Art
Art Links:
National Art Honor Society (NAHS)
Lee Wells
Art Teacher
The Art Department at Elbert County Comprehensive High School strives to offer instruction to students in the areas of studio art, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics. The students participate in a variety of activities in order to strengthen their skills as art makers and to become literate art consumers.
Over the course of Visual Arts levels I-IV, students will learn a mix of the following studio offerings:
*Drawing- pencil, charcoal, oil pastel
*Painting- tempera, acrylic, oil
*Printmaking- mono printing, screen printing, relief printing
*Ceramics- hand building methods, throwing on the pottery wheel
*Sculpture- wire, cardboard, paper mache
*Fiber arts- collage, needle-felting, soft-sculpture, book-binding/paper arts
*Computer generated work- adobe platforms, chrome canvas, image editing software
Over the course of Visual Arts levels I-IV, students will learn the following art history offerings:
*Prehistoric Art *Ancient Egyptian Art *Greek & Roman Art *Art of India, China, & Japan *Native Arts of the Americas
*Arts of Africa *Early Christian, Byzantine, & Islamic Art *Medieval & Romanesque Art *Gothic Art, the Italian Renaissance
*15th-16th Art in Northern Europe *Baroque & Rococo Art *19th Century Art *Modern Art Movements
In our Visual Art courses, the role of art in society is emphasized, and students learn how art is influenced by society, as well as how art influences society. Current artists and artwork are discussed within daily classwork to understand how art history has impacted art today. Students learn about the many art related careers, and hear guest speakers from art schools and colleges. Local artists are invited into the classroom to talk about various local job opportunities.
A student can enroll in an art course each year of high school. The Visual Art I classes are taught on a beginner level, with no prior experiences necessary. Visual Art II and III build on and deepen the knowledge and practices learned in the course before it. Interested students may also take Visual Art IV as a directed study in which the student will meet with the instructor to develop a plan to study a field of art/artmaking further. Written mid-term and final exams are given in all art courses. Field trips in classes include working on location, visiting local artists' studios, and various community service projects.
As students are creating artwork, they learn the elements of art and design principles. They also learn about specific historical works that relate to the studio area being covered. Every effort is made to relate the art history and studio work to the students' lives, in the hopes that they will use what they learn outside the art classroom, and that art will become an integral part of their lives.