Academics

Graduate Public Practice


The program, under the leadership of Suzanne Lacy, the renowned artist, educator, theorist of socially engaged public art and author of the influential Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, enriches an arts environment marked by a remarkable mix of art schools and a distinguished history of artistic innovation.

Current students are working on a project in California's Central Valley, centered in Laton. The project is supported by a planning grant from the Ford Foundation, and focuses on the environment (some of the worst air quality nationally), the poverty (some of the highest poverty and school drop-out rates nationally), the economics of food production (especially vis-a-vis ever-increasing energy prices), and the loss of farmland (which also impacts housing).

Participating graduate students explore new artistic strategies and practices based on observation, research, social commentary and activism, and visual and performance arts productions in the public realm. Students work in individual studios on a single significant project in collaboration with each other, community members, interdisciplinary scholars, and an internationally known faculty.

The program is housed at the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica, a nonprofit residential arts institution for artists and organizations dedicated to issues of community and diversity in contemporary society. The College offers outstanding facilities in sculpture, painting, graphic arts, illustration, video, photography, computer-generated model-making and digital technology. An intimate class size supports mentorship, case-study learning, and production skills in installation, performance, process art, guerilla art and interdisciplinary projects. All students create a thesis integrating theory and practice in art, urbanism, civic life, or other subjects supporting a critical discourse on their work. Participants study with internationally known artists and theorists, do field internships with professional artists, and teach as assistants in Otis's groundbreaking undergraduate Integrated Learning curriculum. Interested students should apply by February 15.

One $20,000 "Board of Governors" tuition fellowship will be awarded to an entering student. For information on how to apply for this fellowship and other forms of financial aid, please contact admissions@otis.edu.

More content available in the complete Course Description and Curricula (PDF)

      Fall Spring
First Year PUBP600/601 Production Studio I/II 5.0 5.0
  AHCS580 History of Public Strategies in Art 3.0 ----
  LIBS654 Public Realm Seminar ---- 2.0
  PUBP620/621 Case Studies I/II 2.0 2.0
  PUBP650 Field Methodologies for Artists ---- 2.0
    Studio Electives 5.0 4.0
 
  Total Credits per Semester 15.0 15.0
      Fall Spring
Second Year PUBP700/701 Production Studio III/IV 5.0 5.0
  LIBS655/656 Public Realm Seminar II/III 2.0 2.0
  LIBS784/785 Thesis I/II 3.0 3.0
  PUBP790 Field Internship 3.0 ----
  PUBP792 Pedagogy Practicum ---- 2.0
    Studio Electives 2.0 3.0
 
  Total Credits per Semester 15.0 15.0
Department Heads  Department Chair, Suzanne Lacy
   
Participating Otis Faculty Meg Cranston Dana Duff
  Annetta Kapon Renee Petropoulos
  Katie Phillips  
Visiting Faculty Kim Abeles Jessica Cusick
  Abdelali Dahrouch Kate Johnson
  Rick Lowe Karen Moss
  Claude Willey  

 

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Graduate Public Practice Student Work
  

 

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(310) 846-2610

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at the 18th Street Arts Center
1657 18th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404

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