Oregon State University: JumpstART

Oregon State University: School of Arts & Communication (SAC) Academy offers the JumpstART! precollege program to provide students ages 14-18 (rising 9th graders through 12 graders) with a week of accelerated instruction in-person at OSU’s campus with instructors who are current artists, exhibiting their work worldwide. This is an in-person, week-long day camp on Oregon State University’s beautiful Corvallis campus in the heart of the Willamette Valley.

Classes cover topics and techniques including drawing, painting, digital animation, color theory and printmaking.

Two, three-hour courses and one visiting artist lecture will be offered daily. Our morning session will be taught from 9 a.m.- 12 p.m. There will be an hour break for lunch from 12 – 1 p.m., followed by an artist’s talk at 1 p.m. Afternoon courses will be held from 2 – 5 p.m. Each day will include instruction, discussion, time to make art and time to ask questions and receive feedback. As the program is held in-person at Oregon State University’s campus, all times referenced are in Pacific Time Zone.

JumpstART Courses

Students will select one core class and one focus class.

CORE STUDIO COURSES

Core Studio: Color Theory, Katherine Spinella, Instructor
This course will focus on color theory and application through a variety of exploratory activities including scavenger hunts, personalized assignments, games, tutorials and reading/video discussions that introduce students to artists working with color and light. In this class you’ll have the opportunity to explore color through a variety of media including photography, painting, and found collage materials.

Core Studio, Drawing II (ages 16+), Madeline Corbin, Instructor
This course will engage various materials and techniques to investigate a wide range of 2D and 3D drawing processes. We will focus on the elements of line, shape, texture, and value and how those elements combine to create visual experiences and how each can be utilized to further the artist’s conceptual endeavors. The work created will consist of hybridized drawings both from observation and imagined scenarios. Pieces will be documented in photo and video formats. Students can expect the course to have ever widening parameters as the week progresses to allow for creative evolution and impulses. Students can expect to spend each class receiving online instruction, conducting individual studio practice, and sharing their work at the end of each session.

Core Studio, Drawing I (ages 14, 15), Kailyn Carr-Kiprotich, Instructor
Students will learn observational and formal drawing techniques to create realistic drawings from personal objects. Each day students will begin the 3-hour session learning about and practicing a drawing concept, then spend the remainder of the lesson creating their own work from life using a variety of media that incorporates those skills. By the end of the week, students will share their portfolio with their peers in a concluding formal art critique. This beginning drawing course is for participants ages 14-15.

FOCUS COURSES: 

Focus: Nineteenth Century Photography Using Smartphones | Julia Bradshaw, Instructor
Through playful, hands-on projects, participants will learn how to use their smartphones to create nineteenth century photographic effects. Students will learn about craft, composition, lighting techniques, and how to manipulate their images using apps. There will be a sprinkling of learning about historical photographic processes and compositional concerns. Students will then set up photographic tableaux’s and use apps to “fake” these nineteenth century techniques, At the end of each session students will share and discuss their experimental photographs with the group. Students should expect to spend each 3-hour session in a mix of online instruction, individual studio practice (with instructor on-call), and an end-of-the-day sharing session.

Focus: Painting I Johnny Beaver, Instructor
This course invites students to explore possibilities within pictorial space, integrating elements of physical locations, imagined realities, and abstract mark making. Instruction will focus on the preparation and technique of acrylic paint. Specific exercises will be offered for in-depth exploration of surfaces, color, light, perspective and composition. Through daily live group sessions (via Zoom), discussion boards, and downloadable resources, students will be well supported to materialize visionary creations with confidence and enthusiasm.

Focus: Digital Animation, John Whitten, Instructor
Learn how to create magic with the wonders of animation. Students in this course will be introduced to a variety of animation techniques including stop-motion claymation, 2D digital animation, cinemagraphs, rotoscope, and more. They will create their own animations as well as collaborate on animations with their classmates.

Students will gain fundamental understanding of the creative software and digital tools used to create professional animations such as Adobe Photoshop & Adobe Animate. All participants will leave JumpstArt with a reel of their animations easily shareable with family and friends!

No prior animation experience required.

This course will utilize Adobe’s free one week trial, which works great on both MAC and PC. Unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud desktop apps cannot run on Chromebooks. There are many wonderful animation apps available for tablets if you need alternatives to working on a desktop or laptop computer.

About Oregon State University’s SAC Academy:
Housed in the College of Liberal Arts’ School of Arts & Communication, SAC Academy extends the knowledge, resources, and expertise of the School of Arts and Communication beyond the traditional Oregon State University campus population through pre-college programs in the arts, ensembles, and professional development programs.