Middle School Visual Arts

At the Middle School, each student is exposed to all art offerings: drama, music, three-dimensional and two-dimensional art. In each class, students are challenged to take risks while they discover the role of personal interpretation in art, and celebrate the power of art in the community.

In Grade 7, three dimensional art students work in a variety of different media, focusing on sculpture to express their ideas. Students discover history through art of the ages by studying different cultures and their use of materials.

Classes in the two-dimensional arts focus on drawing and painting, color-mixing, and the use of a variety of materials. Principles and elements of design, as well as art vocabulary, are emphasized.

In Grade 8, students participate in concentrated immersion in two semester-long arts courses of their choice, which meet three times a week, including one doubleblock. Students choose visual arts for one semester and performing arts for one semester. Students choose from two-dimensional art, three-dimensional art, drama and music; electives may include wheel-thrown pottery, stained glass, the Great Goddess: portraits in clay, hand formed clay, printmaking, painting and drawing.

Wheel Thrown Pottery (Grade 8) students focus on clay centering and the basic shapes of bowl and cylinder then move on to understanding the different qualities and specifics of types of clay, design, glazing, and firing procedures.

The Great Goddess: Portraits in Clay (Grade 8) is a sculpture class using clay to create an original goddess and myth. Students research an existent goddess myth, create preliminary sketches, sculpt an original portrait, and keep a journal as a means of understanding the artistic process.

Hand-Formed Clay (Grade 8) is a course designed to introduce students to different methods of hand-building - soft slabs, hard slabs, coils, texture, and pinching - to create clay sculpture and vessels. After creating a work in each technique, students will work on an independent project of their own design. This is a course about creativity and whimsy.

Printmaking (Grade 8) focuses on relief printing including embossing, collograph, reduction linoleum prints, woodblock, etching and monoprinting. Students develop images, connect technique to self-expression, gain an understanding of negative and positive space, and partake in a community awareness project.

Painting (Grade 8) students work with wet media including acrylic, tempura and watercolor. Focus is on in-depth color-mixing, developing an image, and understanding materials. Projects range from reproduction images, to painting on 2 and 3-D surfaces and mural painting.