Curriculum

At the core of PASCA’s curriculum are courses in Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, Illustration, Drawing, Mixed Media and Art History/Contemporary Criticism. Specifics of the courses vary each semester depending on the particular expertise of the revolving faculty. Collage, Figure Painting, Color, Pinhole camera, Performance, Installation, Digital approaches to the Creative Process, Monoprint, and Journaling are some examples.

A commitment to several basic concepts underlies every PASCA course, regardless of medium or approach. These include:

  1. Establishment of a studio practice that demands that each artist explores and strengthens his or her commitment to art and art making. Pont-Aven offers few distractions and no excuses to impede exploration of the student’s ideas.
  2. No semester is the same, as the revolving faculty members are offered the opportunity of small classes and fluid boundaries between the courses. PASCA is a “teaching lab:” teaching, as well as learning, is a creative experience.
  3. Each course encourages experimentation and challenges the students to stretch the definition of that particular medium.
  4. English is the language of instruction: a useful tool of communication for contemporary artists from countries around the world. The international student body, primarily from the US, Europe and Asia, brings to the table dialogue based on new vocabulary and concepts that embrace the global nature of art practice today. The excellent faculty from leading art schools and universities, Visiting artists, evening lectures, Study trips, and casual dinners are all part of an experience to expand vocabulary and broaden horizons. All of these aspects are linked to create an intense, 24/7 immersion in art. The small student body of up to 25 students facilitates discussion and cements bonds of respect and friendship.
  5. The curriculum addresses professional issues such as exhibitions, artist’s statements, political engagement, interaction and responsibility to the audience, as well as issues of gender, race, communication, and evolving aesthetics and critical concepts current in the contemporary art world.
  6. Brittany has a rich and varied history; contemporary artists can build on it in their own work. Many PASCA courses urge students to leave the studio and interact with their environment in ways that promote not only understanding of this unique place, but also incite individual reflection in each student. Furthermore, French art, aesthetics and philosophy are the underpinnings of contemporary practice and theory. The focus in many of the art history courses underscores this important role of French culture, as do weekly seminars, visits to art schools and regional exhibitions.
  7. Courses at PASCA are directed at 3rd year level students who already have a sound base in drawing and basic artistic practices. Courses in Liberal Arts, French language and contemporary criticism reinforce the studio courses as the faculty works together to create a unified and challenging environment.
  8. Post-Baccalaureate students work with the Studio Chair and other Faculty members to find and refine their individual voices. They may take one studio course, but the studio practice for Post-Bac students is not assignment driven. Instead, it demands of each artist a full commitment to finding the rhythm best suited to reaching their creative potential. The Studio Chair and PASCA faculty help students concentrate on building a strong portfolio, writing a cohesive “artists statement,” and preparing for applications to programs offering higher degrees, such as MFA. Former PASCA Post-Baccalaureate alumni have been admitted to MFA programs at Columbia University, Virginia Commonwealth, and San Francisco Art Institute. Other students have used the program as a transition from one studio or design major to another, or as an introduction to American teaching methods to apply to US Graduate programs.