COURSE DESCRIPTIONS:

ART FUNDEMENTALS (ART I) Open to grades 9-12 Art Fundamentals introduces the student to the art elements and principles of design. Technical skills will be explored in a variety of mediums and materials. Students will experiment with 2-dimensional design as well as 3-dimensional design. Assignments may explore art history and problem solving skills in both 2-D and 3-D pieces. Students will also be expected to develop a vocabulary to analyze and communicate their thoughts about their work as well as work done by others. PAINTING (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 This course is designed to teach students advanced painting techniques. Individual interests and developing individual style and expression will be explored. Students will understand color theory, basic design principles, various painting surfaces, media, and the use of brushes. CERAMICS (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 (2nd semester of an even year) This course is a hands-on studio class designed for those art students who like to create in clay. Students will learn basic and advanced hand building techniques. They will be introduced to a variety of surface embellishments and glazing techniques to produce a number of creative pieces of stoneware. DRAWING (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 This course provides the art student with the opportunity to learn more advanced realistic drawing and shading techniques. Students will understand the use of design principles to create a good composition, and to explore and develop a drawing style and expression. Projects are designed from real objects and photographic references. Various media are explored such as pencil, charcoal, colored pencil and pastel. DRAWING AND 2-D DESIGN (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 This course looks at the fundamentals of 2-D design. Students will work with a variety of materials and mediums. Students will take a more advanced look at the principles of design and apply these to their pieces. Some projects may include collage, tessellations, poster design, weaving, graphic design, such as paper, collage, DRAWING AND PRINTMAKING (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 This course provides students with advanced drawing and printmaking experiences. Students will learn how to skillfully create a drawing and transfer it into an edition of prints in black/white and color. Personal expression is emphasized along with the technical aspects of printing. Various techniques will be explored to create aesthetic qualities within each print. SCULPTURE (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 This course provides a hands-on approach for understanding contemporary sculpture. Students will have the opportunity to work with clay, plaster, found materials, wire armature, and metals. Students may explore techniques and processes of creating 3-dimensional art using these materials. The student may also explore the idea of wearable art and architectural design problems. STUDIO ART (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals and teacher recommendation Open to grades 10-12 This course is primarily an independent study. The student will look at self-expression. The student will be challenged to develop expressive techniques while working independently in a specific area of media. The student will be required to complete a contract created by him/her and the teacher to determine goals and expectations for the semester/year. The student will be expected to examine artistic styles and movements, develop artistic skills/techniques, and use creative thinking in this course. TEXTILES AND FOLKART (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) Prerequisite: Art Fundamentals Open to grades 10-12 This course will explore a variety of techniques and materials working with fibers. Some activities may include batik, weaving, coil weaving, papermaking, and hand-made paper sculpture. Students will look at the history of papermaking and the processes of fiber art. This course will also explore native folk arts of South and Central American and Africa. ELECTRONIC IMAGING I Open to grades 9-12 Students will be introduced to producing images using the computer as a tool. They will explore digital photography, scanned images, as well as working with graphic manipulation programs. Some of the techniques used are painting, drawing, and filter effects. Students will use these techniques to create images that communicate artistic expression as well as demonstrate good graphic design. Students will also begin the fundamentals of web page design. BASIC GRAPHIC DESIGN & MULTIMEDIA (II, III, IV, V) Prerequisite: Electronic Imaging I Open to grades 10-12 Graphic Design introduces the student to simple image manipulation on the computer screen. Basic drawing tools and their use are presented along with projects designed to allow the student to use these tools creatively. Students learn basic typography while exploring type as an art form or a means to convey a message. Design for multimedia presentations and web design are also covered.