Program Overview

Program Overview

The Arts Intensive program at Stanford University offers a range of courses designed to provide students with an immersive and engaging experience in the arts. The program is committed to advancing the fields of studio art and medical humanities.

Course Description

The Drawing course is a key component of the Arts Intensive program. This course revolves around composition and layout, expressive mark-making, and basic drawing techniques. Students will explore dynamic compositions found in nature, gestural figure drawing, and portraiture, mainly using pencil and charcoal as their primary medium. The course will include on-campus drawing-based visits to the Anderson Collection and Cactus Garden, as well as an off-campus docent-led tour at the San Jose Museum of Modern Art.

Meet the Instructor

Lauren Toomer is a visual artist who explores drawing, painting, and outdoor installation. Toomer obtained her MFA at Stanford University and her BA from UC Berkeley. She is committed to advancing the fields of studio art and medical humanities, holding a joint lecturing appointment in the Department of Art and Art History in Art Practice and the Department of Surgery in Clinical Anatomy.

Program Structure

The Arts Intensive program includes a range of courses, including:

• Bay Area x Los Angeles Arts Immersion
• Design for Silver and Bronze
• Drawing
• Immersive Music Production
• Key-Notes: A Piano and Voice Exploration
• Narrative Filmmaking: From Script to Screen
• Poetry and the Imagination: A Writing Workshop
• Theatre of the People

Past Arts Intensive Courses

The program has also offered the following courses in the past:

• Art & Science of Sound
• Bay Area Arts Immersion
• Circa's Leviathan: Art of Circus Movement
• Creative Writing: The Magic of Baseball in Film & Fiction
• Drawing Marathon at the New York Studio School in NYC
• Fiction Writing
• Filmmaking
• From the Bay to LA: West Coast Art Now
• Immersive Cinema
• Intro to Visual Writing
• Locating the Self: The Poetics and Politics of Identity
• Musical Theater
• Public Art Practice: Site-Specific Mural Installation in San Francisco
• Public Art Practice: Site Specific Installation
• ReVIVAL: A Site-Specific, Multimedia Dance Theater Production
• Scene in Action: Dance, Fashion and Visual Art as Performance
• Sculpture and the Expanded Field
• The Expressive Vessel: An Immersive Introduction to Clay
• Wild Sound Explorers: Digital Storytelling at Jasper Ridge

Program Details

The Arts Intensive program is part of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) at Stanford University. The program is designed to provide students with a rigorous and immersive experience in the arts, and is committed to advancing the fields of studio art and medical humanities. The program includes a range of courses, as well as opportunities for students to engage with the arts through field trips, workshops, and other activities.