Art & Innovation

Mission Statement for Art + Innovation, Grades 6-8

Art + Innovation is a visual art and design program that teaches students to engage in the creative process using both traditional and contemporary methods of making. Students in this program will learn to develop their creative thinking skills and learn how to navigate the creative process - from the inception of an idea to completing a meaningful work of art.

All students in Middle School take the core Art + Innovation course.

Grade 6 - Year Long. Grade 7 - Semester. Grade 8 - Semester

We also offer semester-long electives that middle school students can choose from.

Semester-Long Electives

Painting (Grade 8 Only)

This course is for anyone willing to engage in experimental approaches in painting. Painting, as one of the oldest creative mediums, is versatile and has been elaborated in a broader form in contemporary art practice. Compiled by a cohesive lesson plan covering learnings on essential to advanced painting techniques, introductions to artists on painting, and discourse about painting as a motif redefining its position in art history. In this course, students will work in different units exploring and developing their mindset and skills together as art individuals and teams. Tools used/skills learned: Dry media, Watercolor, Acrylic, Tempora, Oil painting, Chinese painting, Mix-media painting on different surfaces and Digital painting.

Photography (Grade 8 Only)

Students will learn how to make images ranging from sun-prints to their own digital masterpiece. In this elective, we will explore several processes, including photograms, black and white film photography, darkroom printing, digital photography, and image editing. The goal of this elective is to help students create images that stand out and tell a story. Tools used/skills learned: Essential photography skills, how to make good photographs using a variety of cameras, how to use new camera technologies, digital photography and image editing software, book making, cyanotype, developing a series of them based photographs.

Animation (Grade 7 Only)

Animation is about creative story-telling using moving pictures. In this course, we study 2D & 3D animation, stop motion, story-boards, staging and sound. Students learn specific skills in Quarter 1 using a variety of tools and computer programs (Procreate, Stop-Motion, After Effects. Photoshop), then build stories of their own in Quarter 2. We also watch many styles of animations (old Disney films, anime, clay animations, etc) for inspiration and analysis. It is fun to watch animation and even better to make it.

Ceramics + (Grade 7 Only)

In this course, students focus mainly on hand-building techniques for both pottery and smaller scale sculptural pieces. Students who are interested will also briefly get to experience the potter’s wheel to attempt to make a wheel thrown pot. Tools used/skills learned: Stoneware clay, colored clay slips, sculpting and carving tools, commercial colored glazes, ceramic decals, electric kiln firing. Pinch, coil, slab, solid, and potter’s wheel construction techniques. Multiple glazing techniques, surface decoration, and a handful of ceramic firing techniques.

Student artwork can be viewed at https://www.tasartplusinnovation.org/

TAS