Department of Art : Painting and Drawing

	Professor Maya Chachava Telephone: 509-963-2669 Email: chachavm@gwmail.cwu.edu Examples of Mayas work

Why Should You Study Painting & Drawing At CWU?

The Drawing & Painting program offers students access to enthusiastic teachers who are nationally respected artists; dedicated studio space in well designed and equipped facilities; competitive scholarships and exhibition opportunities. The Drawing & Painting curriculum emphasizes a contemporary approach to art making, facilitating the student’s transition into the professional world of art.

Our program at Central offers personalized instruction and small classes with emphasis on contemporary practice of painting and drawing. Merit scholarships with exhibition opportunities and dedicated work spaces for students provide conducive environment for growth and facilitate the process of transition from academic setting into professional art world.

Program Mission

Mission Statement: To provide an intellectual and physical environment conducive to art making, emphasizing the contemporary practice of painting and drawing.

The Painting & Drawing program is committed to engaging the cultural diversity found on the university campus by working with students to define their approach to artistic and cultural production through course offerings in drawing and painting that range from the beginning through graduate levels.

During an introductory course, students receive core knowledge of visual communication and material competence, while being encouraged to experiment freely in order to arrive at a process of working that they find compelling. Intermediate-level courses target pictorial strategies, such as presentation and representation, and cross-disciplinary approaches, such as installation, performance and digital imaging. At the advanced level, students work on individual studio projects, conducting research on artists and interdisciplinary thinkers, both contemporary and historical, whose work resides in a domain similar to their own. The Painting and Drawing program's aim is to prepare its undergraduate majors for admission into competitive graduate art programs, or in special cases, to immediately begin professional studio practice.

Graduate study in painting and drawing selectively admits students whose work demonstrates a high degree of intellectual and material competence. The graduate curriculum includes lecture and seminar courses in art history and critical theory, as well as studio courses in which graduate students work closely with members of CWU's studio art faculty. The central aims of the program are to place the practice of drawing and painting in a critical context, and to provide space and resources for graduate students to develop a body of work that will function as an initial contribution to the practice of contemporary painting and drawing. Scholarship packages include dedicated studio space, teaching assistantships, and fee and tuition waivers.

Program Facilities

Undergraduate instruction occurs in one of four studios:

• Oil painting is taught in two large studios, each with over 2,000 square feet of floor space. Both studios have raised ceilings, vaulted skylights, and large, north-facing windows. Due, in part, to a $5,000,000 health and safety upgrade, the studios have a wonderful ventilation system which monitors airflow. The studios are equipped with enough easel-and-workbench painting stations for students at all levels to have a dedicated workspace of their own.
• Watercolor is taught in a 1,500 square foot studio. The studio has raised ceilings and vaulted sky lights, and contains enough workbenches for watercolor students at all levels to have a dedicated workspace of their own.
• Drawing is taught in a 1,800 square foot studio with raised ceilings and vaulted skylights. The studio houses over twenty drafting tables and numerous portable drawing chairs.
• Graduate instruction occurs in various graduate painting studios. We offer graduate students personal studio space in modest 400-500 square foot studios or access to a larger 1,800 square foot studio shared by three or four grad students.

Other Painting & Drawing facilities include:

• 400 square foot storage facility for temporary storage of completed work.
• Prop room, equipped with still life objects, life drawing materials, and portable lights.
• Slide documentation equipment, including digital and 35 mm cameras, portable light kits, etc.
• Digital imaging lab (shared with Photography) with a Macintosh workstation, a professional-grade scanner, and a large-format Epson printer.
• Access to computer lab with 20 dual-processor Macintosh G5 computers, and print with various digital applications.

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