At Oak Knoll there is great opportunity for the dedicated art student to pursue and showcase her talents…and take her art to the next level. Training in the fundamentals remains at the core, but the infusion of the latest technology with the traditional has become a hallmark of Oak Knoll’s fine arts program. Specific courses, such as Photo Media, Digital Photography and Computer Graphics rely on the software programs of Adobe Photoshop and Painter as the bases for course work. Other upper-level classes, such as Honors Photo Portfolio and Honors Art Portfolio, allow students to merge the traditional with the technological in generating their work.
A rich selection of curricular offerings in art and photography is supplemented by additional after-school opportunities for our Upper School students. Oak Knoll’s fine arts instructors endeavor to introduce the younger students to the wonders of all the arts, assiduously foster and promote their talents, and amply prepare the older seasoned artists for the rigors of college art programs.
Art students hone their talents by spending afterschool and some weekend hours in the art and photography studios under the direction of the fine arts instructors. During these hours, the more experienced art student at Oak Knoll not only develops her studio art technique, but she also learns the vocabulary of art and photography, thus enabling her to express herself articulately when confronting her own work and that of others. Students in grade 9 may participate in "Atelier," an after-school art studio workshop designed for aspiring young artists who plan on pursuing the study of art at Oak Knoll. The class provides students with a foundation in basic drawing fundamentals and skills based on direct observational work.
Several after-school programs provide students with additional creative opportunities. For example, they may join Photo Club to study the use of a 35mm and digital cameras and the darkroom techniques of film developing and printing. Scribes, a service organization, enlists student calligraphers to do lettering work for the school and outside community. Finally, art and photography students have the prospect of presenting their work in the literary magazine and offering their artistic talents to the yearbook and newspaper, and the musical production.
Two highlights of the year for the upperclasswomen include the annual photography trip to New York and the duCret High School Art Exhibition, a local showcase for photographers and artists.