| Information | Review |
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Foon Sham
ARTT200 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/02/2025 |
Took this class as an IMD major requirement, and as someone with no sculpting experience, I would strongly discourage taking Foon's class. He's a nice enough guy and will help you with your ideas and whatnot, but the requirements for his projects are very restrictive, and you can't be as creative as you might like to be. For example, our final project required us to take inspiration from 3 different artists at the Hirshhorn Museum in DC, but he would fail to see your inspiration (even if you explained it to him) unless the design concepts were almost copied from the artists. If you've never sculpted before and want to learn, Foon's class might stifle your passion, as he's very limiting and doesn't appreciate simpler projects even if you have no experience. Take someone else, he's very beginner-unfriendly. But if you are good at sculpting, you might get something out of taking him, since he is undeniably really good at what he does. |
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Foon Sham
ARTT333 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2025 |
honestly, i went into this class expecting to do pretty poorly because i had absolutely 0 experience in woodworking, and previous reviews made it seem like foon was a pretty critical grader. this may be different for the 200 class, but ARTT333 with Foon was great. he was very understanding to the fact that many people were novices, and his grading started out fairly lenient and got more critical over time as we got more experienced. like, for our first project i had NO idea what i was doing, and he still gave me a B. he’s easy to talk to, and if you don’t know how to do something he doesn’t mind going over it with you (i had to have him show me how to use the same machinery many, many times), especially since the machinery is dangerous so he’d rather you ask him then try to do it yourself. this class was definitely helped by the presence of his assistants and TAs, as the class can get pretty busy so it can be hard to get ahold of him. however, a warning: this class is a BIG commitment. you have VERY little leeway, and any absences will definitely negatively impact your ability to finish these projects. i don’t really blame this on Foon, i think this is honestly just the nature of studio art classes; professors will typically have VERY little wiggle room to teach you what you need to know in such a short timeframe and can’t really account for things like absences. for Foon, i did not miss a single class because i couldn’t afford to—i was pretty much working nonstop until critique day. you will also very likely have to use after-class studio hours and use them Frequently, because you very likely don’t have the machinery to do woodwork at home. also, wood is expensive. i kept my projects to a decent budget, but i think i still spent at least ~$150 on materials for this class (and that’s because i went as cheap as possible; some of my classmates were spending ~$40 for a single board because it was better quality). also, if you don’t have a car (or you have a really small one), LET HIM KNOW. you WILL eventually have to start carrying wood that ranges to 5-6ft in length, minimum. i was carrying that shit by bus until he offered to carpool me and some others to home depot (he has a truck, so if you want to use really tall/wide material that helps A LOT). overall, i really enjoyed this class with Foon. the machinery is definitely intimidating at first (think of comically large saws and loud, heavy blades), but you get used to it quicker than you think. Foon makes it approachable. just keep in mind that while he can be pretty understanding, he doesn’t really care for absences and will NOT give you extra time. he definitely will be more empathetic to you if you show up everyday, though. |
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Foon Sham
ARTT200 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2024 |
Honestly, one of the worst professors I've had. Overall, I've noticed the art professors here are seriously lacking and it's a major disappointment, I'm just hoping to get better professors down the line.. He doesn't give much guidance in the projects, or actual teaching at all. I basically had to teach myself through YouTube videos because he just didn't help. Talking with him about literally anything was the most infuriating thing, he would loop around in circles and never answer my questions, then be condescending and make me feel stupid. He claims the projects are very free range in what we do with them, but then grades according to his personal opinion of what he likes and what you "deserve". He also has a weird philosophy of "no one gets 100%" so his grading is capped at 97%. Don't expect an A+ because it's not possible. I worked so hard on every single project, researching endlessly, going to open studio, working at home till 3am.. it wasn't worth it. Don't overdo yourself in this class because it literally does not matter to him. He barely gives any useful comments for grading, if at all, so you're just left wondering why you got points taken off and no guidance for improvement. He also does not care at all about any other commitments you have outside of his class. Had an exam? Family emergency? Sick and/or depressed? Should've made this class a priority.. I don't think he realizes we have lives outside his class, or if he does, he doesn't care. I can say more.. I'm an art teacher myself and I'm getting my degree in education. But all in all, college professors aren't required to have a teaching degree. All they really need is a PhD saying they can make art. Just because you can make art doesn't mean you know how to teach it.. because he clearly doesn't have a clue. |
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Foon Sham
ARTT200 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2024 |
Honestly, one of the worst professors I've had. Overall, I've noticed the art professors here are seriously lacking and it's a major disappointment, I'm just hoping to get better professors down the line.. He doesn't give much guidance in the projects, or actual teaching at all. I basically had to teach myself through YouTube videos because he just didn't help. Talking with him about literally anything was the most infuriating thing, he would loop around in circles and never answer my questions, then be condescending and make me feel stupid. He claims the projects are very free range in what we do with them, but then grades according to his personal opinion of what he likes and what you "deserve". He also has a weird philosophy of "no one gets 100%" so his grading is capped at 97%. Don't expect an A+ because it's not possible. I worked so hard on every single project, researching endlessly, going to open studio, working at home till 3am.. it wasn't worth it. Don't overdo yourself in this class because it literally does not matter to him. He barely gives any useful comments for grading, if at all, so you're just left wondering why you got points taken off and no guidance for improvement. He also does not care at all about any other commitments you have outside of his class. Had an exam? Family emergency? Sick and/or depressed? Should've made this class a priority.. I don't think he realizes we have lives outside his class, or if he does, he doesn't care. I can say more.. I'm an art teacher myself and I'm getting my degree in education. But all in all, college professors aren't required to have a teaching degree. All they really need is a PhD saying they can make art. Just because you can make art doesn't mean you know how to teach it.. because he clearly doesn't have a clue. |
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Foon Sham
ARTT200 Anonymous 03/29/2024 |
Foon hasn't had a review written in awhile, but he is a great professor with a great sense of humor. He's a well-known artist and has notable pieces. His feedback in class is very useful and he helps add onto your ideas. Although, his grading could say otherwise. He can praise you in class, but when it comes to the grading the finished product, your grade could be different, but nothing too crazy like a C+. It's his form of critiquing. His projects are pretty time consuming as well, but that's the beauty of it. There are 3/4 projects, and then a final paper |
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Foon Sham
ARTT333 Expecting an A- Anonymous 09/14/2018 |
Possibly the best professor in the art department. He really is passionate about sculpture. I looked him up and he's pretty much a celebrity in the art world. He's so humble and will sit down with you one-on-one to teach you how to use the tools or how to push your concepts. He's a fair grader too. |
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Foon Sham
ARTT200 Expecting an A Jnorcro1 09/18/2014 |
Professor Sham is the BEST. I would recommend him to anyone, including non-majors and people uninterested in sculpture. He's very energetic, friendly, and fun. There was never a time I didn't look forward to going to his class. He really cares about his students, gives you great feedback and tips to help you improve your work. This class was one of my absolute favorites to take thus far in my education, and I would absolutely take a course with Foon again. He invites you to his gallery openings for extra credit, and even once took a friend and me around to other galleries in DC with his wife, which was hilariously fun. |
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Foon Sham
ARTT200 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/09/2014 |
An excellent professor, who really cares about is students. He has a lot of work in the dc area, and is relatively famous. Students vote for the projects that they want to do at the beginning of the class. Early projects are rather restrictive, but later projects allow you to do whatever you want under loose guidelines. You will use a lot of materials and power tools in the class. He throws a huge party after cleanup at the end of the year. Greatly recommended. |