It is essential to our development as a society that we embrace the artist’s creations because the arts serve to make our lives more complete. Guided by this basic philosophy, the Creative Arts Department strives to encourage and promote the artistic development of the Oak Knoll Student in the areas of dance, media, music and the visual arts. Except where noted, courses are required.
Grade 9 and 10 Program
The grades 9 and 10 arts cycle program is one in which some selectivity is built, allowing students to prepare for specific programs of study (e.g., the Art Major program) in junior and senior years. During the six trimesters of grades 9 and 10, the students take one trimester of Health as part of the ninth-grade cycle and one trimester of Driver Education in the grade 10 cycle. For the remaining four trimesters, they have the opportunity to select from a variety of arts offerings. The grade 10 offerings include Dance I, Music Theater, and Photo/Media. With two trimesters of grade 9 open, a student may select two of these three courses for her program of study. In grade 10, students again have two trimesters open, in which they may take two of the following—Dance II, Opera History, Intro to Photography, Calligraphy, Introduction to Computer Graphics, or Foundation Drawing. In order to ensure that each student gets exposure to both the fine and performing arts, the Creative Arts Department has a distribution requirement. During the four open trimesters of grades 9 and 10, students must take at least one dance class, one of the music offerings, and one of the visual arts courses. This will leave one free trimester sophomore year, in which the student may select a course of her choosing depending on her interests and talents. (In some cases, she will also be guided by prerequisites of courses offered in grades 11 and 12.) For example, a student interested in pursuing photography at the upper levels, might take Dance I and Photo/Media in grade 9, Opera History in grade 10 (thereby fulfilling her distribution requirements), and Intro to Photography as her free choice for the remaining grade 10 trimester. To help ensure even distribution in course enrollment, no student will be allowed to take two offerings in one arts area in any given year.
In addition, all students may elect the Concert Choir course, a program which develops the vocal talents and choral understanding of students. Students who elect the Concert Choir perform in the annual Christmas and Spring Concerts.
Grade 9 Selections
Students will select two of these three courses:
Photo/Media
This class introduces the students to the use of the three different types of cameras. A brief discussion of the history of photography leads them into the study of the most basic camera, the pinhole. Students then advance to the more sophisticated cameras, such as the traditional 35mm SLR. They learn about shutter speeds, aperture settings, light meter techniques, and film speed. Additionally, they learn the procedures for developing black-and-white film and printing black-and-white photos. Finally, students learn about digital imaging and use of the Olympus E-20 digital camera. They use Adobe Photoshop and Publisher software programs, enabling them to manipulate and print images electronically to create an original advertisement. Other assignments include scanning and enhancing a pinhole image using computer technology and taking black-and-white candids, photos and portraits.
Music Theatre Appreciation
This course presents the student with the unique characteristics and brief historical development of musical theatre. Additionally, it introduces descriptions of the elements of the musical—such as the book and lyrics, the score, the staging and the dancing—for discussion. Short-term projects emphasize and simulate the actual experiences performers and production teams must go through to keep this American art form alive.
Dance I
Ninth graders explore the techniques of ballet, jazz and modern and work to improve their skills, whether they are beginning or more advanced students. Performance viewing, discussion, cultural awareness, and occasional written work aid in the development of the total dance experience. In-class exercises and projects also enable each student to develop a positive sense of self.
Grade 10 Selections
Calligraphy and Lettering Design
This course explores calligraphy and lettering design and examines their function in the communication arts. Students learn lettering styles, techniques, and tools, initially with the Chancery Cursive alphabet as the focus. After mastering this calligraphic style, they learn how commercial art employs type and graphic design collaboratively. At the conclusion of the course, exceptional calligraphers may join Oak Knoll’s calligraphy club, “Scribes,” which serves the school community by lettering signs, certificates and posters.
Intro to Computer Graphics
This course merges the traditional and the technological arts by providing the student with the means of visual creation using digital art tools. Equipped with the Corel Painter 9.0 software program and a tablet laptop and stylus, the student learns the fundamentals of drawing and painting techniques and simultaneously explores the fascinating world of computer graphics. Specifically, this graphics program allows the student the capability of working in an array of media (combining diverse techniques and methods), editing work by applying chromatic or textural effects, and transforming work by applying image-altering screens. By the conclusion of the course, each student has good understanding of the basics of drawing and the fundamentals of digital imaging. This course is a prelude to the Art Major program or the Computer Science Web Developer course.
Foundation Drawing
Drawing is a simple and direct means of visual expression, serving as a method of notation and analysis and a way of learning to see. Accordingly, students enrolled in this course concentrate on mark making and on developing basic drafting skills using a limited range of drawing tools, both traditional and invented. The program emphasizes understanding anatomy of form and proportion and controlling contrast, measurement, and placement. Additionally, the use of tone and line, foreshortening and perspective helps develop the student’s ability to represent the three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface. This course is a prelude to the Art Major program and is a requirement for those students interested in pursuing art in grades 11 and 12.
Intro to Photography
This course introduces students to the practical and creative uses of the camera. Students study camera functions such as ISO, shutter speed, aperture and exposure, as well as types of film, composition and the concept of “seeing.” Students receive instruction and become proficient in darkroom procedures such as black-and-white film development and printing. Hands-on assignments, such as making photograms and stopping the action/blurring the motion, challenge the students to solve darkroom and camera problems. Students also complete a final theme project. Students need a 35 mm SLR camera with manual adjustments for the course.
Dance II
The grade 10 program, open to new or continuing students, uses the different forms, styles and techniques of dance to foster artistic growth. Improvisation and creative exercises aid in learning the choreographic process. Discussion, performance viewing, and oral critique round out the course of study. In addition, dance conditioning is practiced using the concepts of Pilates, yoga and other methods. This segment is intended to promote proper body alignment and centering concentration. Lastly, journal writing is required to help generate curiosity about the field of dance and its relationship to other aspects of life.
Opera History
This elective course provides the student with a general introduction to the history of opera. Instruction includes explanation of basic operatic conventions to clarify their derivations and functions. Among the topics covered are the libretto, aria, recitative, and the common vocal ranges of opera singers. A generous supply of musical examples and some actual opera viewing enriches the historical and descriptive overview. Written assignments and vocal performance of Italian art songs round out the program.
Grade 11 and 12 Electives
Dance Conditioning
Using dance techniques from ballet, modern and jazz, this course is designed to help the student condition and tone her entire body. The program focuses on floor work, incorporating yoga, stretching and Pilates theories. Additionally, extensive abdominal work and exercises encouraging correct usage of the breath and posture alignment are included. Dance Conditioning provides a healthy outlet both for students looking to keep fit and for those wanting to become better athletes.
Ballet
This course enables the student to study and master the dance form that makes grace, etiquette and posture its greatest hallmarks. The techniques of Vaganova (Russian) and Cecchetti (Italian) are the primary sources of instruction. Students practice how to use correct spinal lift and alignment and lengthened muscles in their execution of movements. This class emphasizes proper technique, such as correct usage of turn-out and epaulment, by breaking down, analyzing, and eventually incorporating these movements into class work exercises. The course benefits beginning and advanced students and allows them to develop the mental as well as physical intelligence to give ballet the look of effortless ease.
Modern Dance
This course allows the students to master dance techniques (especially those of Horton and Limon) that explore the expression of the human spirit. By using specific elements of breathing, gesture, fall and recovery, the suspension of the body in space, dynamics, the use of weight and improvisational movement, students learn how to take a variety of themes and dance from the inside out. For the dancer, this process of learning how to move creatively translates into how to use the body as an expressive instrument.
Art I—Grade 11
The Art Major course is an elective offering for those students who have a special talent in art and interest in pursuing a career in the visual arts. Accordingly, students pursue an in-depth study of drawing, painting, mixed media and design. Though this is a studio art course, students also hear lectures on artists, concepts and styles and view demonstrations on art techniques. Periodic critiques, exhibitions and portfolio development are also part of the program. Throughout the course, students must keep a drawing journal, which contains specific homework assignments and independent work.
Art II—Grade 12
This elective course provides upperclasswomen who elect a second year of art with a chance to focus on individual areas of creative interest. It also gives them the opportunity to study art history. At the beginning of each term, every student receives an assignment choice of five to ten advanced art projects from which she elects two for class work and one for homework. The student researches, plans and executes the projects for the remainder of the term. Assignments explore a wide variety of styles, topics and media, including computer graphics, a medium that exposes the students to the possibilities of digital imaging through the Painter 9.0 software program. In the first term, as part of her class work, each student assembles a college art supplement. During the second and third trimesters, one class per cycle focuses on the study of art history and criticism. This phase of the program, which incorporates the text Learning to Look, helps students become critically aware and learn to define their own experiences in confronting a work of art. Students complete occasional written assignments.
Art Portfolio Honors – Grade 12
Senior Art Portfolio is an intensive honors-level course designed especially for the student who plans to pursue the study of art at the college level. As the main focus of the class is portfolio development, the student learns the essentials of this process and uses class time to produce works that will help create a strong visual presentation for her college applications. An initial evaluation of each student’s work is followed by a customized plan (designed by the instructor and student) that will enable her to broaden the range of her work in terms of subject matter, style, and media. Additionally, the student learns how to combine works from direct observation and her personal interests in creating a balanced portfolio of drawings, paintings, mixed media pieces, computer graphics and even photographs. If necessary, a student may devote time to completing home exams requested by some art schools and college art departments. Beyond the scope of studio art work, the course provides the opportunity for students to actively engage in the critique process. They learn pertinent terminology and the methodology of examining and evaluating works of their own and of their peers. In short, they gain the analytical skills necessary in expressing informed opinions about the formal and aesthetic concerns of art. Finally, in this class, the student is required to write about her art. Contemporary articles on specific artists, art theory and art philosophy form the basis of class discussion and enable each student to prepare a formal statement about her work, articulating her personal vision.
Advanced Placement Studio Art—Grades 11 and 12
The Advanced Placement Studio Art program affords highly talented and motivated Art Majors the opportunity to do college-level studio art while still in high school. Not founded on academic study in preparation for a written examination, rather, the course is based upon the creation of a portfolio of artwork that is submitted for evaluation at the end of the senior year. Initially, an interested junior, submits a preliminary portfolio and a statement of intent for evaluation by the instructor. If her work is approved, she is invited to join the program. Two years of intensive work follow, in which the AP candidate, working closely with the teacher, produces a body of work from which the final portfolio emerges. Selected readings in art criticism and philosophy, as well as required museum and gallery visits, serve as enrichment and enable the student to place her work in a broader art historical context. Most AP students will have had previous outside training in art, but such training is not a prerequisite for participation in the program. Students should note, however, that Advanced Placement work involves significantly more time than the typical art course and is thus not for the casually interested.
Photography I—Grades 11 and 12
This trimester course introduces students to the practical and creative uses of the camera. Students study camera functions such as shutter speed, aperture and exposure, as well as such topics composition, lighting and perspective. Students receive darkroom instruction on the interpretive print and continue to develop their darkroom skills and own style of picture taking. Assignment topics, such as landscape or texture/form/design challenge the students to solve specific photographic problems. The photographers are required to write a critique on a master or contemporary photographer to demonstrate their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Students also complete a final theme project of six photos.
Photography II—Grades 11 and 12
This course offers the student continued study of the practical and creative uses of the camera. Students learn about depth of field, composition and lighting. Students further develop their darkroom skills and style of picture taking through advanced techniques such as pushing film speed and interpretive printing. Assignment themes, such as reflections and shadows, social documentation, and self-portrait, challenge the students to solve specific photographic problems. The photographers are required to write a critique on a master or well-known photographer to demonstrate their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Students also complete a final theme project of six photos.
Digital Photography —Grades 11 and 12
This class provides students the opportunity to learn how to use the Olympus E-20 digital camera and to make prints utilizing the Adobe Photoshop application, which can enhance or change an image. The students study the functions of the digital camera to take creative pictures and the Adobe software/digital darkroom to make prints. Topics include manual manipulation of shutter speeds and aperture settings, reading the light meter, ISO choice, quality resolution control, correcting existing color through the white balance feature, flash and its various modes, manual focus, contrast control (hard vs. soft), deleting selections, downloading an image and more. Assignments include nature photography and changing a color image to a black-and-white one, collage and using the macro setting on the camera, portraits and the creation of sepia-toned prints, and montage. The student learns how to retouch, enhance, move elements, add effect, size, hand color and more through use of tools and selections in the application.
Photo Portfolio Honors
This advanced year-long course teaches students how to create a supplemental college portfolio and culminates with a student exhibition in the third trimester. The photographers take new photos to supplement their existing work with either the digital or film camera. They use and combine the traditional and digital technologies to create the first portfolio of work. During the first trimester, students work with the digital/film camera, Epson scanner, printer, and Adobe Photoshop in concert with the traditional darkroom equipment. In the second trimester, students learn how to create an archival photo and how to mount and mat an image. Existing prints are printed using the archival method, scanned onto the computer and enhanced in Photoshop. Discussions on personal vision and creation of new work round out the term. The third trimester is devoted to the mounting and matting of six archival photos for an exhibition quality portfolio. Prints are chosen from each student portfolio and exhibited at the school.