BFA Senior Thesis Course Description & Checklist

Art 4410, 4510, 4610, 4710, 4810, 4910 Course Description

Course Details

Credit: 12 Credits
Prerequisite: Approval of student’s BFA advisor, successful completion of academic and studio requirements.

Course Objectives

To provide the student with specific working format and guidance during planning and preparation of the BFA thesis exhibition.

Instructor

A professor in the student’s primary emphasis area will be the official course instructor chair of the senior thesis committee.

Course Content

The student will meet regularly with his/her BFA committee to discuss the following:

  1. Development of a cohesive body of work
  2. Aesthetic, conceptual and technical concerns
  3. Planning and installation of the exhibit
  4. Portfolio content (slides, prints, resume, artist’s statement, biography)

Evaluation

Evaluation of senior thesis credits will occur throughout the senior year. Evaluation of credits taken prior to the final semester of graduation will be conducted by the committee and reported by the chair of the committee. Evaluation will be based upon the quality of the student’s project proposal and the progress toward completion of the project, as evident at the end of the first semester.

Senior thesis credits taken in the semester of graduation will be evaluated following final critique of the exhibition installation. Evaluation will include an analysis of the work in the exhibition—including quality, quantity, aesthetic consistency, and whether it demonstrates proficient use of materials and techniques. Evaluation also includes the student’s ability to explain and defend the concept and execution of the work, the exhibition design and installation and the quality and completeness of the student’s portfolio and supporting materials.

Purpose

The senior thesis is intended to verify the student’s ability to conceive, plan and execute a body of work appropriate to a professional exhibition. The senior thesis exhibition should represent a cohesive, aesthetically unified, technically accomplished group of works fulfilling the senior thesis project. In some cases, works completed before the thesis year may be included in the thesis exhibition, subject to approval of the committee. In senior thesis committee meetings, culminating in the final critique, the student will explain and defend the conceptual framework and process of the senior thesis work, as well as the project outcome.

BFA Committee

Immediately at the beginning of the senior year, two semesters prior to graduation, the student will form a thesis committee consisting of no fewer than three and no more than five members, including at least two TTU art faculty members, chaired by a TTU faculty member from the student’s major area of study. Additional members may include Craft Center artists-in-residence or professional artists/craftspeople from outside academia, subject to approval by the committee chair and the director of the Craft Center. The committee will be responsible for guidance and assistance in completing the senior thesis work and planning the student’s senior thesis exhibition and for determining whether the student has successfully completed the requirements for the senior thesis.

Requirements Committee Formation and Meetings

First Semester

Project Proposal and First Meeting At the beginning of the first semester of the senior year the student will form a BFA committee, inviting appropriate members as stipulated above. Before the first committee meeting, the student will consult with the committee chair and prepare a comprehensive typewritten project proposal, and will distribute copies to each committee member at the first committee meeting. The proposal should explain the nature of the project, how it will be implemented, and the nature of the senior thesis exhibition, and should include an approximate schedule of project execution through the course of the year.

The committee will meet at least twice during the first semester to help determine the direction of the senior thesis project. At the first meeting, which should take place within the first two weeks of the semester, the committee will discuss scheduling for the exhibition. Immediately after this meeting the student should meet with gallery personnel to schedule the exhibition. Depending on the number of people doing thesis exhibitions in any given semester, students may be required to share gallery space with other thesis students. At the second meeting the student should present the committee members with copies of the first draft of the artist’s statement.

Second Semester

During the final semester the committee will meet at least once per month to review the student’s work and monitor progress towards the exhibition. The committee will evaluate the quality and quantity of work, will assist in editing the artist’s statement, and will advise the student regarding preparation and publicity for the exhibition.

Upon determining the satisfactory progress towards the exhibition, the student and committee will plan specifics of the exhibition installation, including the amount of time needed for installation, lighting and other relevant details.

Final Critique and Thesis Portfolio

At the last committee meeting before the exhibition, the student must schedule a final critique to occur in the gallery during the exhibition run. At the final critique the student will report on the status of the thesis portfolios. Two copies of the thesis portfolio must be submitted to the committee by the end of the final semester.

Press Release

A press release must be submitted to the committee chair at least 60 days before the exhibition opening date. The design should include image, text, and general layout, and is subject to approval by the committee. The student is normally responsible for all expenses involved in preparing and printing a black and white or color announcement card. In some cases funding may be available to help pay for a black and white card.

Normal format for the exhibition announcement is a two-sided postcard. One side includes an image of the work or some other appropriate design and often the student’s name across the bottom or top. The other side of the card is text including the following:

  1. Title of exhibition
  2. Student’s name
  3. “Thesis exhibition for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in (area of concentration). Appalachian Center for Craft (if applicable), Tennessee Technological University”
  4. Opening and closing dates of the exhibition—including year
  5. Reception date and time (reception is optional)
  6. Gallery and location (address)
  7. Gallery Hours
  8. Leave right half of the card blank for stamp and address

Slide Documentation

All of the work in the exhibition must be documented in professional-quality color slides. Always shoot duplicates of all shots. It is cheaper than paying for slide copies later, the quality is better than copies and two complete sets are required for the thesis portfolios.

Thesis Portfolio

After the BFA thesis exhibition is mounted, and by the end of the final thesis semester, the student must submit to the BFA committee chair two copies of the thesis portfolio, each bound in a 1”-thick hard cover three-ring binder including:

  1. Resume
  2. Artist’s statement
  3. Short biography
  4. Exhibition announcement card
  5. Press release
  6. A plastic archival slide sheet including at least ten slides of works in the exhibition. Each slide must be identified with the student’s name and a number corresponding to the slide list
  7. Slide list. For each slide give identifying number, title, size, year of completion and media.

One copy of the thesis portfolio is returned to the student and the other becomes property of the Department of Music and Art.

Senior Year BFA Checklist

First Semester

  • Make sure that all academic and studio requirements for the BFA degree have been or are being met.
  • File for graduation at the Graduation office.
  • Select and meet with senior thesis committee by second week of semester.
  • Immediately after the first committee meeting, meet with gallery personnel to make arrangements for gallery space and sign artist-gallery agreement for Craft Center galleries or Bryan Fine Arts. Report to committee chair regarding gallery arrangements. Depending on demand, you may be required to share gallery space with other thesis students.
  • Submit typed thesis proposal to thesis committee (copies to all members) by the first committee meeting.
  • Meet with senior thesis committee at the end of the semester.

Second Semester

  • As work is completed, prepare portfolio materials, including color slides (with duplicates) of all works to be in the thesis exhibition.
  • Amend and re-submit thesis proposal if necessary, as suggested and approved by the thesis committee.
  • Plan and schedule reception for your exhibition (optional) and review rules governing group functions at TTU.
  • Submit press-release to committee at least 60 days prior to exhibition opening.
  • Submit design for exhibition announcement to committee at least 60 days prior to exhibition opening.
  • After exhibition announcement is approved, work with gallery or private vendor to make arrangements for printing.
  • Make arrangements with gallery personnel at Craft Center galleries or Bryan Fine Arts for use of pedestals, Plexiglas boxes, paint, tools and other standard gallery supplies. You must furnish any specialized supplies or installation equipment.
  • When exhibition announcement is ready, supply 150 copies to appropriate gallery (ACC or Bryan Fine Arts) for campus and regional mailing.
  • Obtain a pair of 1” thick, hardcover three ring binders and appropriate archival slide sheets (consult with committee if necessary), and assemble two complete copies of the thesis portfolio.
  • At the last committee meeting before the exhibition, schedule the final critique to occur in gallery during the exhibition’s run.
  • During final critique, report on thesis portfolio progress and get committee’s approval for final draft of artist’s statement and
  • biography.
  • Submit thesis portfolios to committee chair by the end of the final thesis semester.

Gallery Guidelines for BFA Exhibitions

(Updated fall 2006)

The gallery will block out time for BFA exhibitions near the end of fall and spring semesters.

Fall: Approximately the first two weeks of November will be available in Gallery One. The North Windows Gallery may be available during the entire month of November.

Spring: Approximately the last two weeks of April and the first two weeks of May Gallery One and the North Windows Gallery will be available.

Actual weeks will vary according to the calendar year.

Students are responsible for notifying, in writing, the gallery director of their intent to have their BFA exhibition. Requests for dates, space, solo exhibitions and shared gallery space are submitted to the gallery director during the first two weeks of the semester one year prior to the semester of graduation. For example, if you are graduating in the fall of 2007, you must submit your request during the first two weeks of the fall of 2006 semester.

The gallery committee will assign exhibition dates with faculty approval of all solo BFA exhibition requests. Solo shows will be granted to students who can justify the need and on a space-available basis. There is no guarantee that space will be available for one-person shows. The number of students requesting space will determine assignment of both space and dates.

Students can seek alternative space with faculty approval.

The schedule will be announced during the semester it is requested. A formal contract will be issued to the student designating the date a space will be open for set-up, opening date, closing date and the date the work must be removed and the space returned to its previous condition.

At the close of BFA exhibitions, students are responsible for returning the space to its original condition. Walls are to be touched up with spackle and paint, pedestals returned to storage and the gallery floor cleaned. Ceiling tiles will be checked for any damage. The student must meet with the gallery director or artist-in-residence on a pre-arranged date to check the condition of the gallery at the end of the exhibition.

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