MCPS VISUAL ART CENTER

VAC Faculty: Mygenet Harris & Sarah Harnish 

Principal: Mark Brown

Assistant Principal: Kia Davis

Academy Coordinator: Anne Michael

MCPS Content Specialist - Visual Art & Dance: Tricia Gooley

MCPS Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator: Anjali Wells

Established in 1974, the Visual Art Center (VAC) is a nationally recognized portfolio preparation program at Albert Einstein High School. The VAC is an Honors-AP level, pre-college, art portfolio development magnet program within the Montgomery County Public School system. Historically the VAC was a countywide magnet program; beginning with the class of 2031 the county has created regional program models. The new era of the VAC @ Einstein will serve students in the southern region (Einstein, Blair, Northwood, Whitman and BCC). The VAC has two teachers/co-coordinators, Mygenet Harris and Sarah Harnish. The VAC offers students a broad perspective of the visual arts and deepens their understanding of the opportunities for visual art-related careers through exposure to art history, contemporary artists, and artwork.  The VAC curriculum provides a series of art problems for students to solve with projects that stimulate the development of creative and critical thinking. As students mature artistically in the program, they are encouraged to investigate and develop their own "personal voice" or style. VAC graduates have pursued study in fine art and digital art fields, such as animation, arts administration, arts education, fashion design, film, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, interior design, product design, social media, television, transportation design, theater lighting, virtual reality, web, and set design. This rigorous and comprehensive program enables students to realize and achieve their full potential in visual arts. The work presented on this site is the work of current and past Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors of the VAC.