Tennessee Tech University – Appalachian Center for Craft

BFA Senior Thesis
Art 4410, 4510, 4610, 4710, 4810, 4910
Course Description

Course Details
Credit: 12 Credits , generally taken over two semesters.  Can be divided 6/6 or 3/9.  
Prerequisite: Approval of student’s BFA advisor, successful completion of academic and studio requirements.

Course Objectives
To provide the student with specific working format and guidance during planning, preparation, and execution of the BFA thesis exhibition.

Instructor
A professor in the student’s primary emphasis area will be the official course instructor of record and will be chair of the senior thesis committee.

Course Content
The student will meet regularly with his/her BFA committee to discuss the following:

2. Aesthetic, conceptual and technical concerns

3. Planning and installation of the exhibit

4. Portfolio content (resume, artist's statement, biography, press release, announcement, slides, slide list)

Evaluation
Evaluation of senior thesis credits will occur throughout the senior year. Evaluation of credits taken prior to the final semester of graduation will be conducted by the committee and reported by the chair of the committee. Evaluation will be based upon the quality of the student’s project proposal and the progress toward completion of the project, as evident at the end of the first semester.

Senior thesis credits taken in the semester of graduation will be evaluated following final critique of the exhibition installation. Evaluation will include an analysis of the work in the exhibition—including quality, quantity, aesthetic consistency, and whether it demonstrates proficient use of materials and techniques. Evaluation also includes the student’s ability to explain and defend the concept and execution of the work, the exhibition design and installation and the quality and completeness of the student’s portfolio and supporting materials.

Purpose
The senior thesis is intended to verify the student’s ability to conceive, plan and execute a body of work appropriate to a professional exhibition. The senior thesis exhibition should represent a cohesive, aesthetically unified, technically accomplished group of works fulfilling the senior thesis project. In some cases, works completed before the thesis year may be included in the thesis exhibition, subject to approval of the committee. In senior thesis committee meetings, culminating in the final critique, the student will explain and defend the conceptual framework and process of the senior thesis work, as well as the project outcome.

BFA Committee
Immediately at the beginning of the senior year, two semesters prior to graduation, the student will form a thesis committee consisting of no fewer than three and no more than five members, including at least two TTU art faculty members, chaired by a TTU faculty member from the student’s major area of study. Additional members may include Craft Center artists-in-residence or professional artists/craftspeople from outside academia, subject to approval by the committee chair and the Director of the Craft Center . The committee will be responsible for guidance and assistance in completing the senior thesis work and planning the student’s senior thesis exhibition and for determining whether the student has successfully completed the requirements for the senior thesis.

Course Requirements
Committee Formation and Meetings

The committee will meet at least twice during the first semester to help determine the direction of the senior thesis project. At the first meeting, which should take place within the first two weeks of the semester, the committee will discuss scheduling for the exhibition. Immediately after this meeting the student should meet with gallery personnel to schedule the exhibition. Depending on the number of people doing thesis exhibitions in any given semester, students may be required to share gallery space with other thesis students. At the second meeting the student should present the committee members with copies of the first draft of the artist’s statement.

Second Semester
During the final semester the committee will meet at least once per month to review the student’s work and monitor progress towards the exhibition. The committee will evaluate the quality and quantity of work, will assist in editing the artist’s statement, and will advise the student regarding preparation and publicity for the exhibition.

Upon determining the satisfactory progress towards the exhibition, the student and committee will plan specifics of the exhibition installation, including the amount of time needed for installation, lighting and other relevant details. 

Press Release
A press release must be submitted to the committee chair at least 60 days before the exhibition opening date. The design should include image, text, and general layout, and is subject to approval by the committee. 

Announcement Card
The student is normally responsible for all expenses involved in preparing and printing a black and white or color announcement card. In some cases funding may be available to help pay for a black and white card.   Normal format for the exhibition announcement is a two-sided postcard. One side includes an image of the work or some other appropriate design and often the student’s name across the bottom or top. The other side of the card includes the following text and details:

1. Title of exhibition

2. Student’s name

3. “Thesis exhibition for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in (area of concentration). Appalachian Center for Craft (if applicable), Tennessee Technological University ”

4. Opening and closing dates of the exhibition—including year

5. Reception date and time (reception is optional, and can occur at any time during the run of the exhibition)

6. Gallery and location (address)

7. Gallery Hours

8. Leave right half of the card blank for stamp and address.

Slide Documentation
All of the work in the exhibition must be documented in professional-quality color slides. Always shoot duplicates of all shots. It is cheaper than paying for slide copies later, the quality is better than copies and two complete sets are required for the thesis portfolios.  

Final Critique
At the last regular committee meeting before the exhibition, the student must schedule a final critique to occur in the gallery during the exhibition run. At the final critique the student will report on the status of the thesis portfolios. 

Thesis Portfolio
After the BFA thesis exhibition is mounted, and by the end of the final thesis semester, the student must submit to the BFA committee chair two copies of the thesis portfolio, each bound in a 1”-thick hard cover three-ring binder including.  All documents must be mounted in clear plastic page protectors. 

1. Resume

2. Artist’s statement

3. Short biography

4. Exhibition announcement card

5. Press release

6. A plastic archival slide sheet including at least ten slides of works in the exhibition. Each slide must be identified with the student’s name and a number corresponding to the slide list

7. Slide list. For each slide give identifying number, title, size, year of completion and media.

One copy of the thesis portfolio is returned to the student and the other becomes property of the Department of Music and Art.