Paier College of Art
Encyclopedia
The Paier College of Art is a private
4-year art school
in Hamden, Connecticut
, on the outskirts of the greater New Haven
area. Formerly the Paier School of Art, the institution's current name and form date from 1982 when it received a charter and accreditation for offering a 4-year Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree. It was originally founded by Edward T. and Adele K. Paier as the Paier School of Applied Arts in 1946.
The college offers B.F.A. programs of study in the following studio majors: fine arts, graphic design
, illustration
, interior design
, photography
, and a new combined specialty, photography and digital imaging
. There are also certificate programs which can be applied toward a B.F.A., covering specialties such as graphic production, portrait
and figure painting
, and sharp focus/trompe l'oeil
painting. Programs are licensed by the Connecticut Board of Governors of Higher Education and accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology. The college is also a member of the International Council of Design Schools.
Although learning to work with computer
tools and methods is an important goal in all departments, this is balanced by a requirement that students commence their studies with a "Foundation Year" emphasizing mastery of the traditional techniques of pencil
, pen, brush
, and camera
. Furthermore, students are encouraged to round out their education as literate
artist
s with additional courses in the liberal arts
. Walter Wick
, famed co-creator of the I Spy search-and-find picture book series, studied landscape photography at the college in 1973.
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
4-year art school
Art school
Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or...
in Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
, on the outskirts of the greater New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
area. Formerly the Paier School of Art, the institution's current name and form date from 1982 when it received a charter and accreditation for offering a 4-year Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
degree. It was originally founded by Edward T. and Adele K. Paier as the Paier School of Applied Arts in 1946.
The college offers B.F.A. programs of study in the following studio majors: fine arts, graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
, illustration
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
, interior design
Interior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...
, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, and a new combined specialty, photography and digital imaging
Digital imaging
Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of digital images, typically from a physical scene. The term is often assumed to imply or include the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images...
. There are also certificate programs which can be applied toward a B.F.A., covering specialties such as graphic production, portrait
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
and figure painting
Figure painting
Figure painting is a form of the visual arts in which the artist uses a live model as the subject of a two-dimensional piece of artwork using paint as the medium. The live model can be either nude or partly or fully clothed and the painting is a representation of the full body of the model...
, and sharp focus/trompe l'oeil
Trompe l'oeil
Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.-History in painting:Although the phrase has its origin in...
painting. Programs are licensed by the Connecticut Board of Governors of Higher Education and accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology. The college is also a member of the International Council of Design Schools.
Although learning to work with computer
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
tools and methods is an important goal in all departments, this is balanced by a requirement that students commence their studies with a "Foundation Year" emphasizing mastery of the traditional techniques of pencil
Pencil
A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....
, pen, brush
Brush
A brush is a tool with bristles, wire or other filaments, used for cleaning, grooming hair, make up, painting, surface finishing and for many other purposes. It is one of the most basic and versatile tools known to mankind, and the average household may contain several dozen varieties...
, and camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
. Furthermore, students are encouraged to round out their education as literate
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s with additional courses in the liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
. Walter Wick
Walter Wick
Walter Wick is an American artist and photographer best known for the elaborate images in two series of publications, the I Spy and the Can You See What I See? books, which were published by Scholastic Books....
, famed co-creator of the I Spy search-and-find picture book series, studied landscape photography at the college in 1973.