Wk 1: Web Design

Welcome!

Hello everyone – Welcome to Fall 2014 & Welcome to Art110!

This semester we have 66 Freshmen, 60 Sophomores, 5 Juniors & 8 Seniors in Art110. It’s exciting to have some seniors spending their last year at CSULB with us in Art110. And it’s great to have so many Sophomores & Juniors here – Welcome Back! But especially to our 66 Freshman spending the 1st or 2nd day of their college career in Art110 this morning, Welcome!!

We have majors from all over the campus, like:

Lots of Engineers: Civil, Electrical & Mechanical
Computer Engineering & Computer Science
Lots of Business, Management, Marketing, International Business, Finance & Accounting Majors

Anthropology
Athletic Training
Biochemistry
Child Development
Communications
Community Health
Criminal Justice
Dance
English
Environmental Science
Fashion Merchandising
Film & Electronic Arts
Food Administration
Geography
Health Care Administration
Hospitality Management
Human Resources
Journalism
Kinesiology
Liberal Studies
Linguistics
Marine Biology
Nursing
Political Science
Psychology
Recreation Therapy
Sociology
Theater Arts
Undeclared

That “Undeclared” major is really popular with about 33 of you in it. Other popular majors are the Business areas totaling about 15 of you, Film & Electronic Arts 14, Engineering 13, Nursing 8, Psychology 7, Kinesiology 6.

Stress?

College is a time of so much excitement and new ideas and growth! It can also be a time of stress. Simple things like where my class is or what exactly my homework is. And more complex things like what if I hate my major or how to go on after the love of my life just dumped me. CSULB has so many people who can help.

The person sitting next to you might be a good person to talk to. Or faculty like me or your other instructors. And CSULB also has lots of counselors: academic counselors, psychological counselors, student health, and more. We’ve all been shocked that someone as “happy” as Robin Williams could suffer from depression. Sometimes the hardest thing is to ask for help. Whether it’s confusion about your homework, or confusion about your life, try to reach out to someone.

And for sure, try to do more than just collect a bunch of grades here. Try to thrive at CSULB. I’m sure you know all about the many options: Groups in your major, Sports, Clubs, Greeks, Student Media like our TV Station, Radio Station, Newspapers & Magazine.

Chat

You can say Hi! to your classmates, and ask any questions now or in the future on the Art110 Chat Page:
beacharts.ca/chat

Art110

In The Syllabus you can read the long version about the class. (and you should actually read the syllabus! But here’s the SparkNotes: Do 3 things every week:
1. An Art Activity
2. Have a Conversation with a CSULB Artist in the School of Art Galleries
3. Have a Conversation with an Art110 Classmate at the School of Art Galleries

And “turn in” those 3 things with 3 posts on your blog. Creating your blog is our Week 1 Activity. More on that in a sec. And that’s it. No exams. No books. No lectures. No papers other than your 3 posts. No pop quizzes. Just try something new every week, have 2 conversations about art & life, and blog it.

Activities

For each of our 12 weekly Activities there’s a Learning Objectives Overview toward the bottom of The Syllabus and there’s a page with all the details to make that Activity a success. Here’s the page for our Week 1 Activity: Web Design
• beacharts.ca/art110/web-design

And here’s a little How 2 Setup Your Website Video Tutorial:

Setting Up Your WordPress.com ePortfolio from Glenn Zucman on Vimeo.

The Class

Every Tuesday we’ll meet in UT-108. We’ll talk about some of the Activities you guys created last week, and go over the info for this week. Every Thursday we’ll meet at the CSULB School of Art, Art Gallery Courtyard located in between FA2 & FA3. There are 5 Art Galleries there:
• Dutzi Gallery
• Werby Gallery
• Merlino Gallery
• Gatov Gallery East
• Gatov Gallery West

There’s a new set of Student Art Exhibitions there every week. On Thursdays you can look at the art, have a conversation with one of the artists, have a conversation with an Art110 classmate, and do at least part of the weekly Activity.

Conversations

In your Conversations and your “analytic” blog posts about them, try not to get bogged down in lists of facts, but instead try to understand something important. You’ll have a chance to see a lot of different work in the student galleries this semester. Some of it might be easy, accessible, and exciting for you. Some of it might be cofusing or even off-putting for you. One thing that’s true, in all cases you’ll be looking at months or even years of someone’s work. Their “language” might be hard or easy for you to understand and their ideas might seem compelling or confusing, but try to understand something of the artist, their work, and their process. Just like you they’re human beings who work hard and strive to do important and powerful things.

Similarly with your Classmate Conversations, try not to obsess over facts and small details, but instead try to learn something about this person and try to discover how the two of you see the art in the galleries similarly or different.

When you write up these conversations tying things to Art, Culture, Life, and Personal Experience is more important than just typing out a lot of mechanical facts. If you’re not sure what to say, sometimes starting with the details can be a nice way to get talking about something, but try to come to a place of personal understanding before you finish. If you can explain something real and important about this Artist or Classmate, then you’ll have made that conversation your own and it can be a small part of your CSULB journey and of your life journey.

LMK

I’m excited to be spending a part of your Fall ’14 semester with you. LMK when you have questions about anything. Or if you’re curious about any art ideas. Have a great year!

— Glenn

Tags: ePortfolio, freshmen, major, slider, stress, website, year