Fine and Applied Arts

During their five years at Noah Wallace, students will engage in a developmentally spiraled curriculum which continues to build skills and develops their deeper understandings in our six overarching concepts ~ Architecture, Design, Cultural Symbol Systems, Landscape, Portrait, Still Life.

By exploring and participating in planned hands-on learning activities, students become constructors of their own knowledge. Through this active engagement students learn how to work in a studio setting which lends itself to both individual creativity and group cooperation. Students will use a wide variety of art media, techniques and processes. During art class students will have many opportunities to develop the following:  reasoning with evidence, innovative thinking, finding creative solutions, visual perception, and motor coordination.

As students “work” in the atelier, they learn to apply art elements and organizational principles. They consider, select and employ ideas and symbols. They develop an initial understanding of the place art holds in world history and culture.  And they learn how to reflect on and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their own and others’ art.

By using adaptations of the Arts PROPEL and Reggio Emilia Models, we can effectively utilize three learning modes of engagement. (Production, Perception, and Reflection) Production is the actual making of art, while perception and reflection speak to the understanding of ideas, the seeing, and the thoughtfulness of revision. These three modes form a continuous learning cycle as the student engages in the creative work process. Additionally, the Art Portfolio is an integral part of this cycle. Each student keeps a portfolio. The portfolio contains both practice work as well as finished “masterpieces” and thus, serves as a record keeper of progress. Maintaining a portfolio also validates the effort and practice time required for increased proficiency and deeper understanding.

At Noah Wallace, frequent connections are made between the visual arts and other core curricular disciplines, such as literature, science and math. Sighting these connections serves to enrich the educational experience and assists students in transferring and applying knowledge from one domain or subject area to another. Finally, it is important to recognize the visual arts as a language (or symbol system). Art has been and continues to be one of human-kind’s most profound vehicles for communication and expression.

Mrs. Avis Turner