Although we are not a conservatory, Community High’s courses in the arts are considered “core” classes, and are required and weighted in the same way as those in other disciplines. We consider the arts to be vital to an engaged citizenry, and essential to the development of full mastery of other subjects, to self-exposition and critical thinking.
Current Courses (Spring 2024) are marked with an *
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In this class students will study 2D design fundamentals: color, value, composition, space, and more. A variety of mediums; cut paper, graphite, and gouache, to name just a few, will be used to challenge students’ visual and critical thinking skills. An introduction to programs like Photoshop and Illustrator will help students bring their creations into the digital space. The principles and concepts covered in this class are meant to provide a foundation for visual thinking in any medium.
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In this class, students will learn to create digital sculptures and scenes within the 3D modeling workspace Blender. This will begin with basic use of the software, moving onto simple manipulation of objects in 3D digital space, and finally moving onto more advanced modeling and sculpting. The semester will be finished with a brief foray into 3D animation with blender. This course will challenge a student’s technical skills and critical thinking, and gain them experience working in a quickly growing artform and industry. Students will produce four projects, including a final project, which will illustrate their understanding of 3D principles.
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This is a year-long advanced drawing portfolio development class which will follow the College board AP Drawing syllabus which requires work that focuses on mark-making line, surface, space, light and shade and composition.The AP course requires the completion of 15 artworks, long sessions (3+hours) periods of self-directed drawing practice several times a week, contemporary artists research, documentation and writing assignments in addition to a final exhibition. The AP Syllabus will be a guidline we can chose to follow, critique or abandon as the needs of CHS students require. Students do not have to take this class both semesters, however portfolio requirement will not be completed sufficiently enough to take the AP test. This section of AP Drawing Portfolio offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art based on an in-depth investigation of materials, processes, and ideas of their choosing done over time. Sustained investigation is guided by questions: it involves practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. Visual and written evidence of inquiry are required. The objective of this class is to give CHS students an opportunity to experience the College Boards AP approach to Art.
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We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to t-shirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and collaboration, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Advanced Printmaking you will build existing printmaking skills and learn the techniques of lino-cut relief, silkscreen printmaking, color reduction, multicolor prints, collagraphy, and mono-printing. You will set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
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This class will introduce students to small scale compositions (8” x 8”), thumbnail value studies, and beginning color theory. We will be working on canvases using walnut oil and Gamsol- instead of linseed oil and turpentine- so the paintings will have all the benefits of oil, without the nasty smells! We will learn to mix colors on a pallet in shades, tints and tones and in three values from light to medium and dark. The class will have weekly painting assignments based on still life arrangements chosen by each student for their own work. We will complete a small painting every week. The paintings will include monochrome, complementary color, and split complementary color compositions.
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Animation is encountered by most in the western hemisphere from an early age and many never grow to understand the inherent challenges within. This course will help students explore animation in various forms and stages. Students will learn about these forms in concept and practice, beginning with archaic variations, such as phenakistoscopes and zoetropes, moving through a cut-out, cell, and computer animation.
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This class will concentrate on the personal story. Students will contribute a series of audio and visual stories that they have created under the assignments of the class. In this they will concentrate heavily on narrative, voice acting soundscapes, and the art of Foley. Students should have a way to capture audio and video (a phone) and the ability to edit said formats, whether on their phones or another device. They will also participate in workshops and critiques.
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Could we call a tik-tok a short film? Are Marvel movies really ‘cinema?’ Why or why not? In this course we will investigate how streaming services, social media platforms, and big-budget, blockbuster entertainment have changed the way we define, produce, consume, and critique film. The course will introduce students to the fundamentals of film theory, production, criticism, and history. No prior knowledge of film or experience in film production is required.
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This course will introduce students to the craft of filmmaking. Students will experience every stage of the filmmaking process — from pre-production through post-production — in the creation of a short film, including (though certainly not limited to) screenwriting, camera operation, and editing techniques. By the course’s end, students will create a polished, narrative short film. No prior knowledge of film or experience in film production is required for this course.
I am committed to covering the content listed on this syllabus. However, please know that this is a provisional document — the course schedule is subject to change. I will give you at least a week’s notice, via email, if I anticipate a major change to our schedule.
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In this class students will be introduced to a storytelling artform rooted in Appalachian tradition called crankies. Crankies, or moving panoramas, are drawings or paintings that can be manually scrolled within a box “stage.” Students will develop basic scripts, create imagery and use their crafting skills to narrate a tale using this interesting medium. But it is not all crankies! Caja Lambe Lambe are miniature worlds that are created for the purpose of telling a two minute story, and that story alone. These small peephole box theaters were invented in Latin America in the 1980s and are only now becoming recognized here on the East Coast. Shadow puppets are an ancient storytelling medium and have a huge variety of forms. A semester goal is to collectively make one or two performance-ready crankies, Cajas Lambe Lambe and/or shadow puppets plays. Rumors are that these could be included in Roanoke’s first Puppet Slam!
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In this course students will explore the craft of writing, while experiencing the reciprocal relationships between writing, reading, publication and discourse. They will engage with a variety of literary forms, genres, and methodological approaches to develop their technical versatility and their understanding of the practice of writing on a fundamental level. Simultaneously, they will explore the social and ethical dimensions of literary practice. Students will be expected to write several hours’ worth of text per week, and to be reading at least one book of fiction, poetry, or other ‘non-factual’ text throughout the semester. They will be expected read each other’s work most weeks, and discuss it with sensitivity and detail. Other sessions will be devoted to in-class writing activities, writing games and experiments, and discussions on literary issues or technique, in which substantial participation is also expected. Following each assignment, they will collaborate to edit and produce a chapbook of their work for distribution within the school community, culminating in a perfect-bound anthology at the end of the year. During 2nd Semester, regional and visiting writers will be invited to discuss their practice and participate in workshopping.
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In this course, students will be expected to look at film critically while exploring the notion of genre, industry, and other contextualizing material. This should allow students to understand cinema more objectively and give them the basis to watch, research and discuss film academically.
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This class will focus on hip-hop dance and expressive movement set to the current moment. Each student will be charged with allowing their inner life to be made visible through movement and sound. Emphasis will be placed on each participants mind/body as well as flexibility, which will enable a greater understanding and appreciation for the physiology of a dance workout comprised of aerobics, muscle strengthening, and interval training. Students will be provided with beginner working knowledge of Hip Hop/contemporary dance. At the completion of this course, the student should be able to demonstrate basic skills of Hip Hop Dance and follow instructions given by instructor as skill sequences are developed.
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This class explores the theory and technical aspects of still image making with digital SLR cameras. Through weekly exercises, reading assignments, lectures, and field study, we will learn how to light, compose, and properly contextualize photos in our increasingly image cluttered world. For today’s photographers, divers ethical and creative conundrums have been caused by the advent of digital technology, social media, and generative software, which have flooded the field with new and exciting tools, while updating older technologies and methods to be much lighter, faster, and more accessible. As students develop their own body of work, they will consider questions about the photographer’s role in a rapidly changing creative world.
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We will explore storytelling and language in its many narrative, formal, and psychological aspects while developing the craft of writing literature, with an emphasis on short fiction. Students will write three or four major short stories per semester and explore the fundamental principles of poetry, in addition to weekly writing games, exercises, theoretical discussions, and collaborative projects; they will work together to edit and publish their work in chapbook zines for distribution to the broader student community.
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In this course students will explore the craft of writing fiction, while exploring the reciprocal relationships between writing, reading, publication and discourse. They will engage with a variety of literary forms, genres, and methodological approaches to develop their technical versatility and their understanding of the practice of writing on a fundamental level. Simultaneously, they will explore the social and ethical dimensions of literary practice. They will be expected to read each others’ work most weeks, and discuss it with sensitivity and detail. Other sessions will be devoted to in-class writing activities, writing games and experiments, and discussions on literary issues or technique, in which substantial participation is also expected.
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Theater Production is a yearlong course, tackling production activities in the manner of a professional theater company. Despite our unique situation, we will again attempt a production each semester. In the fall, we will tackle some new and old acting exercises with a focus of putting together an online production in November. Students will be expected to tackle assigned roles, learn lines in a timely manner, and be a member of the artistic ensemble and assist with production values when needed. Following our Fall Production, students will have an opportunity to participate in the ESU (English Speaking Union) Shakespeare Competition. Theater Production is an immersion of theater styles, production and an exploration of each student’s potential as an actor or as a production specialist (props, lighting, costumes, set construction, marketing and more).
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This semester in Film History, we will be focusing on how the U.S. film industry came to be and how it took a big hit in the sixties. Using Robert Sklar’s Movie-made America, the student will consider the power of the industry and how it has shaped certain films and in turn how technology and theory progressed the business of film. They will also examine the impact the industry had on the larger culture and how television began to erode this influence. In all, the student will walk away with the ebbs and flows of the business of cinema through the slight demise of Hollywood’s reign.
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The student will develop analytical skills as well as familiarity with the genre leading to a broader filmic knowledge. They will hone their notion of critique and use it to discuss, write and present on films. We will be examining documentaries. We will look at the history of documentaries as well as advances in filmmaking, how documentaries influence other genres, theory and the ethics of filmmaking.
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This semester in Film History, we will be focusing on how the U.S. film industry seemingly started to crumble and then rebuild and the mythology of it as well. Using Sklar’s Movie Made America and Bisken’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls the students will examine how youth culture and the first generation of film school graduates change the landscape and repurpose some old techniques as well. The student will also see the influence of foreign film, as well as a change in criticism while getting to watch several important films of the time.
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Crime and criminals have been a part of cinema almost from the conception of the narrative film. In this course, we will look over the history of crime in film and explore various subgenres that have arisen over the years. Students will evaluate US crime films from 1906 through the end of the 20th century. During this period they will merely scratch the surface of one of Hollywood’s favorite topics and understand that it is not simply an American vice. They will look at violence, seedy behavior, production codes, and audience reception of the films covered in this class.
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In this course students will explore the science fiction film genre. Through close readings of films throughout the genre’s history, students will venture to the edges of outer space, encounter extraterrestrial creatures, imagine apocalyptic futures, and deconstruct their own notions of reality. By the course’s end, students will become familiar with the genre’s conventions, practice worldbuilding through short screenplays and character biographies, and assess the genre’s relevance to contemporary scientific and cultural developments. No prior knowledge of film history or production is required.
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Film Production concentrates on student vision and desire to create filmic material. We use student created pieces to spark lectures and discussions on knowledge needed to obtain said product. The student will gain an immense amount of hands on learning as well as theory to better shape their understanding of how cinema is made. At the end of the year students should be able to display a competency with equipment and an understanding of positions, genres, motifs, and the running of a shoot.
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This course will introduce students to the craft of horror and comedy filmmaking. In the first half of the semester, students will explore formal and thematic problems of the horror film, such as suspense and the jump scare. In the latter half of the semester, students will explore formal and thematic problems of the comedy film, such as schadenfreude and satire. In production teams, students will experience every stage of the filmmaking process — from pre-production through post-production — in the creation of a short film. By the course’s end, students will create polished short films in each genre, and explore the surprising similarities between these genres. No prior knowledge of film production or history is required.
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Students will learn how to develop simple games in the RPG Maker Game Engine. This course will focus more on the art side of game development than the code and design side. RPG Maker is a very easy to use program, and this class will most likely appeal to more artistically minded students than to code oriented students.
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Did you ever get the feeling that Contemporary artists make random “art” just so they can laugh at us? Or, perhaps, contemporary art seems to be all about money with million-dollar art works, outrageously wealthy collectors, and high museum prices? And then what do we make of public monument: outdated statues, memorials, and community art projects? This class will visit museums and galleries not just to talk about art, but to talk about contemporary ideas and culture and how we fit in it.
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This course will introduce photographic methodology and study images that have remained world icons in the evolution of the photographic medium. This course includes critiques, art statements and a group exhibition. For the second part of the semester, we will study the work of a few photographers who introduce the world to Photo Collage and we will try this technique in order to produce the second portfolio of the semester. We will use the camera contained in students’ personal phones.
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This course provides an overview of Western music theory. Through close tutorial, students will master the basics of harmony and composition. The majority of students will be musicians, but musicianship is not required; this class is meant to augment performative instruction.
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This course builds on the knowledge learned in Music Theory I. Students continue to study songwriting and arrangement, structural theory, and band theory at a more elevated level.
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The plan for this class is for you to have a chance to make drawings that tell a story. We will focus on non-sequential visual storytelling, and explore the relationship between vision, visualization, and imagination. There will be two white boards mounted in the studio for you to draw on with Expo markers, and you will have sharpies, colored pencils, graphite crayons and paper to draw on for your portfolio. You will be encouraged to work both communally and individually, you will be expected try new ways of drawing and to take creative risks.
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This class continues from “Alla Prima Introduction to Oils” which was offered in the Fall. From January until March 1 this class will focus on observational drawing skills such as: thumb-nail compositions, two and three-point perspective, value studies and expressive mark-making. After March 1 the class will shift to observational painting in oils, and when the weather permits we will move outdoors to paint “Al Fresco” in the fresh air. The class is limited to 6 students and some studio experience is preferred.
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This class will introduce students to a variety of water-based painting media and materials. We will learn how paint is made and explore how to compare the utility and qualities each paint offers. Most of the materials and mediums that we will use in this class been used to paint medieval icons and still are used by contemporary artists today. Students will be assigned videos to watch for assignments, and some additional reading will be encouraged. Semester work will emphasize exploration over the completion of multiple artworks, but each student should complete once portrait/ icon/ image by the end of the semester.
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Students will study ensemble performance by choosing material, charting material, rehearsing, and performing in a musical ensemble, using core rock/jazz instrumentation: drums, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard and vocals. We will also encounter popular music history organically, and benefit from periodic master classes by musicians touring the area. The year culminates with a professional recording session.
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Physical education is a class to help students practice and develop skills in a wide variety of activities to teach and prepare students for a physically healthy future. This course will explore various physical activities curated for students to better understand their bodies and find healthy movement options. This course aims to reshape how students perceive and understand what it means to have a healthy relationship with fitness so that they will continue to find avenues that interest them in school and after they graduate. This class also includes a sexual education component.
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Playwriting is an independent study of the craft and art of playwriting. Continuing with work that was started last spring, participating students will draft and workshop ten-minute plays, which may be further developed into longer formats. These plays may be periodically introduced as readings in CHS’ Theater Production Class and to the public as Zoom performances throughout the semester. Participants will explore various forms of dramatic structure and storytelling through dialogue while finding their own voices. The course will meet once a week for workshops and readings.
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In this course students will explore the craft and theory of poetry, while experiencing the reciprocal relationships between writing, reading, publication and discourse. As both readers and writers they will explore a wide range of poetic practices and traditions, from the ancient to the contemporary and the conventional to the experimental. They will engage with a variety of verse forms, genres, and processes to develop their technical versatility and their understanding of language, rhythm, sound and thought on a fundamental level. Simultaneously, they will explore the social, ethical, psychological and philosophical dimensions of literary practice. They will be expected read work by their peers and by other poets each week, and discuss it with sensitivity and detail. Other sessions will be devoted to in-class writing activities, writing games and experiments, and other discussions in which substantial participation is also expected. The class will regularly publish their work to the school community in a periodical chapbook.
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In this course, students will explore the craft and theory of poetry while experiencing the reciprocal relationships between writing, reading, publication, and discourse. As both readers and writers, they will explore a wide range of poetic practices and traditions, from the ancient to the contemporary and the conventional to the experimental. They will engage with a variety of verse forms, genres, and processes to develop their technical versatility and their understanding of language, rhythm, sound and thought on a fundamental level. Simultaneously, they will explore the social, ethical, psychological and philosophical dimensions of literary practice. They will be expected to read work by their peers and by other poets each week, and discuss it with sensitivity and detail. Other sessions will be devoted to in-class writing activities, writing games and experiments, and other discussions in which substantial participation is also expected. The class will regularly publish their work to the school community in a periodical chapbook.
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We will discover what happens when language ceases to be a thing we use, and becomes a thing we play with, explore, and live within. Students will become sensitive to the rhythmic, conceptual, aural, expressive, and psychological dimensions of language and learn to craft them into verse and, when appropriate, perform them. While developing a body of work according to their own poetic sensibilities, students will engage with a wide variety of poetic forms and approaches, from rhymed and scanned sonnets and villanelles to visual and sound poetry.
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We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to t-shirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and collaboration, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Printmaking: Silkscreen and Relief you will learn the techniques of lino-cut relief and silkscreen printmaking. You will set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
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This course offers students instruction and lab experience in lino-cut relief printing, intaglio printing, and kitchen lithography. Students will complete at least one edition in each medium and a final project in a print medium of their choice. Critiques will help first time and veteran printers to hone their abstract thinking, visual investigation, and critical discussion skills. Lectures, gallery visits, and dialogue will enrich students technical, historical, and conceptual awareness of not only printmaking, but visual culture at large. Students will endeavor to improve the craftsmanship, visual expressivity, and conceptual reach of their work. As empathy and teamwork are essential tools of the printing process, students will work creatively and constructively with their peers.
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The class will focus on making small figures in paper mache and will include some plaster casting and sewing. We will make “Punch and Judy” characters based on Commedia Della Arte Masks for hand puppets and as Large walking heads. Some performance can be expected.
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When films look great, they can seem effortless. But behind the CGI and fancy-schmancy acting, good films come down to one thing: solid writing. This course will start with an understanding of the art of screenwriting by looking at masterful examples. And then, the course will equip you to write your own blockbusters–or at least a solid scene or two and a short piece. We will work on every stage of screenwriting from treatment to shooting script to both give you insight into the process and help your burgeoning creative voice speak as clearly as possible.
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Black Lives Matter has inspired renewed criticism of the role public sculptures play in our society. At the same time, Covid-19 has limited the safety of the public spaces we enjoy, adding an element of risk to the simple act of touch. How can sculpture address these challenges? In this class students will consider these issues as they create sculptures to be privately or publicly engaged. Sculptural techniques using found materials and polymer clay will be demonstrated in online demos and asynchronous packets. Critiques and research assignments will build students critical thinking and visual investigation skills. This class requires attendance at one online meeting a week and the completion of three sculptures: an assemblage, a flux box, and a figurative polymer model for a proposed monument.
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This class is primarily designed with the notion of do it yourself, no budget nonfiction digital storytelling. Students will use what they have available (phones, tablets, personal computers) to explore the different forms of documentaries and to help critique what is out there. As a class we will have viewing and lecture periods to help the student get a better feel of how to make their own mark in this field.
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We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to tshirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and team based creativity, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Silkscreen you will learn the techniques of serigraphy, one of the oldest print mediums known, and set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
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Students will work on a variety of projects under the direction of the teacher preparing for a gallery exhibition. Projects will include large woodblock printing, sculpting large figures and smaller objects in paper mache, scripting and cutting for shadow puppets for performances. Some sessions will take place off-campus, and a Studio “Lock-in” weekend is anticipated.
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This class is a foundational introduction to the guidelines and procedures to be used in studio arts classes. The term “protocol” in the case of this class refers more to the development of a plan to carry out a project rather than a formal and strict set of rules. Throughout this year-long course, students will compile their own guidelines and proper procedures to aid them in the uses of a variety of artistic techniques. Students will be graded based on the frequency and reliability with which they complete projects in a safe and orderly manner.
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Theater Production is a year-long course, tackling production activities in the manner of a professional theater company. As we will be mounting two productions, students will be expected to tackle assigned roles, learn lines in a timely manner, work as a member of the artistic ensemble and assist with production values when needed. Theater Production is an immersion of theater styles, production and an exploration of each student’s potential as an actor or as a production specialist (props, lighting, costumes, set construction, marketing and more).
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Watercolor (or also known as aquarelle) dates back in history longer than Gouache and Poster Paint (often incorrectly called tempera). All three consist of pigments suspended in water-soluble elements. Watercolor and gouache have finer pigments and can come in both tube and pans while poster paints, with more coarse pigments, often comes in jars (true tempera uses egg yolks as a binder). Poster paint is thicker and paint to water ratio is higher compared to the other two. This class will focus on the basic techniques needed to execute a watercolor painting. Students will be required to follow instructions carefully for the first few projects and to be responsible for preparing their paper, proper care and cleaning their equipment and professionally presenting their Proposals: matted and placed in a portfolio (or framed). Students will be required to complete four of five Projects (matting Project #4 is required), four out of five Proposals and seven out of nine Art History Presentations to receive credit for this class. In order to complete a Project a student must have attended an entire class demonstration and have minimum of five hours of studio painting time logged. In order to complete a Proposal the painting must be exhibition-ready by the due date. Classes will be largely self-directed during studio hours on Monday and Friday, and the first hour of Wednesday’s class will be devoted to art history. The remainder of art period on Wednesday will be preparation studio time, where students can stretch paper, matt paintings or prepare sketches for future Proposals.
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In Writing Comics students will take on the disciplines of writing, penciling, inking and lettering serial visual narrative forms, otherwise known as comics. Lectures on character design, world building, scripting, observational drawing, narrative, flow and the interaction of words and images will help students engage the unique aesthetic and formal qualities of the medium, applying them in their own work. This class emphasizes analog craftsmanship, micro publishing, collaboration, experimentation, and making the best with limited resources. Working primarily in collaborative teams, students will produce three full-size comics throughout the semester.
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Roanoke will be “The Art City” for 2022-23, and YOTA (Year of the Artist) can include you! As a student at CHS you can get involved in this city project by working with a City Artist-in-Residence. Roanoke City has engaged 10 or more Artist-in-Residents to work closely with city groups like “The Gun Violence Prevention Committee” and communities like S.E. Roanoke to nd ways the Arts can build a better future for Roanoke. Scores of art projects have already been funded and we will see a wide diversity of art events throughout Roanoke from July 2022-June 2023. Students will learn how to: build a rapport with the city and neighborhood, complete applications on deadline, write art proposals and annual reports, prepare art budgets, help fundraise, and PLAN YOUR OWN ART EVENT. The city wants YOTA to help map arts funding in Roanoke for the next 10 years and it especially wants more youth focused projects to fund. Your work this year will help show the city what Youth Programs they should fund.