Introduction to Art Making

LCA 101 • Fall 2021

How do artists make art? How do we evaluate it? In this course, students of all levels get to experience firsthand the particular challenges and rewards of art making through practical engagement with five fields – Creative Writing, Visual Art, Theater, Dance, and Music – under the guidance of professionals. Two-week units introduce each field and involve “lab” experience in each. In class, we will focus on the basic principles of aesthetics, with the ultimate goal of designing, collaborating on, and critiquing original projects across disciplines and media. Full attendance is mandatory.

Video: From Shape to Film to Volume

Check out the student works from the spring 2020 semester of LCA 101 Intro to Art Making as they reach the half-way point of their From Shape to Film to Volume flip books. The soundtrack is assembled from the students’ original musical compositions.

Faculty

Colleen Asper

Lecturer in Visual Arts

asper@princeton.edu

Mark Doten

Lecturer in Creative Writing

Ruth Ochs

Lecturer in Music

rochs@princeton.edu

Shariffa Ali

Lecturer in Theater

shariffa@princeton.edu

Stacy Wolf

Professor of Theater; Director of Fellowships; Founding Director of Music Theater

swolf@princeton.edu

Olivier Tarpaga

Senior Lecturer in Music; Hearst Choreographer-in-Residence Named in 2018-19

otarpaga@princeton.edu

Tess James

Lecturer in Theater

tj4@princeton.edu

STUDENT REVIEWS

Read what other students who have recently taken this course have to say about it:

TAKE. THIS. CLASS. It really takes you out of your comfort zone and you get to meet so many people who are also inexperienced with some of the art forms and you just get to dive in and enjoy what each has to offer. 🙂
Really great course! manageable workload and great for a 5th course.
STRONGLY RECOMMEND! You will find no better course on campus that integrates the five areas of creative writing, dance, music, art, and theater so well. I mean it! You get the best of all these worlds, wrapped up in one class. All the professors are extremely talented, knowledgeable, and caring. Even in a virtual setting, they completely blew me away with their creativity in adapting their art form to a zoom screen. Think you are not creative? This class will prove you wrong. Ooh and as a wonderful bonus?because this class is SO interactive and relatively small, you will have the wonderful opportunity to make a bunch of new friends! And you will become so comfortable with performing in front of your peers and professors. It is such an amazing feeling. You will grow more comfortable with yourself and become more confident in a very supportive environment. TAKE THIS CLASS!
This is a very fun course. It is a very nice place to take a break and make some art in a supportive environment.

Course Highlight

Program in Music Theater Director Stacy Wolf explains how in LCA 101, students “might discover an art form that they didn’t realize they love.” Read more in Princeton Alumni Weekly