Mrs. Caitlin Alfano - calfano@wbschools.org
Mrs. Erin Bodolai- ebodolai@wbschools.org
Mrs. Jennifer Tomeo - jtomeo@wbschools.org
The Junior High School Art Department offers a variety of courses that are designed to help students meet or exceed the NYS Standards for the Arts. We thrive on our ability to improve the whole child, by providing students with an aesthetic education program that enables them to apply creative, cognitive, critical thinking, and collaborative skills. We also provide enrichment courses for advanced art students who wish to pursue an art sequence while in high school. Please see our course descriptions below for more information.
6th Grade Art -In 6th grade students are introduced to art at its core. We learn the elements of art and design and understand them as the building blocks of art. Along with the elements of art, 6th grade students are introduced to the principles of art and design. Students learn how to use the principles of art to successfully arrange the elements in a composition. They use their knowledge of the principles to analyze and critique various works of art, including works by famous artists, works by their peers, and their own works. Art appreciation and symbolism is a major focus; they will understand symbolism in art, will identify symbolism all around us, and will create self-expressive works that symbolize their individuality. Students will understand that art comes in many different forms. They will know the difference between abstract art and realism and will create works in both styles. Lastly, we will explore art and artifacts from various historical periods and world cultures to discover the role that art plays in the lives of people of a given time and place. Students in 6th grade art will have the opportunity to experiment with a variety of different materials, including, but not limited to, colored sharpie, colored pencil, papyrus paper, watercolors, metallic markers, metallic paper, and paper collage. We also observe the effects of combining materials. Students apply their knowledge and skills to the creation of a selection of exciting projects that include, but are not limited to zentangle letters, zentangle animals, ancient Egyptian figures, medieval shields, and non-representational collages.
7th Grade Art -In 7th grade art we build on the lessons learned from 6th grade art and place an emphasis on space and structure. We will understand how to create the illusion of three dimensional space on a two dimensional surface by learning how to create the illusion of depth in drawing . We learn to look at the world and our surroundings differently and translate what we see onto our paper while simultaneously incorporating self-expression and personal interests. We accomplish this task by first learning about the major topics of value and perspective, then following step-by-step techniques for creating personal works through a selection of exciting projects that include, but are not limited to moonlit landscapes, charcoal still life, expanded room project, 2-point perspective architectural structures, 2-point perspective board games, 3-point perspective skyscrapers and 4- point perspective optical illusions.
8th Grade Art -Grade 8 Art will be focusing this year on core concepts that encourage the artist to conceptualize and create art based on theories covering the elements of color and light and the principle of movement. This class will satisfy your art requirement offered to you before graduation. Over the course of the next 20 weeks, we will be learning about color theory, specifically the affects to us personally and also those whom we are communicating to through our art. We learn about light and how it can be used to create depth, as well as producing mood and tone to a piece. Lastly, we will focus on movement, learning ways we as artist’s can leads our audiences eyes around a composition to create visual interest and excitement.
Art Club - Open to all students who have a love for art and would like to further enhance their skills, participate in community-oriented projects, and meet peers with similar interests. This club meets after school.
Studio Art 9 - This advanced placement course is available to select 8th graders who wish to pursue a major course of study in art. This is the survey course recommended for HS graduation by the Board of Regents. It is designed to introduce students to the art curriculum with experiences in painting drawing, two and three dimensional design, graphics and the history of art among other topics.
Studio in Art will be focusing this year on core concepts that encourage the artist to conceptualize and create art based on theories and usage of the elements and principles of art. This class will satisfy your art requirement toward High School graduation. Over the course of the next 40 weeks, we will be learning about the elements and principles of art while focusing on their impact in communicating a message visually. Texture and how qualities of texture relate to how something would feel while learning ways to simulate examples. Observational drawing and how it relates with perception. Expressionism through portraiture. A survey of art history from prehistoric to contemporary through close readings of text. Sculpture and how it relates to form. Painting techniques and exposure to various mediums of paint. Lastly, design and composition and group projects; either group presentations or mural work.
Prerequisite: Selection for this course is determined by application and portfolio review.