Visual Art & Design

Open to all students.

This course is designed as an introduction to the process, language and materials used in the making of visual art and design. Emphasis will be placed on creativity, self-expression, and visual communication as well as acquiring proficiency skills in basic drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Each unit incorporates the building blocks of visual art being the Elements of Art and Principles of Design with the opportunity to create personally meaningful artwork that explores creative problem solving, out of the box thinking, and originality. 

Open to all students.

Focusing on the elements and principles of art and design, students will be introduced to foundational digital art and design tools. Through the exploration of art and design genres students will develop creative works that focus on self expression and visual communication. Course units explore genres of art while introducing students to the elements and principles of art and design. Beyond initiating and developing digital art, students develop language to discuss and evaluate works of art. In addition, students are introduced to art works by historically important analog and digital artists. Students receive an introduction to Adobe Photoshop, iMacs, drawing tablets, digital cameras, and printing.

Prerequisite: Art and Design Foundations or Digital Art & Design Foundations

This course is designed to enhance the art of experimentation!  Students will be introduced to the printing press and several printing methods that include both additive and reductive processes such as monotype, collagraph, intaglio, relief, and screen printing. An emphasis will be placed on skill building activities that lead towards experimentation and the production of self realized series and additions.

Prerequisite: Art and Design Foundations or Digital Art & Design Foundations

This course will  provide students with the fundamental skills and techniques necessary to create hand built ceramic artwork. This course will have an emphasis on hand building techniques that include coil, pinch, and slab methods. Students will explore clay as an art medium while discovering its traditional uses and applications throughout history and how it has evolved as a contemporary artform. Students will be urged to apply creativity and individuality while making personally designed functional and sculptural pieces throughout the course.  Students will also be introduced to various high fire glazing and finishing techniques to enhance their ceramic work.

Prerequisite: Ceramics I

This course will have an emphasis on advanced hand building techniques that include coil, pinch, and slab methods to explore conceptually complex themes. This course will expand upon the students’ previously acquired knowledge of ceramics as a medium, to explore its complex historical and contemporary applications as an artform. Students will create sculptural,  functional, and decorative works that explore personally meaningful concepts and self expression. Opportunities on the potters wheel will be available for study as a bridge into the world of pottery. Students will also be introduced to various alternative high fire glazing techniques to enhance their ceramic work.

Prerequisite: Ceramics II

This course is designed to provide the advanced ceramics student the opportunity to independently create a cohesive body of ceramic work that revolves around a central, personally developed, inquiry question. Students will determine their focus, plan for, create, refine, and reflect upon work that displays their advanced technical competency with ceramic materials, techniques, and processes. Students will have the opportunity to research and explore alternative ceramic and glazing techniques while being encouraged to utilize the ceramics studio in an independent manner. Group critiques will be implemented throughout the course to provide artists with the feedback necessary to refine and complete works for exhibition. 

Prerequisite: Art and Design Foundations or Digital Art & Design Foundations

This course is designed to expand the student’s knowledge of the language and materials of drawing, as well as explore the various subject matter used throughout the history of artmaking. Students will experiment with a variety of materials including pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, pastels, and non-traditional drawing media.  The class will be introduced to various sighting methods designed to simplify the drawing process and make the exercises attainable for all students.  All assignments provide personal choice and challenges that will define a student’s individual drawing style and form of expression.

Prerequisite: Art and Design Foundations or Digital Art & Design Foundations

This course uses a survey of art movements and historical subject matter. Students will explore a variety of techniques and approaches to the art of applying paint and complete a collection of paintings using various stylistic methods, subject matters, painting mediums, and surfaces. The painting mediums available for study include oil paint, acrylic paint, gouache, watercolor, and alternative painting mediums.

Prerequisite: Digital Art & Design Foundations 

Students will begin to develop a visual sensitivity to and awareness of the world of commercial design, as well as explore how visual imagery is used to communicate meaning and shape the perceptions of the viewer. We will consider the fields of graphic design, illustration, and advertising, and the roles they play in society. Students will use industry-standard computer software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Each project addresses both practical design challenges, while introducing design principles and processes.

Prerequisite: Graphic Design I

In this class students apply their design skills to create real impact in the community. To do so students need to consider design themes including marketing, audience, and client needs. Students will use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign interchangeably, as they see fit, for their needs in each project. Market research as well as critiques will be a regular aspect of this class as we discuss best practices for design, engaging with clients, printing and production, as well as evaluating the aesthetic choices that create compelling designs.

Prerequisite:  Either Foundations course, at least 2 other electives, as well as permission of instructor.

The Portfolio student will develop a comprehensive body of artwork that reflects the exploration of a personally developed topic while displaying technical competency in a wide range of media. Students enrolled in this class may choose to create a portfolio for part of an art school application or supplement to a liberal arts program. The course curriculum includes the self-driven development of a cohesive body of work, the implementation of artistic process, group critiques, virtual visits from admission counselors, and opportunities to exhibit their artwork. Exhibiting skills will be utilized in a Portfolio show that will highlight a group effort to create refined and conceptual artworks.

Open to all students

This course is an introduction to the practice of digital photography. Students learn the basics of shooting with a digital camera, including aperture, shutter speed, lighting, and composition. Adobe Lightroom is used to discuss image editing and its relevance to the practice of photography. Emphasis is also placed on exploring the history of photography, understanding its technical development and impact on society. 

Prerequisite: Prerequisite: Art and Design Foundations or Digital Art & Design Foundations, and Digital Photography I

Students having taken Digital Photography I will refine and advance their photography skills, expanding into the use of digital manipulation and introducing some of the more advanced imaging features of Adobe Photoshop. Projects are more conceptual and independent in nature, allowing the student to focus on a particular technique or area of interest. Students, through in class demonstrations, practical application, and working in the field, will contribute to critiques with their peers and engage in dialogue about the importance of alternative ways to create, manipulate, and display digital photographic images. 

This course will teach students the fundamentals needed to plan and produce our school yearbook. Using the latest desktop publishing and graphic design programs, students will facilitate the design process and assume responsibility for various sections. As a result, Yearbook requires students to exhibit personal responsibility, leadership, and artistic skill. Students will hone skills in the areas of writing, graphic design, photography, and business. Meeting deadlines and teamwork are essential.

Prerequisite: Digital Photography

In Documentary Filmmaking students will study and produce non-fiction narrative films that document their world and effectively tell stories. Students will learn about the cinematic techniques, elements, and choices needed to create their own short and feature length films. Students will learn how to conduct interviews, film additional visual material and b roll, utilize archival footage, and layer sound, music, and images into a compelling film that effectively tells a story. Beyond creating short films the class will work as a team to produce and screen a feature length documentary film.

In Introduction to Art History, students will study the great movements in art and design, with a focus on analysing images in different global and historical contexts. Potential Topics include: Ancient Cave Paintings, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Mythology and Greek Ceramics, Pre-columbian Art, The Renaissance, Technology and Painting, The Photographic Revolution, and Art and Propaganda. Students will explore different approaches to analysing works of art by understanding the cultural, theoretical, and historical implications of each work, while digging into the material and technical impacts of art making.  Students will not only study the great works of art, but will also create their own art works, inspired by the movements studied in class.

Prerequisite:  Digital Art & Design Foundations OR Digital Photography

Social Media Marketing will prepare students to increase brand awareness, and to identify key audiences, by creating marketing campaigns and managing the social media presence for student groups. The course will analyse how the marketing community creates and measures successful marketing campaigns through social media. Students will develop and understand the techniques used for gaining customers and consumer engagement online. Students will use a variety of art and design approaches including Graphic Design, Photography, Video, and Copy Writing to engage consumers and monitor and measure the results of these efforts.

Independent studies are offered for students who have a specific project or area of art that they are interested in focusing on more closely. Independent studies are given to students on a case by case basis with instructor approval, and are created and structured by the student. Work needs to be laid out in advance of the semester, with clear project goals and deadlines. In tandem with regular check-ins, the student will have a clear body of work that they will be asked to present at the end of the semester. 

Art Club is for High School students who would like to be more involved with the Visual Arts throughout the school year. The club promotes individual and collaborative exchanges of ideas, meeting weekly after school in an open studio. Most art materials are open for self guided exploration and use for personal projects. Numerous opportunities to participate in art shows and competitions are readily available and shared out to the group.  Fundraising opportunities for the club are organized with the intention of taking a yearly field trip to create onsite artwork or to visit nearby art museums and collections.