The new digital art program has generated a lot of student interest with nearly 150 students signing up for the class, enough to fill five full class rosters. Students in the digital art classes are taught to use Adobe Photoshop, a computer art program that is widely utilized in the digital art industry, according to Matthews. The program allows students to alter photos, graphics and text by applying a variety of effects. Some students joined the class because they are interested in pursuing art in college and wanted to add to their portfolios. Other students joined because they want to get more computer experience or because digital art may be helpful for their future plans.
Some students express frustration about the number of computers available in the classroom.
The digital art room is equipped with merely 16 computers, which only accommodate half of the students in most classes. Though alternative art activities are assigned when students aren t using computers, some students regard this time as slow. Only half of the class is on computers at a time so we have to rotate being on the computers and doing other stuff. Next semester, the addition of Adobe Illustrator to the class will allow students to focus on text art and animation. In addition, there are plans for next year to add website creation to the program.