Department of Art

Resources and Facilities

The Department of Art is located in the Tower Fine Arts Center, overlooking the Erie Canal. The studios are located on the second floor. They are well-lit, well-equipped, and have high ceilings. The Department of Art shares the building with the Department of Theatre, affording our students opportunities for exposure to and interactions with other artistic disciplines.

Ceramics
Painting
Photography
Sculpture
Visual Resource Center
Galleries

Ceramics

The ceramics facilities enable our students to experience a range of methods of working with clay, from large-scale ceramic sculpture to small-scale functional pottery. The facilities include a 60-cubic-foot, gas-updraft kiln; a smaller, gas down-draft kiln; a large oval electric kiln; and an outdoor area for raku firings. Connecting to the main studio are a separate glaze room, equipped with a large spray booth; a kiln room; and a storage room for student work. Across the hall from the main studio is a smaller studio space for students working on the potter's wheel. Advanced ceramic students are often given their own work spaces within the main studio.

Painting

The painting facilities include two large studios. Each studio has large windows with northern light exposure. One studio is reserved for advanced students to allow them the opportunity to maintain their own work space. A fully equipped tool room enables students to build custom stretchers, panels, and frames.

Photography

The photography facilities on the SUNY Brockport campus are set up for black-and-white photography and some alternative photographic processes. Two darkrooms and a separate photo classroom for critiques and presentations comprise the on-campus facilities.

Visit the Visual Studies Workshop to find out more about their Photography program.

Sculpture

The sculpture studio is a very versatile space. In one large room, everything from cast paper to cast bronze may occur. The metal facilities include a small foundry for bronze casting, accompained by welding equipment (oxy-acetylene, arc and TIG), a plasma cutter, and a gas forge. The stationary power tools for wood working include a table saw, radial arm saw, planer, jointer, and drill press. Adjacent to the main studio is a storage critique room that is often used for installations and special projects.

Visual Resource Center

The Department of Art boasts a Visual Resource Center which houses a Macintosh imaging lab, more than 120,000 slides and a growing art video/DVD/CD library. The resources in the Visual Resource Center are heavily used by the faculty to expose students to a variety of artists and cultures. The Center is open to all College faculty, staff and students during the semester.

Galleries

The Tower Fine Arts Gallery is a gallery of regional reputation that exhibits works of local, national, and international artists. Its strength is its frequently changing temporary exhibitions, with annual exhibits demonstrating the College's mission of cultural diversity and global interdependence. The gallery is committed to being a showcase for the work of the students, faculty, and alumni of SUNY Brockport. It strives to be accessible to all segments of its audience and offers supplemental educational programs such as lectures and tours.

The Rainbow Gallery is run by the Art Students Association (ASA) with guidence from a faculty advisor. BFA students use the Rainbow Gallery for their thesis exhibitions, but the gallery is available to all art students for installations, class exhibitions, and solo or group shows. A gallery dedicated entirely to student works affords SUNY Brockport students the opportunity to experience all the "nuts and bolts" that go into proposing, planning, installing, and publicizing exhibitions.