ART

The goal of our art program is for children to make art with confidence and to enjoy art as both creators and observers. Twice-weekly art classes in the school's two art rooms are a structured supplement to art activities in the children's classrooms and at Shelly Ridge.

The basic compositional elements of design are introduced at an early age and reinforced in more depth as the students' cognitive and physical abilities increase.

Students explore a variety of mediums, including paint, printing, clay, and computer graphics. The art department is equipped with a kiln, three potter's wheels, a slab roller, a clay extruder, a printing press, and laptops with scanner and printer.

Classroom thematic units often guide the direction of the art curriculum. Through the visual arts we often enable children to better understand concepts introduced in other classes.

In conjunction with current art projects--or simply to take advantage of an exhibit that happens to be in town--students visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and other local art museums regularly. The Middle School also visits museums in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. The 8th grade enjoys an annual First Friday tour of Old City galleries.

Art classes often host guest artists for demonstrations, slide lectures, and discussions of their work.

STUDENT ART GALLERIES:

Kindergarten
1st and 2nd Grades
3rd Grade
4th and 5th Grades
6th-8th Grades
Films

Art Newsletter Winter 2008
Art Newsletter Fall 2007