ARTS    Visual & Media Art

Visual and Media Art

One of the ways to find out about a past culture is to find objects from that culture to study that will lead us to clues about their values and beliefs. The artifacts that we examine include paintings, sculpture, and architecture; in many cases the only artifacts that survive are those that are of a creative or artistic nature. The earliest known artifacts of the human race are drawings on the walls of caves deep below the earth’s surface.

Visual Art

The Visual Arts at Crescent School have been an integral part of the school curriculum since 1988. Beginning in grade 3 and continuing to grade 12, the Visual Arts are available for all students. Art specialists instruct students at all grade levels in the language, skills and techniques of art. Students are taught in fully-equipped studio spaces. Art is a mandatory credit within the Lower, Middle and Upper School, to the end of grade 10. After this, the Visual Arts become an elective for students to consider as they plan their academic careers. Many students continue in the Visual Arts out of an interest that was nurtured through the years by dedicated and passionate teachers, and many choose to continue as they plan careers in the arts such as architecture and media.

Media Art

Crescent has always taught the skills necessary to understand the written word and to use words to express ideas. In 2003 Media Art was introduced as an integral part of the school curriculum. Education for the future must present students with the skills to be able to understand the information that is being presented to them in forms other than words. Students are constantly exposed to all forms of visual stimuli including television, movies, and the web. It is imperative in order to prepare our students for the information age that we teach them literacy skills in the languages of electronic media, and expose them to contemporary tools of communication so they can speak back on the views presented and express their own ideas.

Media art is offered in grades 10 and 11, and in grade 12 students may continue their studies with Communications and Technology. All classes are conducted in a fully-equipped Media Art Lab on Macintosh Computers. Digital imaging uses industry standard programmes such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Video production uses Final Cut Pro.

Many students now see digital imaging and film as a career opportunity and an ever-increasing number of Crescent students have been accepted at New York University, University of Southern California and Ryerson University to continue their studies.