Art is an ever-expanding range of human activities, involving artistic creativity, physical dexterity, beauty, emotion, or other visual ability to express particular aesthetic consciousness, visual sense, or specialized technical skill. Art typically refers to a situation where the work of art has either practical or decorative objective, such as to decorate or adorn living ornaments, to persuade and entertain, to beautify an object, to meditate or to relax. Art is considered to be the visual or creative expression of an idea expressed in the form of a physical object.
Art is generally not a subject matter learned in a classroom, although there are some aspects of it that can be learned in the classroom. At school, students are usually required to learn a range of theoretical subjects beginning with Mathematics and continuing through the arts. This aspect of education is highly correlated with the discipline of Art, since Art majors are also often required to demonstrate their learning ability through their art study. Art is usually seen as a separate and self-contained field; therefore, people specializing in Art tend to have a strong foundation in mathematics and art. They also typically have a strong background in the history of art, particularly the history of Western art.
One of the major purposes of Art was to illustrate the progression of Western society from the dawn of civilization to the nineteenth century. This has given rise to a number of highly successful artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Pablo Picasso. The evolution of art is highly reflected in the history of artistic production. There has been a drastic change from the Pre-Classical age to the Classical period. Art suddenly became very popular, especially amongst the masses. The popularity of art peaked during the Renaissance and steadily declined after that date.
Modern art is a visual interpretation of society and culture. It usually employs technology and forms of art to depict certain themes. It is usually subjective and personal, and its purpose is usually to interpret the world and present the audience with an idea. It can also be highly competitive and may be intended to promote a particular idea, concept, or style of dress.
Art has had a profound effect on the way we see the world around us. For example, Leonardo DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man contains many shapes and figures that are nearly identical to those he drew over sixty years earlier. His paintings also inspired other artists, such as Michelangelo, whom he also commissioned to paint several famous works of art. The popularity of DaVinci’s work, along with other Renaissance artists, has given rise to the term ‘Renaissance’ to describe the long period of Italian art from which Renaissance art evolved.
An Art Degree program at the College of Art and Design can give graduates a solid education in the areas of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and printmaking. A four year Bachelor’s degree is required in order to obtain an Associates degree; a two-year Bachelors degree is required to earn a Bachelor of Science; and a Master’s degree is required to earn a Master of Fine Arts. The types of Art degrees available are Visual and Performing Arts; Graphic Arts; Interdisciplinary Studies; and Collections and Masterworks.