ARTS

How can the introduction of clay and other three-dimensional materials affect the process and production of art?
How does the introduction to ceramics inspire the creative process to produce three-dimensional art?

The Introduction to Ceramic Sculpture course concentrates on developing an understanding of the function, form, and cultural contributions of sculpture through creating projects involving basic hand construction, methods of pinching, coiling, slab, and the potter’s wheel. This is an introductory course designed for the student with little or no previous knowledge of sculpture.

This course covers the traditional methods, skills, and techniques of ceramic art and sculpture as well as introduces contemporary ideas and methods by using various media such as plaster, stone carving, wood, and metal to incorporate a post-modern/contemporary approach to sculpture. Students begin the course with a hand-building project to produce pinch pots, followed by coil pots with focus on relief and additive processes. These projects allow students to become familiar and comfortable with the material. Students will then create a non-functional sculpture depicting a subject in motion. Future projects explore concepts such as the theme of opposites and surrealism, and ask students to conduct an artist study. Towards the end of the first semester and the beginning of the second semester, students are introduced to the potter’s wheel and are encouraged to create at least three pieces on the wheel by the end of the year.

Feedback is provided by the teacher and the students through critiques and discussions. The exposure to a variety of methods, materials, and concepts will start to shape and define each student’s style in preparation for more advanced classes that can be taken in subsequent years.

How is everything around me designed and made – and how can I design it better?

In this class, students will step into the role of a “professional” designer to create graphic, media, product, and fashion design. Later in the year, students will design architecture and urban planning solutions. Thinking like an innovator and inventor, you will use the design process to solve problems and create products for real and hypothetical clients. You will generate ideas through brainstorming, and produce prototypes, models and diagrams in a setting where there are often infinite solutions to the problem instead of one right answer. Projects will draw on disciplines such as psychology, engineering, and economics. Work will be designed by hand and through Adobe Suite and Computer Animated Design (CAD).

Examples of past projects include:

• graphic logos for environmentally sustainable hotels
• posters promoting social causes
• magazines
• jewelry and home products made out of upcycled garbage
• fashion design
• lighting and products that transform interior spaces
• architecture and urban planning designs such as housing, small business incubators, art centers, health centers, parks and graffiti walls that support social justice and environmental sustainability

What are the properties of drawing and painting media and what are the skills needed to effectively use them to create works from observation?
How does drawing and painting from observation change the finished work in comparison to drawing and painting from memory or imagination?

This is a foundations course which engages observation through the mediums of drawing and painting. Students will learn and practice methods of observation that will equip them with skills that form their visual languages. Observation -- or the labor of looking -- will be explored through many mediums: paint, collage, pencil, charcoal, and more. Students will also build their ability to create work from observation through traditional art-making tropes such as portraiture, landscape, and still life. Additionally, students will expand on ways of seeing through conceptual projects involving map-making, drawing with string, and their own bodies. Throughout the year, students will engage in regular critiques that involve critical discussions, contextual reading, and written reflections.

What are the variables of an SLR camera and the film used that affect exposures?
What are the variables of the enlarging process that affect the print?

This is a foundation course in the fundamentals of black-and-white film photography. Students learn the basic skills of how to use a single lens reflex camera and the variables that affect exposure and creating good photographs. In the Darkroom, students will learn how to process their film, make enlargements from their negatives and develop finished black and white prints. Although black and white film processing and printing are emphasized, attention is given to digital photography as well. This class also focuses on aesthetic concerns, critiques, and familiarity with the work of established photographers.

How can further instruction in ceramics and other sculptural materials help shape and define one’s artistic style?

Students build on the concepts from Intro to Ceramic Sculpture. Students will be introduced to the idea of conceptual art and how an idea can inspire the use of materials to create a sculpture, rather than the material inspiring the idea. Students will then be tasked with creating a monument to a person or concern. Students will also look at famous painters in history and will be asked to create a sculpture inspired by the style/theme of a famous painting. All of the basic skills and techniques are reviewed at the beginning of the course, giving students an opportunity to become more familiar with the materials. The potter’s wheel will be more involved in the curriculum this year, and students will be asked to make a set of dinnerware, which includes plates, cups, and bowls. Through these projects, students will begin to develop their individual styles.

(Prerequisite: successful completion of Introduction to Ceramic Sculpture or permission of instructor.)

How can I design a company, brand, products, retail and website spaces for a specific client?

In this course, students will master more advanced design concepts and techniques as they work on a variety of user-focused projects in graphic, media, product, and apparel design and in architecture.

After they analyze a client profile, students design a company, along with its graphic identity, including the logo and website, to communicate the company’s values and to attract customers. Next, students will create prototypes, models, and samples of the company’s products, and design the interior architecture and e-commerce website spaces where the products will be sold. In order to enhance the “real world” aspects of the class and to demystify these influential professions, students will receive monthly feedback from professional designers and entrepreneurs.

How can we use the methods, materials, and techniques used by artists to tell stories and address contemporary issues?

In this course we will investigate drawing and painting practice, concepts and verbal skills. We will explore drawing and various mark-making materials, painting with oils, using mediums and various brushes. Students will be challenged to try new approaches on a regular basis, building a library of working processes. We will research contemporary artists and their studio practices while talking about big ideas, themes, relevancy, and techniques. As artists, students will collect ideas in a sketchbook while searching for what interests them and investigating how they can begin to address these ideas in their work. The focus of the course will be on developing skills necessary to express personal ideas through a variety of traditional and experimental media.

(Prerequisite: successful completion of Intro to Drawing and Painting or permission of instructor.)

What are the variables of an SLR camera and the film used that affect exposures?
What are the variables of the enlarging process that affect the print?

This course continues to build on the fundamentals of black-and-white film photography. This course is open to beginning photography students as well as those who are familiar with the basic skills of how to use a single lens reflex camera and the variables that affect exposure and creating good photographs. In the Darkroom, students will process their film, make enlargements from their negatives and develop finished black and white prints. Students with previous experience will become more comfortable processing their film, using creative techniques for making enlargements from their negatives and developing good quality black and white prints. Although black and white film processing and printing are emphasized, attention is given to digital photography as well. This class also focuses on aesthetic concerns, critiques, and familiarity with the work of established photographers.

What questions does one ask oneself in order to interpret a work of art?
How does historical context influence the progression of artistic style over time?

In this course, students will build the necessary skills that will allow them to analyze any piece of artwork to which they are exposed. As they learn to identify a core set of masterpieces from each period, and explore the evolution of styles through the ages, the main objective will be to develop an “art language” as a method of visual analysis and interpretation. Throughout the course, we will be visiting various museums and galleries around New York City. The art history course offers a chronological survey of art from the beginning of civilization to the present time, including the most modern trends and ideas in the ever-changing world of art. The course combines proper historical techniques and procedures with an emphasis on the role played by the artist and the work of art, its context, and the critic. Special attention is given to our interpretation of a work of art based upon its intended use, audience, and role in a particular society. As a survey course, the material is approached as an introduction to the discipline. The study of Art History will change the way one looks not only at paintings and statues, but also advertisements and any visual phenomenon.

What influences the development of artistic style?
How will exploring themes of art history, aesthetics, and style further shape one’s artistic style?

Ceramic Sculpture Portfolio is an advanced continuation of Ceramic Sculpture II with an emphasis on the further development of individual artistic style, and the intention to create a portfolio that will be sent out to colleges as an application supplement. Students will have the creative freedom to explore media and methods that they prefer, though because college portfolio requirements usually ask for a variety of artwork from different themes or mediums, students will have to spend time out of their comfort zone in order to meet these requirements. Students will be given themes to explore through their sculpture-making, but will also be encouraged to produce original ideas. Students will be provided with more creative freedom than past courses, but expectations will be higher in this advanced class.

How can I create and present an advanced design portfolio that shows a mastery of design thinking and skills?

In this course, students will work with professional designers through real and virtual critiques and studio visits as they work on a series of projects in graphic, media, apparel, and product design and architecture and urban planning. Getting to know individuals who are designing the messages, objects and spaces in our world , will demystify these influential professions and students will see how they could easily participate in them too. A year-long focus of this course will be a critical dialogue about equity, and social justice in design as we explore the question, “Do the people who design our media, products and spaces reflect the rich diversity of our society?” In the spring, students will apply what they have learned in a multi-disciplinary Urban Planning project where they analyze and re-design a street in nearby Brooklyn.

How can you begin to develop and research ideas that you are interested in and use those in your own work?
How can you create a portfolio of artworks that are interconnected through materials and ideas?

This yearlong course is designed for the junior or senior interested in creating a portfolio for college review. In this course, we will explore a variety of methods and materials used by two-dimensional artists today to express ideas about and to share observations of the world we live in. Students will work in a sketchbook on a regular basis, discuss contemporary art and their own work, and create a portfolio of works using a variety of media. Emphasis will be put on creative thinking, innovative approaches, and embracing the uncertainty of the artistic process. Students will begin to think about how their work fits into the contemporary visual dialogue while embarking on various observational and conceptual projects.

How do you create a quality print?
What kind of creative freedom can you find within the boundaries of an assignment?
How does the subject matter you choose affect how your photos are interpreted?
What part does a group critique play in the photographic process?

This course is designed for those students who are familiar with using a single lens reflex camera, have a good working knowledge of black and white film processing and enlarging and are knowledgeable in darkroom processes. Portfolio Photography provides a more thorough building of skills necessary for creating fine art black and white prints. Although the focus is on film photography, digital photo assignments supplement the portfolio. The intent is to produce quality film and digital prints using a variety of ideas and presentations and to create by the end of the year a photography portfolio. This class also focuses on aesthetic concerns, critiques, and familiarity with the work of established photographers.

What questions does one ask oneself in order to interpret a work of art?
How does historical context influence the progression of artistic style over time?

In this course, students will build the necessary skills that will allow them to analyze any piece of artwork to which they are exposed. As they learn to identify a core set of masterpieces from each period, and explore the evolution of styles through the ages, the main objective will be to develop an “art language” as a method of visual analysis and interpretation. Throughout the course, we will be visiting various museums and galleries around New York City. The art history course offers a chronological survey of art from the beginning of civilization to the present time, including the most modern trends and ideas in the ever-changing world of art. The course combines proper historical techniques and procedures with an emphasis on the role played by the artist and the work of art, its context, and the critic. Special attention is given to our interpretation of a work of art based upon its intended use, audience, and role in a particular society. As a survey course, the material is approached as an introduction to the discipline. The study of Art History will change the way one looks not only at paintings and statues, but also advertisements and any visual phenomenon.

How can you combine your experience with different methods and materials with your developing style in order to produce an idea and convey it through a sculpture?

In this course, students will focus on an idea of their choosing and spend the entire year working on a sculpture or sculptures portraying this idea. Whether through one major artwork, or multiple pieces, the goal is to work towards an Art Exhibition Opening. Writing proposals, meeting deadlines, and participating in class critiques will be essential elements in preparing for the final exhibition in May. This course is designed for the advanced sculptor who was demonstrated passion and is committed to the medium. Students will be working independently in class in order to achieve a successful outcome and finished artwork.

How will I make my mark in design?

In keeping with the core values of this course, seniors will use what they have learned so far to design their own course plan by choosing a series of three sequential design disciplines based on their passion and curiosity. For example, a student interested in the environment might choose to work in product design, landscape design, and urban planning, while where another student interested in pop culture trends and fashion might choose to focus on advertising, product, and apparel design. Students will work with increased independence, and convene as a group for regular presentations and critiques as they support each other’s work. The course will culminate in May with an exhibition of students’ completed works. By participating in a course with an individual focus such as this, students will gain a broader understanding of themselves and their relationship to Design.

How can you articulate your own creative voice and express it with painting and/or drawing media through a cohesive body of work?

In this intensive course, students will work to create a portfolio that investigates a chosen theme to be explored in-depth, over a sustained period. This course is designed for the advanced student who has demonstrated the capacity to work independently. Students will develop a concentration, an area where the student is required to demonstrate a commitment to an intense exploration of a specific idea involving both creative capacities and intellectual understanding. Written commentary documenting the students’ ideas and progress is a required part of the concentration. Class critiques and discussion will help inform student progress, and are a major part of participation in this course. The course will culminate in May with an exhibition of the completed works. By conducting a course on an individual level such as this, it is hoped that students will gain a broader understanding of themselves and their relationship to the visual arts. Each student will document his or her final portfolio digitally.

How do you find your own unique style as a photographer?
How can you develop a cohesive body of work?
How does the subject matter affect how your photos are interpreted?
How do you create a quality print?

In this advanced photography course, students work on creating a “concentration.” This consists of a large body of work, both film and digital, of an in-depth personal exploration of a particular visual idea or artistic concern. Students are expected to work independently on their concentration pieces, and keep up to date with their work. Class critiques and discussions are an important part of this course. The course will culminate with an exhibition of the completed concentration along with a written artist statement.

Prerequisites: Photography II, Portfolio Photography, or a Photography course, preferably film, taken outside of school along with a portfolio, or permission of the teacher.