Curriculum: Art and Shop at the School for Children

Art and Shop in the Upper School

Increasing the levels of skill and exposure to the arts among Upper School children leads them to enriched personal lives and a greater understanding of the world around them. Their heightened critical awareness makes students ready to study composition and color, as well as observation techniques that they can use for drawing, painting, clay, collage and construction, paper mache, printmaking, and wood. By studying art from various cultures and periods, they investigate different ways of seeing and making drawings, paintings, and sculptures. While wood is the primary material in shop, children also work with more complex sculptural materials, such as plaster, wax, and wire. Projects draw on the numerous sculptural skills they have been developing over the years, such as assemblage, carving, and modeling.

The 10/11s and 11/12s work with figure drawing in order to address their developmental interest in telling a story. They also create paintings, collages, clay figures, and animal forms as they continue to build a foundation and develop a vocabulary of the movement and proportions of the human figure. At this stage of their development, they want to draw and create art that looks realistic. Thus, the 12/13s and 13/14s work with various skill-based projects that enhance and further develop their abilities in careful observation. Projects that directly address the pre-adolescent theme of self-image and self-discovery are offered through the painting and building of self-portraits, as well as of creating clay portraits based on various moods.

Each class in the Upper School has experiences in studying a wide range of art works by diverse artists from various time periods. Their observational exercises and discussions allow students to develop and sharpen their ability to critically see and learn a variety of expressive techniques. At the same time, they develop their artistic language and vocabulary and become sensitive and knowledgeable about many different art forms. The Art and Shop teachers meet with the Upper School coordinator and teachers to plan for experiences that integrate art into their classroom studies.

As the students graduate from the School, their experiences in Art and Shop help them become confident, expressive, and intuitive artists. Students are comfortable exploring and taking risks in their work and are able to discover, appreciate, and evaluate the art in their everyday experiences.