The Marchutz School of Fine Arts

The Marchutz School of Fine Arts takes an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to art education. Its unique program unifies:

• Spontaneous perceptual painting and drawing
• Extensive museum visits
• Intensive critical dialogue
• A community of students and artists at all levels

Student podcast

The following podcast, outlining her experience at the Marchutz School, is provided by Lauren McIlvain, with permission from Denison University:

The mission of the Marchutz School of Fine Arts is to help students, who wish to study art in France, sharpen their visual perceptions of the world around them, decipher their emotional responses to these perceptions, and through an holistic (studio, historical, and critical) discipline, relate their discoveries to an intensive investigation of the nature and aim of art.

The goals of the program are to provide opportunities for the student to:

• Develop her/his capacity to see
• Develop a holistic approach to the study of art and art making
• Combine studio art production with liberal arts disciplines
• Enhance awareness of the relationship between perception and imagination
• Develop an historical and critical sense so that self-expression is linked to a larger tradition
• Formulate an integrative relationship between knowledge and intuition, perception and concept, self-expression and global awareness

Location

Situated on the renowned 'Route de Cézanne', the school's location in Aix-en-Provence has many advantages, among them its light-filled space, the studio's proximity to the famed Chateaunoir and Sainte Victoire and most importantly its calm and contemplative atmosphere conducive to sustained, artistic concentration.

Who should consider Marchutz?

All students interested in art from any perspective and want to study art in France - and regardless of their skill level - should consider Marchutz. Its innovative interdisciplinary approach to the arts combines readings in literature and philosophy with studio art training, thereby providing students with a coherent theoretical and practical approach to the creative process. Individual projects in relation to students’ individual goals or fields of study are required as well. Studio art majors, Art history majors, Art education majors, Art therapy majors, English majors, French majors, Philosophy majors, and even Bio-chemistry majors have flourished at Marchutz.

The Marchutz curriculum

Semester students enroll in an art criticism seminar and two studio courses in painting and drawing, all held at the Marchutz studio. In addition, students also enroll in an art history course of their choosing and a French language course, both taken at IAU's School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The art criticism seminar is the unifying element for the Marchutz curriculum. The program includes excursions to Paris and Giverny in the fall, and Venice in the spring.

Marchutz also offers a six-week summer term, held entirely at the studio. Students enroll in painting and drawing classes (six credit hours total) and can also take a no-cost/no-credit French language survival course based on their level.

In tandem with the required course work students also have the possibility of creating a 3-credit independent study project in relation to their particular field of study. Students in art related fields of study can fulfill their studio requirements, or art history requirements in the required program as well as integrate a focus in their major through an independent study designed by the Marchutz faculty or at their home institution.

Additional Marchutz resources

Assessment and Learning Outcomes.

Brochure

Faculty website