Our program is largely a sequential one in which students are introduced to appropriate skills and concepts at each level. New material and technology is explored, practiced and integrated with previous learning as students progress from simple exercises to complex assignments requiring increased independence. Using a problem solving format, issues are first presented and examined, then students develop individual solutions to creatively answer assigned problems. Frequent use of critiques helps students both to recognize quality and to appreciate the uniqueness and diversity of effective responses. We are concerned not only with the making of art but also with the development of critical thinking, visual literacy and historical awareness.
The Middle School Art Program - sixth, seventh and eighth grades
The purpose or goal of these three years of studio art education is to explain and systematically practice in developmental order aspects from a series of visual systems. These include projects involving:
positive-negative relationships
two dimensional design
one and two point perspective and atmospheric perspective
the interactions of color
observational drawing
three dimensional design and construction
introduction to digital media
The Upper School Program - ninth, tenth , eleventh and twelfth
Foundation is a pivotal course taught primarily in the ninth grade and serves as a prerequisite for all upper level studio art courses. This course in principal and practice breaks down and isolates complex visual ideas into clear and simpler components and then slowly puts them back together allowing a student to develop the technical skills, conceptual understanding and vocabulary necessary for producing meaningful art work.
Art courses in grades ten, eleven and twelve may be chosen individually as minors or combined with Art History to make an art major. Art History may be taken without the Foundation prerequisite. Upon completion of Foundation, students may take the following studio courses:
Color and Design
Drawing and Painting
Three Dimensional Art
Photography
Senior Studio Portfolio Preparation
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