Open Studies Course Registration

Grades K-2: Get ready to move and make art in this fun and energetic course! In this class, students will explore how movement can inspire art as you use their body to create dynamic lines, bold marks, and expressive paintings. Young artists will experiment with different tools and techniques to capture the energy of motion, from swirls and swoops to zigzags and splatters. This class encourages creativity, self-expression, and a playful approach to making art that comes alive with movement!

Grades K-2: For the student who loves being outdoors and exploring the world around them, this course will encourage students to take on the role of explorers and artists! Students will experiment with paint, modeling clay, and mixed media, responding to the many aspects of environment. Activities include nature-inspired art projects, creating animal sculptures from clay, making leaf prints, and painting landscapes. Students will also engage in sensory exploration, using materials like sand, water, and natural textures to inspire their creativity and connect with the outdoors.

Grades 3-5: In this course, students will explore a brief history of clothing and fashion. They will learn basic hand-sewing techniques, including how to attach buttons, mend, embroider, weave, and stitch. Young designers will brainstorm, design, and create unique garment illustrations that express their identity and even explore character building! From tote bags and wearable art to fashion illustrations, this course is the perfect introduction for aspiring fashion designers.

Grades 3-5: For the young artist who loves to draw, this fast-paced course offers a little bit of everything. Students create drawings from memory, observation, imagination, and in response to the art of master artists. Different approaches, tools, materials, and techniques are presented and explored using a diverse range of media, from pen and pencil to color explorations in pastel and paint. With the introduction of each new medium and technique, students create studies and sketches as preparation for several larger, refined pieces for the final art show. Emphasis is on exposure to a variety of traditional and non-traditional drawing media and surfaces, with hands-on process work and experimentation at the heart of learning each new drawing technique or medium.

Grades 6-8 In this course students will learn all about the art of paper! Students will explore bookbinding techniques, printmaking, paper sculpture and collage in order to create meaningful art. Students will manipulate paper by cutting, folding, stitching and layering and learn how working with mixed media can help artists explore multiple different ways to make and create.

Grade 6-8: In this course, students will draw from a live model as they investigate the human form. Students will use various 2D drawing media as they work through a progression of drawings that investigate how different approaches to the figure can address mood, and emotion. From fast paced gesture drawings to intermediate poses, students will produce a portfolio of figure drawings that range in style from traditional to more contemporary and conceptual approaches that embody a student's personal artistic vision.

Grades 9-12 Beginning with an understanding of compositional principles and the basic camera functions, features, and possibilities, students learn to create digital photographs. From a variety of prompts intended to tap into students' interpretation and experience of the visual world around them, students collect imagery in their daily lives, at home, and outdoors. As the course progresses, the class explores the Adobe Photoshop program as a tool to refine images and explore options for manipulating imagery for expressive purposes. Note: Students must have their digital camera (phone or tablet camera or DSLR). Access to the Adobe Creative Suite is included for the duration of this course.

Grades 9-12: In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of portraiture, with a focus on analyzing the planes of the face and creating striking compositions through dramatic lighting and deep shadows. They will explore a variety of 2D materials and learn how markmaking can convey a range of emotions in their portraits. Through out the course, students will refine their ability to capture the essence of their subject while mastering drawing techniques that emphasize bold contrasts, dynamic light, and sculptural forms of the human face.