Visual Arts

Course Descriptions for Visual Arts

LOWER SCHOOL ART:
The Lower School Visual Arts program has a definite place in the curriculum of The Awty International School.  The major goals of this program are to provide a chance for the children to broaden their knowledge and experiences in art.  What happens to a child as a result of the art experience is of greater concern than the quality of the child's finished work.  Emphasis is not on the product; however, each child should be able to use a variety of materials as media for expressive purposes, develop an awareness of design in natural and human-made forms, and to learn about artwork and artistic traditions in different cultures.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ART:
Art education in the Middle School should provide a unique learning experience through which a student's knowledge continues to broaden in four major areas:  visual perception, creative expression, cultural heritage and discriminating judgment.  Experiences should provide students the opportunity to explore, organize, understand, and evaluate their own abilities both objectively and subjectively.  Students should begin to develop and refine their awareness and sensitivity through visual expression.

The student's development of manipulative skills and techniques necessary to produce meaningful and expressive artwork should come through their involvement in art.  By the end of the 6th grade, the methods and skills that were learned in the Lower School should be well honed.  Students are given the opportunity to become more aware of the visual environment by observing, comparing, and analyzing.  They have developed a greater awareness of lines, colors, textures, values, forms, and design structures.  They have related the art experiences in the classroom to the visual environment through exploration, examination, and application of unity, emphasis, balance, variety, pattern, and proportion and used all senses to become more aware of the environment and its relationships to art.

MIDDLE SCHOOL DIGITAL STUDIO:
In the Digital Studio program, students will be responsible for all stages of the production process.  They will learn to create content, objectively evaluate their work, manipulate footage, and produce a finished work.  Achieving this will require familiarizing students with the tools of the Digital Studio, instilling in them a respect and appreciation for equipment used and developing their ability to critically evaluate video in myriad of forms.  At the same time, a Digital Studio program will help promote integration among students from a variety of cultures, languages, and experiences. 

MIDDLE SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY:
Black and white photography, when coupled with darkroom, offers a unique foundation for creative expression and technical mastery.  Students will thoroughly understand the mechanics of a camera and enlarge, as well as the elements of composition and storytelling.  The lab environment helps students understand the necessity of organization, cleanliness, and teamwork, while exploring their own creative vision.  Eighth grade students will begin understanding the conclepts of composition, visual expression and awareness. 

TENTH GRADE ART:
The impulse to make art is common to all people.  From earliest times, human beings have displayed a fundamental need to create personal, social, cultural and aesthetic meaning through art.  Expression in the visual arts is characterized by forms of visual representation which reflect the cultures of different societies.  Artistic expression ranges from traditional forms embedded in particular societies and cultures to the varied and dispersed practices associated with design, craft, electronic media, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture.

By the end of the 10th grade Art, the students should be able to have knowledge of various artistic media, understand artistic terms and apply the elements and principles of design to art experiences, have knowledge of the historical aspects of major artworks and artists in conjunction with concepts, materials, and techniques, and to use works from applicable periods and artists as major sources of motivation and enrichment.

ELEVENTH GRADE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE ART:
Students in the 11th grade Fine Arts program participate in the I.B. at either Higher Level, Standard Level A or Standard Level B.  The program is designed with reference to three factors, the cultural background and personal needs of the student, the location of the school and the influences of indigenous cultures, and the teacher's own training and special skills.  Both Higher Level and Standard Level students must follow a core program that covers a two-year period.  Students will be expected to demonstrate an inquiring attitude toward a variety of visual phenomena, expressed in persistent research and regular studio work.  Imaginative and creative thinking and feeling, a sensitive appreciation of the medium in hand, and of its expressive potential, and the acquisition of sufficient technical skills to produce some works of quality, and an ability to select and present their own work appropriately will also be taken into consideration.

TWELFTH GRADE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE ART:
Students in the 12th grade Fine Arts program participate in the I.B. at either Higher Level, Standard Level A, or Standard Level B.  The program is a continuation of the program started in the 11th grade.  Students in all levels follow the core program that culminates in an external examination of both their studio work and their Research Workbook.