber Music Solidarity One Year On
Fri, October 15, 2021
In June 2020, Humber Music faculty pledged to address systemic racism and gender discrimination in the music programs by working with students, alumni, administrators, and industry experts
A Message from the Senior Dean: Music Degree Update
Tue, April 27, 2021
Over the past few months, the Faculty of Media & Creative Arts began a review of our Bachelor of Music program delivery.
Grad Feature: Cassandra DePetrillo
Wed, April 07, 2021
Cassandra DePetrillo has been working in the film and television industry since she graduated from the Film and Television Production program in 2011.
No news at this time.
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