Studio Art

Grade: 10-12

Semester: Year long course

Credit: 1.0 elective

Prerequisite: Successful completion of Visual Art (studio art wheel course)

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course builds on the technical foundations of the Visual art course. Students will hone their visual craftsmanship, technical skills, and personal style with a focus on life drawings and visual storytelling. Art History will play a major role in this course, as students learn about drawing techniques and visual/narrative styles ranging from ancient civilizations to modern serialized art. As the scope of artistic projects grows, students will be asked to create long-sitting figure drawings, portraits, long-form still-life drawings, 2D representations of interior and exterior spaces, storyboards, multi-panel cartoons, and finally, fully laid-out and illustrated multi-page comic books.

Grade: 11-12

Semester: Year long course

Credit: 1.0 elective

Prerequisite: B or better in Drawing and Sequential Art, minimum 2.5 GPA

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The purpose of this course is to take dedicated and ambitious students of visual art and prepare them for the rigors of advanced or collegiate fine-art programs, while instilling in them an appreciation for a wide spectrum of artistic styles. The first half of the course takes students from the life studies they’ve completed in Drawing and Sequential art, through the bizarre, technically challenging, and sometimes frightening world of surrealism and into perhaps the most misunderstood realm in all of art: the abstract. Students will be tested to their artistic limits, and their art subjected to critique from professional artists, illustrators, designers, agents, and art historians. The second half of this class focuses on portfolio-building, in which students will create a series of ambitious projects under demanding deadlines to build a college interview-ready portfolio. The course will culminate in a full gallery show featuring work from the students, who will need to be ready to discuss their work at length with friends, instructors, and total strangers.

Grade: 10-12

Semester: Year long course

Credit: 0.5 in Mathematics, 0.5 elective

Prerequisite: Successful completion of Visual Art, 70% or better in Algebra 1

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In Visual Art, students learned the basic tenets of visual composition. In 3D art, students will take those concepts and apply them to the real world. Using their mathematics skills and visual know-how, students will plan, design, and execute sculptures in media ranging from clay to paper to wood to metal to glass. Along the way, students will learn about the origins, history, and processing of the various materials they use, to better understand tried-and-true methods of fabrication. Students will make trips to local metalwork and traditional art workshops to see masters in action, and the course will culminate in an extensive installation gallery featuring works designed and built by students.

Grade: 11-12

Semester: Year long course

Credit: 0.5 in Mathematics, 0.5 elective

Prerequisite: C or better in 3D art, C or better in Algebra II or Geometry

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In 3D Art, students designed and built works of art. In Advanced Construction, students will learn to read plans designed by others, and turn those drawings, notes, and ideas into reality. Their artistic, problem-solving, and math skills will be tested as they create structures ranging from stage platforms and backdrops to furniture to small, free-standing exterior structures. Students will be required to determine and resolve job requisitions from other departments, supply needs for these projects, and duties to be performed. The course will culminate in a full-sized mockup of a livable interior (tiny apartment) with complete interior planning for sleeping, cooking, hygiene needs, and and living space.

Grade: 12

Semester: Year long course

Credit: 0.5 in Mathematics, 0.5 elective

Prerequisite: B or better in Advanced Drawing and Painting OR Advanced Construction. Students must submit a portfolio of work and participate in a portfolio review with instructor and review panel for admission to this class. Students must also have an overall 2.5 GPA or better in order to participate.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In DATA’s Concentrated Studies in Studio Art course, the school’s most dedicated and ambitious artists will create a portfolio of works ready to deliver to the nation’s top art schools or prospective clients. Today’s art world is becoming increasingly ruled by freelance artists and boutique design firms, and our top-tier studio art course readies students to enter that market. In some respects, this course acts as an Independent Study program, as students will work alongside their instructors to develop and adapt assignments to their own media, style, and goal focus. All students, however, will be subject to tight deadlines, professional expectation levels, and ongoing critique. Each student will work with a series of “clients” from inside and outside the school to complete commissioned works to give students a chance to experience what this freelance professional world is like before they commit to it.