Goals and Objectives
The visual arts department offers a sequence of courses in two-dimensional concepts, drawing and painting, ceramics, mixed media, photography, computer graphics design, and video production. As students develop and progress, they may also choose elective courses in advanced studio classes, senior art studio, as well as AP art studio. Students will begin assembling their best works into a portfolio in the 11th grade year as a record of production, and to use in applications to art schools and universities. Cross-curricular projects, field trips to museums and galleries, as well as visiting artists, will support and enhance the quality of the program. As production is such an important aspect of the program, students will have numerous opportunities to exhibit several times each year.
- Provide students with the opportunities to develop their aesthetic, imaginative, and creative faculties
- Stimulate and train visual awareness, perception, and criticism of the arts of various cultures
- Provide the student the opportunity to discover, develop, and enjoy means of creative visual expression in the studio, which are suited to their capabilities
- Encourage the pursuit of quality through training and individual experiment
- Exemplify and encourage a lively, inquiring, and informed attitude toward art and design in all its forms, both in history and today
- Prepare middle school students for audition into high school major
Students will be expected to demonstrate:
- A positive, inquiring attitude towards a variety of visual phenomena, expressed through research and regular studio work.
- An appreciation of the medium and its expressive potential.
- A comprehension of the aesthetic and technical problems encountered in studio practice.
- The development of sufficient technical skills to produce some works of quality
- An ability to select and present their work appropriately.
