Visual Arts

Art Instruction

The curriculum offers Visual Fine Art classes in a variety of media at a fundamental level open to all students: Art History and Appreciation, Ceramics, Drawing I, Painting I, Fashion Design, Illustration, Mixed Media, Mosaic, Black and White Photography, Digital Photography, and Watercolor.

Art History includes an appreciation of works from the primitive to modern periods and highlight the great artists or works of each period.  Students develop the ability to critique the arts with an informed perspective.

Drawing II and Painting II extend the studies to the next level - fundamental to proficient. Proficient students will develop a personal language of visual expression in Drawing III and Painting III.

The Advanced Art class offers a more challenging curriculum to the most distinguished art students in grades 11-12, leading them to the distinguished level - Senior Portfolio Class, exclusively designed for students with professional art college orientation.

The art facilities consist of three studio spaces including the classroom, a photography studio with a dark room, and a pottery studio, equipped with four pottery wheels and a large ceramic kiln.  The Ellen Brooks Art Gallery in the Mezzanine of the Margaret Robinson Broad Dining Hall facilitates five student art shows every year and a variety of community events.

Art for Community Service

The Fine Arts department enriches both the SMS community and the surrounding community by its participation in service projects, performances, and local contests. The Art for Community Service program meets in the afternoons. They travel to the Essex Public Library  to teach elementary age children art techniques and art history. The group has contributed art installations to the Essex County Museum, Tappahannock Town Hall, and Riverside Tappahannock Hospital.