HW home > academics > curriculum guide > MS visual arts

Participating in Visual Arts involves learning to see. This includes thinking and talking about what we see. It also involves being mindful because seeing is thinking. But most importantly, participating in Visual Arts is about becoming informed, authentic creators of visual expressions and ideas. By making art, students enhance their experience, skill, and confidence in their ability to think, create, and communicate with visual images. They exercise their imaginations as they achieve visual literacy. Because they are able to visualize, they are able to create. Because they’ve learned how to see, they’re able to appreciate and understand. The Visual Arts department seeks to empower its students, to support their achievements, to inspire fresh perspectives and effective expressions, and to encourage new endeavors of creation and communication. “Possumus quia nos posse videmus”: We can because we see we can. Visual Arts 7 0001-1 | 0001-2 Two identical semesters — Grade 7 — Meets 3 times per cycle Visual Arts 7 is a foundation studio course that introduces students to the fundamental principles of composition and design and the objective elements of visual language. Students explore art activities with a variety of media and techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. They are encouraged to develop visual language skills through classroom practice, guided experimentation, and sketchbook exercises. Each individual participates in the exhibition of student work throughout the semester. Introduction to Clay 0010-1 |0010-2 Two identical semesters — Grades 8 and 9— Meets 3 times per cycle Students make handmade ceramic cups, bowls, plates, and vases. They learn the ancient techniques of making coil, slab, and pinched forms. Students can decorate their pieces with colorful, food-safe glazes. The work may be decorative and functional or sculptural. Typical projects are natural and manufactured figurative forms and functional vessels or boxes. Introduction to Clay is a prerequisite for Introduction to the Potter’s Wheel. Introduction to the Potter's Wheel 0100-1 | 0100-2 Two identical semesters — Grade 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle Instructions are given on centering, opening, shaping, and trimming clay on the potter’s wheel. Students gain the skills necessary to make cups, bowls, and plates. The class experiments with a variety of ways to decorate and glaze ceramic pieces. Prerequisite: Introduction to Clay. Mixed Media I  0201-1 | 0201-2 Two identical semesters — Grades 8 and 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle Art activities are made easy in this beginning studio course. A wide variety of popular media is employed to encourage visual expression, experimentation, and exploration. This free-spirited class introduces students to basic drawing skills. The primary focus, however, is on inspiring personal creativity through projects such as fantasy face cards, 3D assemblage, collage, and expressive portraiture. Instruction is also provided in the use of prisma color pencils, paint, and pastels. Students who complete this course are qualified to enroll in Mixed Media II. Mixed Media II 0211-1 | 0211-2 Two identical semesters — Grade 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle This mixed media course provides an opportunity for ninth-grade students to “loosen up” in a studio environment. The class teaches the art of stretching canvas, use of acrylic and watercolor paints, construction of 3D assemblage, relief work from found objects, and much more. If you enjoy easel work, are imaginative, and love working with your hands, this class is for you! Prerequisite: Mixed Media I or permission of the instructor. Introduction to Digital Photography 0305-1 |0305-2 Two identical semesters — Grades 8 and 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle This course offers a digital introduction to the fundamental concepts and principles that support both film and digital photography. The relationship of shutter speed and aperture settings to both successful exposure and appropriate picture design are presented. The principles of dynamic composition and the elements of visual language are emphasized. The aesthetics of plain art photography and abstract realism are explored. Coursework is performed with a classroom set of SLR cameras provided by the school and common “point-and-shoot” digital cameras provided by the student. Students learn to organize, edit, and print their photos using Adobe® Photoshop® and Epson ink-jet printers. Introduction to Digital Photography is a prerequisite for Introduction to PhotoGraphics. Introduction to PhotoGraphics 0310-1 | 0310-2 Two identical semesters — Grade 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle This course serves as an experiential bridge between traditional film-based photography and digital photo-imaging. Special emphasis is placed on using Adobe® Photoshop® as an expressive, experimental art-making tool. Students learn professional computer graphics skills and practices while exploring the creative choices and options that PhotoShop® makes available to the visual artist. Students are encouraged to develop sensitivity for craft, composition, picture design, and graphic impact. Digital cameras and memory cards are provided. Prerequisite: Introduction to Photography or permission of the instructor. Introduction to Animation I 0400-1 | 0400-2 Two identical semesters — Grades 8 and 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle Introduction to Animation I is a survey course that samples a variety of animation techniques through all phases of creating and producing animation shorts. Visual and critical thinking and collaboration are constant themes throughout the semester. Introduction to Animation II 0410-1 | 0410-2 Two identical semesters — Grade 9 — Meets 3 times per cycle This course continues and expands on the exploratory nature of Introduction to Animation I. Further refinement of animation-making skills, combined with emphasis on the Z-axis (three-dimensional space) through camera and compositional techniques, allows an increasingly cinematographic approach to animated storytelling. Prerequisite: Introduction to Animation I. [back to top] (from the 2008-2009 Curriculum Guide)