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Visual Arts Program, Visual and Performing Arts Department

The Visual and Performing Arts Department awakens and nourishes the creative process in every student. The Department offers a selection of courses in musical arts, photography, digital art, ceramics, sculpture, art history, and studio art. The curriculum promotes creativity, original thinking, perseverance, resourcefulness, personal exploration, and safe risk-taking. Students have the opportunity to curate and show work in gallery spaces, develop a portfolio throughout their CH-CH career, participate in musical performances, work with industry-level design programs, and collaborate on projects with students as well as visiting artists.

Introduction to Visual Arts

Introduction to Visual Arts is a foundational course that introduces the elements and principles of design in a 2-Dimensional framework. It is open to students with or without art experience. Students will fine-tune their observational and imaginative skills and experiment with a variety of materials and techniques such as drawing, painting, and printmaking. They will learn to critique their own work and the work of their peers. Students will participate in three student art shows throughout the school year.
Ceramics I

Ceramics I is an art elective suitable for students with or without art experience. The course focuses on the use of the potter’s wheel as a tool. Students will learn to throw, trim, glaze and critique their work and the work of their peers. Students will create projects such as mugs, bowls, jars, and plates and will participate in three student art shows throughout the school year.
Ceramics II

Wheel Throwing II is an art elective that is open to students who have completed Wheel Throwing I. The course focuses on the use of the potter’s wheel as a tool. Students will learn to throw larger forms and apply more complex surface techniques. Students will have more freedom than Wheel Throwing I to choose what types of forms that they want to throw. Students will participate in three student art shows throughout the school year.
Sculpture

Sculpture is a foundational course that introduces the elements and principles of design in a 3-Dimensional framework and is open to students with or without art experience. This course centers on using hand-building methods to make sculpture out of clay. Students will begin by focusing on more traditional methods of art making such as working from observation and then gradually transition to a more conceptual and personal approach to art making. Throughout the course, students will investigate some of the many technical aspects of working with clay, including mold-making, building armatures, firing kilns, and glazing. Students will participate in three student art shows throughout the school year.
Advanced 2D & 3D Design

Advanced 2D and 3D Design is an art elective open to juniors and seniors that expands upon the material from the introductory classes. An introductory art course and a teacher recommendation are prerequisites for this course and it is a prerequisite for the AP Studio Art class. Students will use traditional and non-traditional media in this course and are encouraged to experiment and find their own artistic voice. The class curriculum is designed to prepare students for AP Studio Art by providing them the opportunity to begin creating work for their AP portfolios. Students will participate in three student art shows during the school year.
AP Studio Art

AP Studio Art is the culminating elective in the visual arts and requires a prerequisite of Advanced 2D and 3D design along with a teacher recommendation, enrollment in Art History and a completed summer course prior to entry into the class. Students are required to enroll in Art History to provide a tandem learning experience that strengthens their own art-making. In this course, students are required to create a series of teacher-initiated assignments, as well as student-initiated assignments, for the AP Two-Dimensional Design Portfolio. By concentrating on a particular visual interest or problem, students will gain experience in the formal, technical, and expressive means of artistry and at the same time, develop a sense of quality in their own art. Once students complete this advanced-level portfolio, they will show and promote their work in a solo show in the professional Mankiw Gallery in the spring trimester.
Art History, Theory, and Criticism

Art History is a yearlong elective open to upperclassmen. It examines major forms of artistic expression from the past and present, as well as from a variety of cultures. Through readings, slide lectures, interactive class discussions, hands-on art projects, and museum and gallery visits, students learn how to look critically at works of art. (Art History may be taken either for history or for arts credit. In order to enroll, students must have completed an advanced course in visual arts or received permission from the instructor.)
Digital Photography I

This elective introduces students to the digital camera and to techniques for manipulating images using the digital camera. Students will learn how to use their digital cameras to control images, how to apply composition, lighting, and exposure to their images, and how to download and manipulate images using Adobe PhotoShop.
Digital Photography II

Digital Photo II is a continuation of Digital Photo I, which is a prerequisite for this class. Students in this class will photograph an even wider variety of subject matter than in Digital Photo I as well as experience using a tripod, photographing indoors using natural and artificial light and delve further into working with Adobe Photoshop to manipulate and improve their images. Larger projects will involve photographing an event as a photojournalist, shooting self-portraits and exploring a social action topic of their choice in a visual graphic poster. Students will participate in three student art shows throughout the school year.
Digital Photography III
Digital Video Production

Whether it’s through news, short film or motion graphics, video is one of the most compelling ways to tell a story. Digital Video Production will encourage students to experiment with the types of shots used in video filming and to develop original ideas to discover how their ideas can be communicated to an audience. They will also watch films that have historical significance in the world of movie-making. Student projects include writing scripts, creating storyboards, making voiceovers, conducting interviews, and coming up with their own ideas on how to create short films that engage an audience. Each student will create several short digital video projects with an emphasis on personal, creative video construction. Students will be using their iPad to film footage on their own and a Mac desktop in our Digital Arts Lab to do much of the editing and construction of each video. Class time will be used for class critique and discussion of individual works, editing films, and discussing the responsibilities of filming and editing, as well as film history and criticism. The software taught in the class will be iMovie with the hopes of transitioning to Premiere Pro in the spring term.
Publications

Publications is open to students in the junior and senior classes. Students in this class will have a hands-on opportunity to explore digital media and the print publication process from design to publication of the school yearbook. This course offers students the opportunity to experiment with digital photography, graphic design and journalistic writing. They will work extensively with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator to manipulate print and print design. After publishing the 152-page yearbook, students will develop 2-3 independent projects of their own choosing during the spring trimester to strengthen their graphic design skills and allow them to explore their own artistic voice, in addition to designing a 16-page spring supplement to the yearbook.
Publications II

Publications 2 is open to students in the senior class who have already completed a year of Publications. They are expected to take on an Editor or Editor-in-Chief role in level 2. Students will have a hands-on opportunity to explore digital media and the print publication process from design to publication of the school yearbook while also leading their peers in design and photography, and serving as a kind of teacher’s assistant with the Adobe technology used in class. They will be expected to take on a heavier page design load and to lead bi-weekly editor meetings as part of their leadership training. After creating the 152-page yearbook in the first and second trimesters, Publications 2 students will be expected to design the 16-page spring supplement to the yearbook along with another peer, and participate in one or more graphic design projects in the spring trimester.

Department Faculty

Jamie Palmer Keating

Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair; Yearbook Advisor

St. Michael's College - B.A., Fine Arts
Lesley University - M.Ed., Teacher of Visual Art, 5-12

jkeating@chch.org
Bio
What is your role at CH-CH?

I'm the Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair and Yearbook Advisor. I have always created, read about creating, dreamed of creating or wrote about creating. I love exploring my own passion for the arts but also learning about what drives others to create. I studied studio art, art history, and journalism in college and this prepared me well for a career in teaching. A Master’s Degree in Visual Arts Education and ten years of teaching later, clearly art education was the path for me to take and I’ve loved every moment.

How do you get to know your students best?
In my classes, we often talk a lot about our experiences and interests and how that informs our art-making. We listen to music, talk about films and art, pop culture and what is important to their lives at that moment. This helps us all get to know each other better and feel supported when making and critiquing our artwork together. If we know what makes each other tick, we can help each other make more meaningful and successful artwork.

What makes the CH-CH community unique?
We are all very thoughtful and caring of each other, regardless of how well we know each other. Everyone says hi to each other, gives a smile or wave, and adds to the amicable, joyful feeling of the campus.
Chris Abrams

12th Grade Dean; Visual and Performing Arts Teacher

Harvard University - B.F.A., Visual and Environmental Studies
Mass College Art of Boston - M.F.A., Sculpture
Harvard University - Certificate, Architecture Associate Degree

cabrams@chch.org
Bio
How did you become a visual artist?

I started as a physics major in college but switched to Visual Arts in my sophomore year. In a way, I saw the two fields related: science and art are both about searching for deeper meaning. I switched because the visual arts allowed me not only to look for answers but also to generate and define the questions. I particularly like sculpture for its potential to engage all of our senses, and because it inhabits the same physical environment that we do.

How did you come to teach?

Initially I needed a way to support my studio practice. But teaching has become so much more to me: I rely on my time with my students to share their interests and enthusiasm, and to feed my own curiosity.

My undergraduate experience at Harvard taught me ambition and rigor; my time in the graduate program at the Massachusetts College of Art emphasized the importance of production. I want to share those imperatives with my students. I feel we have a responsibility to educate students who think critically about their (and others’) ideas, and work hard to put those concepts into practice.

How do you find teaching at CHCH?

I really value my experience working with students here. I find them as intellectually mature as my college-level students, with the added benefit that I have closer relationships with many of them than I developed with students in 13 years of teaching at the college level. That kind of close working relationship means that I get to know them and their ideas better, and I have the flexibility to follow our shared interests.
Luke DiOrio

Visual and Performing Arts Teacher

University of Hartford - B.A.

ldiorio@chch.org
Bio

What is your role at CH-CH?

I teach in the visual performing arts department here at CH-CH. More specifically, I teach Digital Photography and Digital Video Production. Additionally, I am coaching the JV boys soccer team in the Fall and Varsity Ultimate Frisbee team in the Spring.

What makes the CH-CH community unique?
From my experience here at CH-CH, I find the community is incredibly diverse. We have a wealth of cultural diversity and a diverse group of learners in our community. Also, our faculty and staff have a diversity of hobbies and interest which they share with the greater student body, always trying to inspire students to step out of their comfort zone and try something new.

What activities do you enjoy outside of CH-CH?
Outside of CH-CH I enjoy spending time watching live music, playing the drums, running a side business as a photographer and videographer, and playing Club Ultimate Frisbee. Also, I generally enjoy anything that gets me outside - disc golf, soccer, hiking, swimming and playing most yard games (spikeball, cornhole, etc.)
Maeve Doolan

Visual and Performing Arts Teacher; Gallery Director

The College of Fine Arts, Boston University - B.F.A., Sculpture/ Painting

mdoolan@chch.org
Bio
What is your role at CH-CH?

Visual Arts Teacher, Gallery Director

How do you get to know your students best?

Living in the dorms and participating in the after school programs has really helped me get closer to students.

What activities do you enjoy outside of CH-CH?

Outside of school I enjoy making my own art, doing yoga, and skiing when I find the time.
Anna Fitzgerald

Visual Arts Fellow

Endicott College - B.F.A., Art Therapy

afitzgerald@chch.org
Bio
What is your role at CH-CH?
Visual Arts Teaching Fellow

How do you get to know your students best?
My first experience getting to know the students was through our white water rafting trip in September, it was quite the introduction! Ever since, I have gotten to know the students more through co-curricular activities, my own classroom, and sitting in the dormitories when I am on duty. It is a really cool thing to see students so willing to introduce themselves to you, get to know you more as a teacher, and vice-versa. It is an incredibly welcoming environment.

What led to your career at CH-CH?
I was inspired by my own experience attending a boarding school for high school. I remember the teachers and the dorm parents making my experience memorable. I always had an adult to reach out to when needed. Someone to help me study for a biology test during study hall, or bring me Gatorade when I was sick. My teachers during those years inspired me to be in the position I am in today.

Chapel Hill - Chauncy Hall

785 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452
781-314-0800
admissions@chch.org

Located 10 miles from Boston, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall (CH-CH) is a private, college preparatory day and boarding school for grades 7-12/PG. CH-CH cultivates intellectual courage, creative ambition, and unwavering empathy that drives students to achieve their best.

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