Art N Bloom

Signs of Spring:

On March 20-24th, the Medfield Public Library hosted Art ‘N Bloom a collaborative effort between the Visual Arts Department & the Medfield Garden Club. The exhibit featured 20 pieces of student artwork alongside inspired floral designs interpreted by Garden Club members.

Maximilian Gobin’s original digital illustration and Betty Sander’s interpretation in flowers.

Art N Bloom has been a long standing tradition in Medfield, as the show has been going on for over 15 years. Students' work was in a wide variety of media- sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, and digital prints. Floral interpretations demonstrate the creativity of the Garden club, with arrangements ranging from literal to conceptual. The results are always exciting and unexpected and get us excited for the coming of Spring!

Medfield HS Visual Arts Program of Studies

The Art department at Medfield HS shares the philosophy that art making is accessible to all students and promotes creative problem solving through the artistic process and personal expression. Medfield HS offers a wide breadth of in-depth learning experiences for students interested in the visual arts. By the end of their high school career, a student can become quite skilled in a particular area, which can lead to a lifetime of appreciation and exploration in the visual arts. 

The following electives are offered to ALL students at MHS:  

Drawing and Painting

Introduction to Art

Graphic Design I

Graphic Design II

Illustration

Photography I

Photography II

Clay Sculpture I

Clay Sculpture II

Video Production I

Video Production II

Independent Study in Art

In addition, Art I is a full year class offered to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. AP Art History and Art 2 are full year courses offered to juniors and seniors, and AP Art Studio is a full year course offered to seniors. These full year courses offer an in-depth exploration in to various media for students who are serious about improving their 2D skills and building a professional-quality portfolio of their work.

Introduction to Art and Drawing and Painting: These two foundation courses offer a broad scope of art-making experiences for students of all skill levels. Students explore a wide variety of media and technique to  develop the basic skills of visual language and observation.

Clay Sculpture I and II:  These courses offer our student artists opportunities to problem solve in an active and collaborative environment. Students will develop a focused study of sculptural and functional form.  Students will develop a personal voice in their work and gain a deeper understanding of techniques such as wheelwork and glazing. Digital methods will be introduced in a unit of study of 3D modelling and printing.

Photography I and II:

Photography skills are relevant across a wide spectrum of disciplines. Students will learn to see the world as an artist and designer.  Photography students will master the technical challenges of digital image making, editing, and curating a collection of their own work.

Illustration: Illustration is visual imagery that is used to inform, tell stories, and entertain. Students will learn techniques and processes to communicate their ideas effectively. They will be challenged to create works based on short stories, editorials, children’s books, and other sources.  This class will alternate between the art studio and the digital lab to emphasize the synthesis and mobility between traditional and new media.

Graphic Design I and II:  Effective visual communication is an essential skill for all students. Students in the Graphic Design classes learn how to combine typography, images, and layout to design graphic images for a variety of practical and expressive purposes. Students gain a strong foundation of skills in Adobe software (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).

Video Production I: This course is an introduction to video project planning, recording and editing. Students will learn to use video as a tool for communication and self-expression.

Video Production II: In this course, a variety of video genres will be explored-- such as narrative, documentary, animation, and experimental film.

Emphasis is placed on collaboration and delegation, with students taking on the roles of directing, editing, and screenwriting. Some projects will include working within the community, allowing students to experience video production in a real-world scenario.

MHS has a brand new digital media lab, with 24 new computers. Students who enroll in  Graphic Design, Video, Photo 2 , and Illustration have access to a web license to use Adobe CS which includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, FinalCut, and Premiere software.

If there are any specific questions about the Visual Art program at MHS, please email Kate Jones at kjones@email.medfield.net

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

The Scholastic Art Awards recognize student's achievement in the visual arts. Nationwide, over 350,000 original works are submitted in 29 categories in art and writing. The Medfield HS Art Department is very excited to announce this year's winners:

Meredith Kratochowill won three awards--

painting Beautiful Frustration, honorable mention

Mixed Media Influenced, honorable mention

painting Matthew, silver key

Luca Leger won a Gold Key for the drawing Expired this work will be displayed along other Gold Key recipients from across the state in Boston. 

drawing, Expired, Gold Key

Kasey Douglas won an Honorable Mention for her print Beware of False Queens.

reduction print, Beware of False Queens, honorable mention

Frannie McCarthy won two silver key awards for digital works: Sleepy Hollow and Become Human. 

digital image, Headless Horseman, Silver Key

Congratulations to this year's Scholastic Award recipients!!!

Empty Bowls

Clay Club presents Empty Bowls, a collaborative community dinner of soup and bread to raise money for Medfield Food Cupboard.

A $25  ticket bought in advance gets you dinner along with two pottery classes to create a bowl to eat dinner out of and bring home with you.

No time to make your own bowl? Choose a bowl, handmade by local artisans, fill it with delicious soup donated by local restaurants, and take your bowl home with you!

All ages welcome!

Bowl Creation Dates (@Medfield High School):

-Tuesday 2/12 5:30-7pm

-Wednesday 2/13 2:10-3:45pm

-Glaze Date: 2/27 5:30-7pm

Dinner Date (@Blake Middle School Cafeteria):

-Thursday 3/21 6-8pm

Sign up here to reserve a ticket or email shigger@email.medfield.net with any questions.

SBR for Art: Explained

SBR in the Art Studio: Explained

At Blake Middle School, the Art department has been examining the way we are assessing student work in order to give meaningful feedback to all of our students. As part of a building-wide initiative, we have closely examined the curriculum, aligned it with the National Standards, and designed a grading template to run as a pilot for Standards Based Reporting (SBR). 
It is our hope that SBR in the visual arts classroom will help students to better understand their strengths and areas of potential growth. Art is mostly an individual pursuit and giving purposeful feedback to students will help to foster conversations and engagement so that our students can have ownership of their learning. 

Students are now assessed in the criteria of Creating, Presenting and Responding, and Connecting on their report cards. Each of these criteria are explained in detail below:

Creating:

• Student shows an understanding of art materials through development of technical skill. 
• Envisioning and planning is effective.  

In the Creating standard, the student's ability to plan, sketch, set goals, and implement their ideas is assessed. This also includes technical ability with methods and materials, as well as using the elements and principles of design effectively. A student's ability to persist and work through problem solving is also measured under this standard. 

Presenting and Responding:

• Student is able to identify, understand, and interpret artistic work. 

In this standard, students demonstrate an awareness of how to prepare their finished work for exhibit. It also measures a student's understanding of formal analysis of an artwork and ability to interpret the meaning of particular masterworks. Participation in the critique process is also assessed under this standard. 

Connecting: 

• Student is able to relate knowledge to personal, cultural, and historical context. 

This is the standard where students can show their creative ability. They make choices- both large and small to create a work that is original and their own. Students show that they can connect what they are doing in the Art room to other curriculum areas. They also demonstrate that they understand that Art is not a stand-alone content area and is related to other areas of learning. 

High School is Outfitted with New Media Lab

Medfield High School's Art department has been outfitted with a brand new Digital Medial Lab. The newly designed space has been set up with new computers with a much improved capability for image and video editing. The lab is overseen by Art instructor Mr. Chris Faust, who is excited by the possibilities that this new lab allows for. All students who are enrolled in one of the digital art courses have access to the Adobe Creative Cloud. The Adobe CC has many apps including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro, which allows for professional editing capabilities.

Package design by Graphic Design Students

Mr. Faust teaches Graphic Design I and II, Video I and II, Illustration, and Photo II. He states that "Having this new technology  is a game-changer because it challenges our students on a professional level. My hope is that the students get a solid appreciation of what goes into digital image creation so they are more engaged in the process of creating digital work, not just the end result."

image by F. McCarthy

image by J. Woodard

The digital Art courses give students the opportunity to work both independently and collaboratively on a variety of problem solving scenarios that mirror real-world design and production projects. Currently, students in Graphic Design II are building upon their technology and design skills in Graphic Design I to create product and packaging design, an essential skill for business advertising and marketing. Video students are learning about camera operation, direction, and editing by using the software to reproduce well-known scenes from movies. Illustration students are re-interpreting fairy tales to bring them into a contemporary context. Mr. Faust acts as an art director to change parameters of assignments so that the students can practice on the software to make changes to their work according to his requests. Mr. Faust is just as excited as the students to teach in this brand-new space. He states: "The most important benefits of the having the current technology is the increased engagement and the significant quality of the work."

Sketchbook Initiative at Blake Middle School

Great news! The MCPE has generously donated the funds to provide hardcover sketchbooks to all students in the sixth grade. They will be distributed during Art classes the week of September 24th. 

Sketchbooks help to develop visual awareness and can be used across all disciplines to communicate ideas and make observations. Potentially, students could use them in all content areas-- MakerSpace,  Explorations, Art class, in Science labs, Math class, etc...

The Art department has written this grant with the goal for students to record, plan, reflect, and develop plans in a visual journal. This helps students to work independently to visually brainstorm ideas.

The intention is to provide a grade-free, judgement-free space for students to personalize their learning.

It is the hope that by using these sketchbooks students will:

• Brainstorm

• Document progress

• Experiment

• Reflect

• Articulate and incubate ideas

• Use as a personal learning space

• Make mistakes

• Plan out designs/rough drafts/ inventions/ design thinking

• Sharpen observational skills

• Visual evidence of student learning-- possible inclusion in student digital portfolio

HERE is an article about how drawing is the best way to learn, even if you don't consider yourself an artist.

Thank you MCPE for your donation to provide this important learning tool!