Visual Arts Academy
The Visual Arts Academy was designed for students with a strong interest in the visual arts. While many of these students will someday work in an art related career, others are simply passionate about the arts and plan to pursue a career in another field.
Overview
The Visual Arts Academy provides students with a solid foundation in the arts through a sequence of academic courses, career exploration opportunities, and inspiring interactions with fellow students, faculty, and professional artists. This academy is suitable for beginners and intermediate artists, looking to deepen their skillset, understanding, and techniques.
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Through a combination of theory, hands-on studio practice, and critical analysis, students will develop their creative skills, expand their artistic horizons, and prepare for their own future in the art world.
Artistic Development
Throughout their time in the academy, students will cultivate their creativity, expand their critical thinking and problem solving skills through their artistic expression. Foster a supportive and collaborative artistic community, expand on their ability to communicate their ideas through their artworks and with their peers, collaborate with professional artists, teachers and peers, students will gain confidence in front of an audience, and develop a professional portfolio
School-Wide Projects
Students in the academy will spend time throughout their years contributing to an ongoing school wide project, where they will come up with design concepts and paint them as murals around the school. This opportunity gives students hands-on experience in collaborating with peers, creating concepts, working on a large scale project, and dedicating their time outside of school.
Advanced Placement Studio Art
Students gain these skills and abilities by participating in a variety of classes, field trips, workshops, lectures, art shows and other activities. Throughout the courses in the MMA-VAA curriculum, students critique each other’s artwork and collaborate to prepare projects and presentations about topics related to the visual arts. All Arts Academy seniors take a college level course in Advanced Placement Studio Art. At the end of their senior year they are required to hold a senior exhibition as part of their Senior Project. In addition to the course curriculum, VAA students have the opportunity to work with guest artists, visit colleges, job shadow at area businesses and participate in an internship.