The Art program offers opportunities for study in drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, print making and computer graphics. In conjunction with the UNIS media lab animation, web design and video production are also available. Our full-time staff has extensive experience in art education, and our teachers are also practicing artists who have exhibited their work nationally and internationally. The art rooms at UNIS are full of natural light. The atmosphere is open and relaxing, and students frequently find their way back to the art studios at the end of the day to continue working on projects. Views of the East River and our interior courtyard often become subjects for paintings and drawings.
Skills in design, drawing, research, special techniques and creative process are structured through the curriculum to enable students to direct their artistic efforts progressively and learn from traditions. Students respond with different art making strategies and personal research to class projects, personal inspiration and interdisciplinary themes. Work is done individually, in small groups and occasionally as a class. Students maintain portfolios and sketchbooks to help them retain knowledge and techniques learned and become aware of their choices and interests. A digital portfolio is being implemented to assist teachers in recording students’ progress during the course, at the end of each semester and over their years in Art.
By studying different artistic traditions, students become aware of the cultural contexts that inform perception and imagination and begin to see their own work in context. Until the tenth grade, artists, movements and cultures are studied that are relevant to studio projects. Museum trips and visits by artists are scheduled when appropriate.
Junior School
The Junior School Art program is designed to stimulate visual awareness, to provide a variety of experiences with materials and tools and to introduce the language of art-making to young children. It assumes that young artists gain the confidence to express themselves naturally when given the opportunity to explore, to practice skills and to try out new ideas in a supportive environment. For the early years, the emphasis in teaching is placed on building a broad foundation that will provide each child with the meaningful experiences needed to make informed decisions in creative work.
Middle School
In Middle School, students focus consistently on drawing and design concepts along with learning special techniques in painting, graphics and sculpture. Each student begins a sketchbook in Middle One. It is used in conjunction with studio projects, and they maintain them until Middle Four. The sketchbooks are intended to build an understanding of art as an investigation in developing ideas, exploring process, making connections to different traditions and learning specific skills and vocabulary. A digital portfolio is also begun in Middle One and continues through the rest of the student’s art program. This portfolio enables students and teachers to become more aware of progress, strengths, and tendencies in each student and the program as a whole. It provides appropriate exemplars for assessment and a record for the student.
Tutorial House
In the Tutorial House, students are required to complete one year of credit for graduation and are given choices in courses. Students that are strong in drawing and are considering entering the IB Art program are encouraged to take the advanced drawing class. Other students may choose between courses in more traditional art media and computer graphics. Photography is offered as a non-credit course in the after-school program.
In the two-year International Baccalaureate program, students work with considerable independence on portfolios that form the beginning of a personal artistic direction. Extensive investigation into artistic traditions that are directly relevant to a student’s direction is required. Aesthetic education, cultural and historical contexts and gallery visits become an important part of this process. At the end of the two years, students present their work for examination by an outside examiner who comes to UNIS to look at the students’ exhibitions and investigation workbooks.