The most important objective of the Lower School Art Program is to create an atmosphere of encouragement, enthusiasm, and acceptance for the creative efforts of the children. At each grade level, teacher and students explore visual elements and principles of design through a variety of two and three-dimensional projects. Students visit the art room where the teacher introduces tools and skills and students explore the potential and limitations of various media. Either by plan or serendipity, they make discoveries about the natural and man-made environment through the processes of drawing, painting, printmaking, and ceramic sculpture. Students also work with wood, fiber or found objects.
Projects become increasingly more complex as is appropriate to artistic development.
Collectively, children enjoy and respect each other s creations. The Middle School Art Program seeks to function as an introduction to studio art, linking past art experiences at the Lower School level with an eye toward preparedness for the Upper School Art Program. To this end, Middle School Art introduces students to a broad range of experiences and media, emphasizing problem solving, aesthetic decision making, inventive thinking, craftsmanship, and risk taking through creative studio processes. Continuing to build on the foundation laid in the Lower and Middle Schools, the Upper School Art program offers opportunities through the Advanced Placement level as electives for interested students. In addition to studio projects, students are asked to participate in critiques and dialogues on art history.