Visual Arts

In the K2-K4 grades, art focuses on developing each child’s creativity and working on age-appropriate fine motor skills. Classes explore work with tempera paint, watercolor, modeling clay, play dough, and collage. Students learn the basics of drawing and painting different types of lines, shapes, colors, and textures. The students are also exposed to famous works of art.

JA’s Lower School art program focuses on developing strong art skills and encouraging a spirit of exploration and creativity. Students are taught about the elements of art – line, shape, form, space, texture, value, and color – and how to combine them to create meaningful artworks. High value is placed on introducing students to a wide variety of art mediums, including watercolor and tempera paints, oil pastel, collage, ceramics, weaving, and more. 

We carefully balance structure and choice in our Lower School art classes. This gives students the confidence to make that first mark and build skills, while also empowering them to make choices that showcase their unique artistic voice. By observing the artworks of contemporary as well as historical artists, students witness how art can be a powerful form of human expression, connecting us with other people and with our own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. 

Sixth grade art courses are taught as a daily elective by quarter. Seventh and eighth grade students study art as a daily elective throughout the year.

6th Grade

This class is designed to strengthen students’ drawing and painting skills. The first half of the course focuses on drawing, as students draw from observation and apply the concepts of value and perspective to make their artwork appear 3-dimensional. The second half of the course introduces students to acrylic painting, with an emphasis on color mixing and color theory. The course culminates in a final acrylic still life painting project integrating everything students learned in the previous weeks. Additional media such as watercolor, printmaking, and collage are included for variety.

7th and 8th Grade

In this class, students have the opportunity to go deeper with various media and begin making more independent choices as they express themselves through their art. Media covered include graphite, charcoal, oil pastel, watercolor, acrylic paint, printmaking, and ceramics. The principles of design—pattern, rhythm, unity, movement, contrast, emphasis, balance, and proportion—direct the way students view, create, and discuss art.

Beginning in ninth grade, a student may choose to take Art for an entire school year.

Art Fundamentals

The foundation for understanding and creating art, this course focuses on two essential elements of art creation: drawing and the studio habits of mind, or, how to think like an artist. While the technical and mental skills of an artist are the central focus of this class, it incorporates the basic timeline of art history. Students in grades 9-12 taking art for the first time take Art Fundamentals as a prerequisite for other visual art classes.

Intermediate Art

Students will draw, paint, collage, glue, and build … and also use technology as a tool and as a final product in the creation of art. The subject matter will be people, animals, places, and things. Students will discover art in unexpected places, developing art awareness. This elective is designed to provide time in class for everything completed. It’s also possible for an Upper School JA student to jump into Intermediate Art without taking Art Fundamentals. This elective class is intentionally designed to provide plenty of class time for learning and activities.

Art Appreciation

In this dual-enrollment class with Belhaven University, students earn three hours of college credit that will fulfill the “appreciation” class requirement in most colleges.  For this class, students start in August with the history of ancient cave art and end in May with art of the 21st Century.  A “daily grade” of hands-on and very do-able art projects will accompany each weekly unit. No drawing skills required! This elective class is intentionally designed to provide plenty of class time for learning and activities.

AP Art

Students create a portfolio of college-level work and, at the end of the school year, submit the portfolio for a national evaluation. A qualifying portfolio score can earn college credit for the successful student. Currently, students choose between a Drawing / Painting portfolio, 2D Design portfolio, or 3D Design portfolio.