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.
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Breakdown by Grade
Junior Achildren work two-dimensionally as well as three-dimensionally to create drawings, paintings, sculptures, collages and prints. The creative process often parallels the work that goes on in the classroom. Whether about a concept, a method or a material, our young artists are encouraged to ask questions and to follow these inquiries. We display the work of all our young artists regularly not only as a celebration, but so that we may learn more about the different ways each one of us chooses to speak through art.
Junior Onechildren work two-dimensionally as well as three-dimensionally to create drawings, paintings, sculptures, collages and prints. The creative process often parallels the work that goes on in the classroom. Whether inquiring about a concept, a method or a material our young artists are encouraged to ask questions and to follow these inquiries. We display the work of all our young artists regularly, not only as a celebration but also so that we may learn more about the different ways each one of us chooses to speak through art.
Also in Junior One, we begin to have “artist shares.” This is an invitation for each child to show and discuss an artwork of her/his own with the class. The children may ask questions and offer comments to the young artist about the work. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn presentation and conversation skills. Through this activity, children learn about different perceptions, those that differ from their own and those that are similar. It can be both a comforting and a challenging experience for the young artist and for the children in the group who choose to join in the conversation.
By Junior Two, the children are ready to begin to think about integration in art-making: how to combine elements, interpret meaning and connect the creative process with ideas visually and verbally. Some of these ideas come from outside of the art studio, like the rights of the child, the traditions of the Native Americans, the study of light and how that relates to color and shadow, what is a horizon line and a skyline, as well as who are the people that make a difference in our lives. Concepts such as color, line, shape, texture, pattern and symmetry are integrated with art history and techniques to shape activities.
In Junior Two, classes are held in the Junior School art studio. During art class, the children are encouraged to think, create and express themselves in a variety of formats: drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, printmaking and assorted craft media. Often, at the end of class we put up all the work from that day on the studio wall and look at it together. This provides a good opportunity for discussions, both formally and informally. This helps to develop the child’s confidence to trust his or her own imaginative impulses, as well as to understand and appreciate the creative ideas of others. The completed artwork is displayed regularly in the classrooms and the hallways of the Junior School.
In Junior Three,students use many different materials and methods as they express themselves imaginatively and skillfully in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional art works. Often projects are inspired by the homeroom curriculum, and a variety of lessons stem from the classroom study of the rainforest along with the social study unit on New York City. Concepts such as color, line, texture, pattern, perspective and symmetry are integrated with art history and techniques to shape activities. Children are encouraged to listen and follow directions, to work cooperatively with classmates, to experiment and develop the confidence to trust their own imaginative impulses and to appreciate the creative ideas of others.
In Junior Four, the students are integrating their creative ideas with the artistic skills that they acquire in Art class. Activities are designed to build confidence in the young art student’s ability to work successfully with a wide variety of media and techniques. Students acquire and apply knowledge of symmetry, asymmetry, perspective, depth and proportion in their artwork. Through observation and understanding of portraiture guidelines, the students create a naturalistic self-portrait and then in another project experiment with abstraction and dramatically alter it. Elements of design and expression of human emotion are investigated in a mask project where the students observe and discuss the similarities in mask making throughout the world. Often art historical and cultural references are introduced in order to inspire and inform art activities and to remind students of the international language of artistic expression.