Art
The Art Curriculum at MSN introduces our students of all levels to the world of visual art through vocabulary, visual concepts, skills and techniques, and art and artists from around the world.
Concepts are scaffolded: students may explore color blending in Lower Elementary, and then apply those principles to creating atmospheric perspective in Upper Elementary and dyeing fabrics in Middle School.
While group lessons are designed to illuminate particular visual elements or techniques, the work is always open-ended and students explore, discover and strengthen their artistic process as they work. Students see that their creative ideas have value as they recognize affinities to certain materials and ideas, and build on areas of interest.
The art room is also a maker space for students in the upper school, who regularly use the space to build and create visuals for class projects. They learn to approach looking at and talking about their own and others’ work with curiosity and with an eye towards discovery.
Toddler
Our youngest students start with particular attention to handling art materials while exploring color, collage, texture, paint and sculpture. Art lessons for toddlers and children’s house students occur in their classrooms.
Children’s House
Our youngest students start with particular attention to handling art materials while exploring color, collage, texture, paint and sculpture. Art lessons for toddlers and children’s house students occur in their classrooms.
Kindergarten artists enjoy a curriculum that introduces them to, in a given year, line, shape, drawing, color mixing, collage, printmaking, fiber arts and sculpture techniques.
Lower Elementary
The Lower Elementary art curriculum includes, over the three year cycle, all kinds of drawing, including from observation, color layering and blending, building 3-dimensional forms, printmaking, and fiber arts. Lower Elementary students can use glue guns as needed, and determine when wood glue or white glue is a more appropriate adhesive for a particular application.
Upper Elementary
Upper Elementary students are introduced to safe use of x-acto knives and basic woodshop tools to use with supervision. They work with linear and atmospheric perspective, puppetry, drawing and building 3-dimensional form, printmaking, fiber arts, as well as hand building and glazing techniques in a dedicated ceramics class.
Students learn to think about their work constructively, describing what’s there and what is possible rather than evaluating.
Middle School
Middle School students meet for art twice weekly. Students explore personal preferences within a wide curriculum. They learn to approach looking at and talking about their own and others’ work with curiosity and with an eye towards discovery.
Their class work includes but is not limited to, art journaling, drawing and painting from observation, linoleum carving and printing, dyeing fabric and working with embroidery and quilting, self portraiture through a pop art lens, and sculpture. In a dedicated ceramics class, students learn to center and throw, build with slab, and glaze their work with expert guidance in a local studio.