The Visual Arts Program is dedicated to helping students meet the challenges of contemporary art making through assigned lessons that address critical thinking and problem-solving, the consideration of historical parallels, and the application of rigorous studio art practices. All students are assigned a major emphasis and a minor studio, based on the interests they indicate on their application forms. The department offers studio classes in painting (acrylic only--no spray paint), printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, digital media and photography. In addition, all students participate in required classes of figure drawing, design, and a lecture/guest artist(s) seminar course entitled "Art and Culture". Special workshops and performances by a number of distinguished visiting artists are offered, along with field trips to local museums, private galleries and artists' studios. Shops and studios are open in the evenings for students to complete class projects and accomplish personal work.

The program is designed to give each student a comprehensive experience in the Visual Arts. Indicating a first and second choice of interest emphasis will assist the schedule programmers. All efforts will be made to give applicants a 4-day course in their first choice of interest. Minors are typically 2-day courses, but at times applicants may be scheduled into a 4-day course for their second choice.

Color theory, composition, scale and diverse painting approaches are important components of study and exploration for painting students at InnerSpark. Problem solving with respect to materials and content/concept is emphasized. A variety of painting surfaces, including canvas, are used. High quality acrylic paint and mixed media materials are used in all painting studios.

Through the use of dry point, monotype and/or relief printing and alternative processes, printmaking students develop a broad understanding of the historical and innovative paths artists have taken to produce substantial works of art. Photographic and book arts techniques are occasionally applied as a means of integrating broader concepts within the discipline.

Students in this area learn to incorporate scale and form, varied contemporary materials and personal narrative as a means of developing major works that pertain to contemporary sculptural forms and ideas. Instruction in the use of equipment and materials is included in the general classroom work. Field trips to museums, slide lectures and discussions augment the development of practical skills.

Students in Ceramics investigate the formal elements of building sculpture, taking ceramics to new levels of creativity. They construct large hollow sculptures through the process of coiling and cylinders and learn basic glaze chemistry as under-glazes, colored slips, and line blends. Individual experience, interpretation, and understanding of the material helps students experiment with the medium of clay as a fine art.

The goal of the Digital Media studio at InnerSpark is to give students an understanding of techniques and concepts surrounding digital arts, and on-line communities. Students learn digital imaging, 2-D drawing and painting, use of the Web, and motion arts.

At InnerSpark, Photography is a rigorous field of study, exposing students to idea-driven photographic image making based on personal experience and perception. This program is designed to provide students with a basic foundation and understanding of traditional film-based photography techniques including: exposure control, black & white film development, film scanning, black & white and color darkroom printing, digital archival pigment printing, studio lighting, and archival processing techniques.

Please note: There are a limited number of spaces for Digital Arts and Photography majors, and not all requests can be accommodated. If you indicate Digital Arts or Photography as your first choice major, you must select a second choice minor on your application that is not inclusive of these two disciplines. Do not expect to participate in both Digital Media and Photography classes.

All students take rigorous figure drawing classes, augmenting their major and minor fields of study. The basic elements of form and volume, light and shadow, gesture and contour, texture and scale are all addressed. Time is spent on alternative drawing concepts and applications. Materials include charcoal, pencil, ink and brush, collage, etc.

All students take a course emphasizing problem-solving with respect to scale, spatial relationships, color architectural elements, volume and bas-relief design fundamentals. The focus of the curriculum is to broaden each student's understanding of the principles and elements of design as a language for communication.

All students and faculty attend the Art and Culture course that meets two afternoons per week over the four-week program. Art and Culture brings major artists from throughout the nation to a forum of presentation, discussion and interaction. Challenging material presented in the course helps stretch the student to a more developed sense of all of the arts.

Linda Grebmeier is the Chair of the Visual Arts Department. Ms Grebmeier is currently Adjunct Painting and Drawing Faculty at Santa Rosa Junior College. Ms Grebmeier has exhibited her paintings and prints nationally, and was recently commissioned by the Solano County Art Commission, Fairfield CA, with Reflect, Learn, Live a triptych of paintings scheduled for installation in 2010. Her works are to be found in numerous private and corporate collections. For more information on Linda Grebmeier and her work, go to www.paintsong.com.

The InnerSpark California State Summer School for the Arts Visual Arts Faculty is made up of practicing professional artists from throughout California and the United States. It includes painters Devon Tsuno, Steven Hurd, David Schoffman and Jay Stuckey; printmaker Lee Michael Altman; sculptors Leo Hobaica, Jr., Jessica Rath, Bari Ziperstein and David McDonald; ceramist Claudia Alvarez; photographers Shari Bond, Anthony Lepore and Anal Shah; digital artists Tracy Hopcus and Larissa Bank; drawing artists Sang Young Bang, Malaika Zweig and Robert Ross; design artists Anthony Ryan, Lynne Berman and Karen Ruenitz. In addition a support staff of Master of Fine Arts graduate students are employed to assist in the studios.