Course Catalogue is a regular feature that highlights the incredible work the faculty and staff in UVU’s School of the Arts are doing to promote to engage students to rise to the occasion of becoming the best possible artists they can be.

When Travis Lovell and Howard Fullmer set out to create an opportunity for students in the Art & Design program, they knew they wanted it to be immersive, with a flashy result.

“There are always performances and big events around dance and theatre and music, and we wanted a lasting way to showcase our students’ abilities, too,” Fullmer said.

Their months-long independent study project, which students can apply to be a part of, involves traveling to a location to learn about and photograph or sketch a subject, then being involved in the editing, design and printing of the book. It is collaborative between many disciplines, and gives students practical experience.

“The industry is such that they’ve got to work together with designers, editors, writers, programmers and all these different entities in order to make it the product it needs to be,” Fullmer said. “They’re engaged in a way that is very much how the real world works.”

Speaking of the real world, the students, professors and advisors who go on the trips are thrown right into it - with preparation but no real idea of how things will go. Although each theme and location is carefully researched by both Fullmer and Lovell, the books evolve as each trip unfolds.

“We work for three weeks, from before sunup to after sundown, with hardly any days off,” Fullmer said. “The experiences build magic for the students. There is a difference for the students who have been on-site, they feel it more, they have the passion.”

Fullmer’s own personal experiences while shooting “The Western Front” changed his perceptions forever when he met a local Frenchmen and discussed the shared pride they felt for families who fought in the war. He also talked about how much his viewpoints changed on the most recent trip to the American South, and what he learned there about civil rights and slavery in the region.

“The Western Front” was awarded Book of the Year by the Independent Book Publishers Association - competition which includes every publisher that publishes less than 50 books a year, including local giants Deseret Book and Gibbs Smith.

“These students and their work are competing against those professionals, and this book wins book of the year,” Fullmer said.

Arthur Futurus – Lands & Legends is a collaborative production of the students and faculty within Utah Valley University’s Art & Design department. The legend of King Arthur has followed Western culture since it’s early inception. The myths that surround the countrysides of the United Kingdom have spilled out into the world. In the Spring of 2017, UVU students and faculty of the Art & Design department explored these lands. Traveling throughout the United Kingdom, they immersed themselves in the legend, creating art inspired by and about the ethos of King Arthur and his story.

 

Uncommon Ground – The National Park Service | 100 Years in Utah is a collaborative production of the students and faculty within Utah Valley University’s Art & Design department. On August 25, 1916 President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act, co-sponsored by Utah Senator Reed Smoot, into law. This act created the National Parks Service to manage existing national parks and monuments and protect future locations as well. To honor this centennial, the students and faculty created art inspired by and about Utah’s 13 national parks, monuments, recreation areas, and historic sites managed by the National Parks Service.

The Western Front – 100 Years Later is a collaborative production of the students and faculty within Utah Valley University’s Art & Design department. In concert with the centennial of the start of the First World War, and with assistance from the American Battle Monuments Commission, students and faculty created imagery as they traveled along areas of the western front. They then paired the art with verse that was written by soldiers in the trenches or their loved ones at home during the war. Measuring 10.25 by 10.25 inches, this limited edition fine art book contains 190 photographs and illustrations within its beautifully designed 176 pages.

Want to get a copy of the books for your coffee table, and support the work of student professionals? All sales go into perpetuating the project, and will expand to offer scholarship opportunities who those who would like to travel domestically and abroad to learn and photograph. Click here to purchase.

 

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