Art Department Overview:
The Art Department is dedicated to providing a personalized, supportive, and rich arts education with classes taught by distinguished professional artists and scholars. Our teaching philosophy is based on practical, disciplined, scholarly pursuit of the visual arts and a strong commitment to innovation and student success. In addition, professional working artists representing major film studios, independent commercial design and advertising agencies, and university art schools are members of the Art Department Advisory Board ensuring that curriculum reflects current industry practices.
Our studio classrooms and media labs are designed and equipped to reflect the industry standard, allowing students to work directly with the tools and techniques found in professional settings. Our Studio Art facilities accommodate a range of disciplines with specialized equipment that includes a fully equipped ceramics studio and a wood shop for 3-D design and stretcher bar building. Animation and Graphic Arts courses are held in media labs outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment. Our students use the latest hardware and output devices including a variety of software for traditional-computer generated animation, graphic design and multimedia applications.
The Art department also collaborates with the East Los Angeles College Vincent Price Art Museum (VPAM), home to over 8,000 works of art that span a wide range of art historical periods and cultural points of view. Students are invited to attend artist lectures and exhibitions featuring internationally recognized artists. Every year VPAM hosts a student exhibition, showcasing a selection of the work our students create.
The department offers over 70 courses, 4 certificate programs (Arts Graphic Communication, Animation I & II, Multimedia, and Museum Studies), 3 Associate of Arts degrees (Animation, Arts Graphic Communication, and Multimedia) and 2 Associate of Arts for Transfer degrees (Studio Art – AAT, and Art History – AAT).
Statement of Solidarity:
The Department of Art at East LA College joins the nationwide effort to deconstruct default positions of privilege, dismantle racial and ethnic supremacy, and build movements of solidarity that support the inclusion, wellness, and self-determination of communities that have been historically marginalized. In our pedagogical ecosystem, we strive to contextualize the complex histories of people from diverse racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, and class identities. We recognize the need for and work toward a revisualization of the canons of contributions to art and culture of all people; to learn about their networks across the world and throughout time; and to imagine futures that support all of our excellence. Especially as we experience the contemporary movement for Black lives, we engage in critical, transformative reflection, and commit to change.
Contact Information
Office Hours and Location
Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00 - 5:00 pm
or by appointment
S2 202
Contact
Chris Turk, Art Department Chair
Email: turkcj@elac.edu
Phone: (323) 260-8168