Freshman Foundation

The Foundation Year is an instrumental part of your education at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, and delivers the skills and experiences that will sustain you during your years at the Corcoran and the  evolution of your own art practice. The program is fundamental, focused, and flexible. Whether your intended major is in fine art, photography, design, or art studies, this important first-year curriculum is specifically designed to introduce you to the essential elements of visual thinking and critical understandings that underpin your creative process. Our unique program includes instruction valuable to all freshmen; providing courses that are targeted to specific interests and offering learning opportunities across a variety of art disciplines.

As a freshman, you take art history, writing, drawing, and Resources, our three-dimensional studies course. These classes provide you with the technical and critical skills required to develop and realize your concepts—a common denominator that defines the Corcoran educational experience. In addition to these fundamental courses, you will immediately take classes that focus on your major or specific areas of interest. Each semester, you structure your own curriculum from a set of Foundation electives, which allows you the opportunity to engage in cross-discipline learning experiences. Through thoughtful elective selections and dedicated advising from both Foundation and program department faculty, you will be prepared to enter any of our intensive majors at the conclusion of your freshman year.

In addition to introducing you to the College’s studios and classrooms, your first year at the Corcoran also provides extraordinary artistic and educational resources available only to those who study in Washington, D.C. Our city’s rich cultural resources—museums, galleries, theatres, concert halls, public monuments, and parks—open up a wealth of artistic possibilities and extracurricular learning experiences. Corcoran faculty leads tours of collections that include the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s own renowned works, the vast Smithsonian Institution, The National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, and leading commercial galleries and artists’ studios.

Freshman Foundation Curriculum

AH1000 Art History I
AS1110 Writing I
DE1000 Design Concepts
FN1000 Communication Design
FN1040 Drawing
FN1110 Resources
FN1150 Visual Concepts
AH1010 Art History II
AS1120 Writing II
FN1100 Optical Culture
FA1000 Process and Generation
PH1000 Photo Techniques and Practice
FN1220 Color Theory

FounDations Faculty

Patricia Autenrieth
Associate Professor

Raya Bodnarchuk
Associate Professor

Natalie Cheung
Adjunct Faculty

Antje Kharchi
Associate Professor

Joey P. Mánlapaz
Associate Professor

Thomas Morris
Adjunct Faculty

William Suworoff
Associate Professor

Ivan Witenstein
Associate Dean of Curricular Planning

Examples of Student Work