By Michael Farrell

OCCC’s visual arts program covers many different aspects of the arts.

Someone who is interested in the arts would have a lot to choose from. OCCC’s Visual Arts program can help someone get a career in a field that has many different opportunities.

For example, someone with experience in Visual Arts could become a photographer, work in film/video, become a painter or maybe an interior designer. These are just a few career paths a person who has taken the various courses offered could do.

Jeremy Fineman is one of the professors who teaches classes in the visual arts program.

He is also the Coordinator for the Visual Arts and the Chair of the Media and Arts Department.

Fineman is currently teaching Foundations I and Foundations II. Foundations I is for teaching students 2D design and Foundations II is about 3D design. These classes teach the elements of design, such as the Gestalt Principles; also how to apply these elements to their artwork. There are also many different mediums that students will be able to work with. For example, in 2D design, students get to work with a variety of different mediums.

“We work with a variety of different mediums, dry, wet, ink, charcoal, graphite, pen, everything like that in 2D design,” Fineman said.

In 3D design students will be using a few different mediums such as, hot glue and recycled cardboard, foam and polymer clay.

A subtractive and additive process is used for 3D modeling, that is when someone can walk around the project and interact with it.

These classes have also been designed in a way that would cut the price of textbooks, making them more affordable.

There are also other classes like Painting I, Painting II and Art History (Ancient-Renaissance and Renaissance-Contemporary) as well as electives like ceramics, mosaics and figure drawing.

Then there is also the Inasmuch Gallery, which has student capstone exhibitions. This happens usually once a semester. This is an opportunity for students to get a show on their resume. It also gives the students involved with the gallery experience in a professional setting.

Wanda Pierce, 71, is a student and retired teacher at OCCC who is currently taking Ceramics II. She is taking advantage of a program that lets her audit her classes and pay less. Pierce was first an art student in the 1960s. She couldn’t afford ceramics classes then due to their high price, but due to the auditing program she is using, he is finally able to learn more about ceramics.

“It’s very therapeutic because you’re doing something with your hands. The whole process also has to do with centering. You have to get your clay sentered, your mind, and body centered, so it’s almost zen like,:” Pierce said.

She has been able to get a lot out of just this one course. Pierce said that she has taken a few different courses that are part of the visual arts program, and she says that ceramics has become her favorite one.

Pierce also mentioned how she really liked the facilities that she has been able to use and hopes more people take advantage of what the facilities there have to offer.