Computer Arts
The Computer Arts Center is an interdisciplinary studio environment and consulting group available to students in all departments for courses, workshops, and supervised independent projects. Supported activities include electronic design (print and Web) and prepress, animation, computer drawing, digital photography, digital video and audio, interactive multimedia, 3D modeling and rendering, animation, electronic device control, and computer programming.
A computer graphics major is not offered, but interested students pursue similar training as animation majors, or through the Studio for Interrelated Media. Computer training is no longer isolated from traditional art and design principles and practices; computer tools are utilized in every department in the College. Consequently, the discourse arising from the use of digital tools is addressed within the intellectual and visual frameworks of existing disciplines. Each semester over 700 students enroll in 50 to 60 sections of computer art and design courses, and many others have access to the studios through workshops, special sessions of non-computer courses, and independent projects. The Computer Arts Center is open from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM during the week, with weekend hours, and extended access in response to need. Staff members, who are artists or designers, or student lab monitors are always available to provide assistance and help minimize the difficulty of using the technology.
There are over a dozen campus-wide networked computer studios with a variety of input and output devices and projectors to support lectures, demonstrations, critiques, and personal work on projects and portfolios.
Hardware and software choices reflect the realities of professional work environments for artists as closely as possible. Software versions are kept current and we try to upgrade hardware every three years. The configuration of these studios varies with demand, but the current arrangement is available online here.
All Macintosh classroom studios feature Macintosh G-4, G-5 or Intel machines with minimum 1 Gb RAM. Additional machines are available for scanning, and printing. Drawing tablets are available in our 2D imaging studios; students purchase their own pens.
The Computer Arts Center also supports several distributed computing initiatives including: Studio Foundation studios designed for group projects and integration of computer tools with traditional materials and processes; a dedicated pattern drafting workstation and apparel design studio in Fashion Design; a learning center in the Library which supports word processing, ESL training and electronic research via the Web and other resources; a printmaking studio for generating material to be incorporated into silkscreen and lithography; other small studios in Design, 2-D Fine Arts; 3-D Fine Arts, Photography, Film, and the Studio for Interrelated Media.
The entire campus is networked, both wired and wireless, for greater use of distributed computing, and provides high-speed access to the Internet, allowing students access to a global audience and the possibilities of remote interdisciplinary collaborations. All students, staff and faculty are offered free e-mail accounts on our Exchange server as well as Web sites on our community Web server.