Arts

The Chorus is a mixed-voice ensemble that meets during the school day twice a week and is open to anyone interested in singing in a group setting. No audition is necessary. The Chorus performs in two concerts a year and also sings for various community events. Repertoire is varied and represents music in several languages and from different periods and styles. Development of vocal technique and choral discipline is a part of the rehearsal process. Students may elect to receive .25 credit for participation in chorus for a full year. Please note, while it is possible to earn more, a maximum of one credit can go towards fulfilling the two-credit art requirement through music ensembles. 

In addition to the choral experience, there are two smaller vocal groups open to singers from the Chorus who are interested in pursuing a more challenging repertoire. Participation in these groups is by audition. They are listed below: 

GRACE NOTES
Open by audition to all sopranos and altos in US Chorus, the Grace Notes sing music from a variety of genres, including traditional choral, compositions from non-Western traditions, and contemporary a cappella. They perform independently at school concerts and at other community events throughout the school year, including Singing Valentines and the Main Line A Cappella Sing-Off. Student leaders within Grace Notes help to choose and arrange songs for the ensemble, which is largely student conducted. 

FOXTONES
Open by audition to all tenors and basses in US Chorus, the Foxtones sing music from a variety of genres, including traditional choral, barbershop, compositions from non-Western traditions, and contemporary a cappella. They perform independently at school concerts and at other community events throughout the school year, including Singing Valentines and the Main Line A Cappella Sing-Off. Student leaders within Foxtones help to choose and arrange songs for the ensemble, and the ensemble is largely student conducted. 

Upper School instrumentalists may participate in the jazz ensemble, orchestra, chamber music ensemble, and solo recitals. Private instruction is also offered. The jazz ensemble requires an audition before participating. Each of these ensembles explores a wide variety of repertoire from each tradition. Students may elect to receive .25 credit for participation in orchestra or jazz ensemble for a full year. They can earn more than one credit total over the course of their time at FCS and are always welcome to surpass requirements, but a maximum of one credit can be earned towards the two credit art requirements through music ensembles. 

This course will give each student an introduction to the major styles and genres that have defined black music in America. We will begin with a musical and historical investigation of work songs and spirituals, making our way through ragtime, jazz, blues, R&B, and hip-hop. Students will learn about the broader cultural significance of this music, as well as its influence on Classical composers and innovators in the rock and roll and pop genres. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.

This course introduces students to the basics of reading and writing music, directly applying concepts learned to the creation of music compositions. Students will work on computers and learn to use music composition software/ web-based programs such as Noteflight and Soundtrap. Topics include – but are not limited to – reading and writing in treble and bass clefs, rhythmic and melodic notation, major and minor scales and keys, pentatonic, whole tone, and chromatic scales, modes, intervals, triads, and solfege/sight reading. Each unit includes hands-on composition practice, playback, and critique by peers and the teacher. This course is open to students in grades 9-10 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

In this course, students continue their development of music theory and composition skills through daily hands-on practice in a workshop context. Students will work on computers and continue to develop their facility with music composition software/web-based programs such as Noteflight and Soundtrap. Through score reading and analysis, rhythmic and melodic dictation, sight reading practice, solfege exercises, and composition, students will continue to develop their music reading and writing skills. Students will explore project-based units that cover a range of musical genres and concepts, including minimalism, impressionism, arranging for specific voices/instruments, creating a musical work inspired by a piece of visual art, and scoring for a short film or video game. Specific music theory topics include: a review of scales and keys, modes, intervals and triads, chord progressions, the basics of four-part writing, Roman numeral analysis and figured bass. Students are encouraged to create music shaped by their unique background and musical point of view, including an individually designed final project. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

In World Music Drumming, students will practice ensemble drumming while studying musical traditions from cultures around the world (including, but not limited to, music from the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Asia, and various European folk music traditions). Students of any musical background and all levels of experience are welcome. Students will develop both musical skills (reading musical notation, basic technique on a variety of world percussion instruments, musical improvisation and composition), and non-musical skills (listening, collaborating, reflecting). Through our musical journeys, students will also investigate correlations between patterns found in music, art, dance, literature, and society of the cultures they explore. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

This semester course is designed to lay a foundation for proper vocal production through an overview of vocal anatomy, proper breath technique, vocal health, and song study. Materials studied may include vocal exercises, folk songs, English and Italian art songs, popular standards, and musical theater selections. Students will perform in class, and there will be opportunities for students who are prepared and interested in performing to do so for an audience outside of class. Students of any experience level in grades 10-12 are welcome – you just need to enjoy singing! Ability to read music is helpful but not required. This course fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

This course will present an overview of American musical theater, highlighting the lives and careers of prominent musical theater composers, lyricists, producers, directors, and choreographers. Students will not only learn the historical contexts of composers and their works, but will also study and present historically and/or culturally significant songs (through performance and/or research presentation). This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

This course will give students an experiential introduction to the elements of artistry that go into bringing a play from the page to the stage. It includes projects that invite students to experiment in acting, playwriting, design, and directing. We will use a variety of classic and contemporary sources, as well as the experience of live performance, to develop our own artistic practices and a practical understanding of the spectrum of skills required to create live theatre. This class is open to students in grade 9-10 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

This course is an overview of performance and production skills related to classical texts, with a focus on Shakespeare. We will use these 400+-year-old plays to create performances that engage and resonate with our contemporary experience. Students will get the opportunity to work on scenes and monologues, to experience performances by innovative classical companies and to engage with professional practitioners. This class is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

Devised theatre is a form of theatre where the script originates not from a writer or writers, but from collaborative, usually improvisatory, work by a group of people. Students in this class will form an ensemble company and will collectively explore a variety of contemporary acting and devising techniques in a lab setting. Through collaborative creation and choral work, students will create several ensemble pieces including adaptations and site-specific happenings. This class is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.

This class will develop the fundamental skills necessary to perform in a variety of theatrical genres, utilizing some of the most innovative plays written in the 21st Century. Exercising text analysis skills and engaging in scene work, students will learn the principles of acting in contemporary plays. Students will also get the chance to read and attend a play running in Philadelphia and meet with the artists. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.

This class dives into the many ways that theatre artists: from Playwrights to Directors to Designers create new, exciting worlds for actors and audiences to inhabit. The course will delve deeply into the craft of playwriting, giving students the opportunity to write several of their own plays and see them through the collaborative process. Projects will include a one-act festival and an audio drama podcast. Students will simultaneously explore and develop both a design and directing practice that will deepen and expand skills in text analysis, imagination and collaboration. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

In this one-semester topics course, students will look at the history of art through the lens of social change. From the French Revolution and early democratic movements of the 18th century through the 19th century labor movement to the civil rights, anti-war, and global anti-colonial movements of the 1960’s and 70’s – every period of social upheaval and progress has drawn power, strength, and messaging from artists and artworks of the times. The energy and purpose of those movements and world events has also contributed back to the history of art. The primary focus of the course will be looking at that exchange of imagery and ideas, but students will also be looking at how imagery, propaganda, and information networks affect the power of that imagery – historically and currently. If safe, students can also expect three out of the classroom field trip opportunities to be an experience of artworks in context and some experiential making opportunities to give voice to their own interests and beliefs through imagery. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

In this project-based making course, students will execute assignments in different digital media as a survey of the subject. Each project will pair a new digital tool with a topic from current social discourse or alternative art histories; for example using the 3D Digital Design tool Tinkercad to design a new monument with an accompanying discussion of what it means to elevate certain histories over others. Each project will also engage with the Design Thinking process, from research to development, creation to critique. In this course students will gain experience with digital drawing (Autodesk Sketchpad), graphic design and typography, time based media (short frame animation), and code-based art making (Processing P5js). This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.

This course covers the fundamentals of photography. From cyanotypes to Photoshop, various techniques through the history of photography will be examined, with an emphasis on modern digital photography. Through a range of assignments, topics such as motion, composition, lighting, and color will be studied; and photographic genres, such as portraiture and narrative, will be explored. The first semester focuses on mastering the technical side of the medium while developing a creative vision, all the while taking interesting photographs. The second semester builds on the previous semester and allows students more opportunities for expanded creativity in terms of the projects and post-produc tion. Class discussions will include group critiques of projects and the introduction of the works of noted photographers. Students are expected to provide their own digital camera, which must have the capability of manually controlling features, such as aperture, shutterspeed, ISO, and white balance. This course is open to students in grades 11-12 or with permission of the instructor and fulfills two semesters of the four-semester arts requirement

In this process-based course, we will explore fibers, fabrics, and textiles with a hands-on approach. We will create with fiber from among a variety of selected techniques: spin yarn, dye, felt, draw, coil, crochet, knit, paper-maché, printmake, stitch, or weave. Fibrous materials will be fabricated into 2D and 3D projects that may include wall art, vessels/baskets, wearable, utilitarian, or collaborative site-installation pieces. Researching fiber and textiles from around the world – contemporary as well as historic – will inspire individual projects, with a storytelling aspect. The testimony of ‘stew-ART-ship’ will include the transformation of recyclables into fibrous pieces. The growth from concept to final project will be reflected in journal entries tracking techniques, sketch-notes, research, and outcomes. The results will be visual, fiber art statements or functional pieces for the body or home, where each creative voice is encouraged as artistic self expression. Discovering, creating, and reflecting will guide our daily process. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.

This course introduces students to 2D art through a variety of mediums and processes which could include: observational drawing, collage, graphic design, digital imaging, and printmaking. The fundamentals of design principles: form, composition, line, shape, value, texture and content will be explored in a studio-based practice. Subject matter will range from realism to abstraction. Creative and critical thinking, visual problem solving, and technique will also be explored. This course is open to students in grades 9-10 who have not already taken Introduction to Drawing and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

Mixed Media: Appropriation & Reinvention is a studio art course that explores a number of media, concepts, and styles of abstraction. Strictly speaking, the word “abstract” means to separate, remove, or change the characteristics of something, and students in Mixed Media will do all this and more. Everyday items will be recontextualized and repurposed as art, while images initially devised by others will be appropriated and altered enough to be considered an acceptable use within artistic copyright standards. Students will be presented with a variety of projects, procedures, and opportunities for artistic expression, invention, and imagination ranging from painting and printmaking to clay and Photoshop. The majority of class time will be spent producing art, although there will also be lectures/demonstrations and critiques. This course is open to beginning or experienced or artists in grades 10-12 who are interested in exploring abstraction. It fulfills one semester of the four semester arts requirement. 

Mixed Media: Connections with the Real World is a studio art course that explores a number of media, concepts, and styles of abstraction. Strictly speaking, the word “abstract” means to separate, remove or change the characteristics of something, and students in Mixed Media will do all this and more. Students will begin the semester taking inspiration from and challenging how they see our world, and before the semester is over, they will make abstract items that can serve a practical function in this same world. Students will be presented with a variety of projects, procedures, and opportunities for artistic expression, invention, and imagination ranging from painting and digital photography to clay and glass. The majority of class time will be spent producing art, although there will also be lectures/demonstrations and critiques. This course is open to beginning or experienced artists in grades 10-12 who are interested in exploring abstraction. It fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

This yearlong exploration of observational drawing and painting is designed to advance students’ technical abilities and to give them the mental skills to see in new ways. Through a combination of short studies and longer term projects, students will be presented with different conceptual and material challenges, including work in charcoal, pencil, and oil paint. Students can expect to develop a deeper understanding of how to draw convincing spaces and architectural forms, how to render objects realistically with depth, and how to draw faces and portraits with an introduction to paint and color. The class is run as a studio with lecture and instruction followed by demonstrations, practice, and individual/group critique. There is a small lab fee to cover the cost of oil paints. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills two semesters of the four-semester arts requirement.

Building off of observational drawing and painting skills learned in Studio Art I, students in this course will push into more advanced material concepts with opportunities for expressive and personalized subject matter. Students can expect to learn color theory, palette knife painting techniques, self-portraiture, and advanced tonal drawing, with exposure to abstraction and experimentation in new media, including virtual reality and stop motion animation. This course fulfills two semesters of the four-semester arts requirement. Prerequisite: Studio I or portfolio approval.

Wearable Art is a studio art course that explores a variety of media and approaches to creating wearable art, predominantly jewelry. From jump rings to scarves, paper to computer, and pliers to laser cutter, the class will introduce students to both technical and creative considerations that come into play when creating tangible items that are meant to be worn. The inspiration for projects will vary from geometry to the students themselves, with the end result ranging from recognizable subjects to non-objective pieces with a functional twist. Throughout the course, students will be presented with a variety of opportunities for artistic expression, problem solving, invention, and imagination. The majority of class time will be spent producing art, although there will also be lectures/demonstrations and critiques. This course is open to experienced or beginning artists in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four semester arts requirement. There will be a small lab fee to cover the cost of precious metal clay. 

This class offers an introduction to innovative design and building utilizing hand and power tools and an array of construction materials including wood, acrylic, concrete, and electrical components. Students practice safety, discipline, patience, and problem-solving skills as they engage in experiential learning. Utilizing the Engineering Design Process (EDP) students learn traditional woodworking techniques and integrate modern technology to develop and implement their designs, while also evaluating and reflecting on their art process and project execution. Projects are scaffolded culminating in a “student choice” final project incorporating methods, techniques, and creative expression. This course fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. 

This class builds on the skills and techniques students have developed in Woodworking I with a focus on expanding innovative design and execution with precision. Students build projects using dovetail, mortise and tenon, and mitre spline joints while also learning basic chip carving, chisel work, and wood turning projects on a lathe. Students may choose to utilize technology to enhance their design ideas and take creative risks. Emphasis is on safety, self-motivation, design execution, and well-crafted pieces. This course fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement. Prerequisite: Woodworking. 

Mixed Media: Advanced Topics in Abstraction is a studio art course that builds on the exploration of abstraction begun in the other two Mixed Media semester offerings. Students will continue to develop skills in a variety of mediums, some of which were introduced in previous classes, and others which, as new additions, continue to broaden the students’ artistic range. Topics such as form and function, process, sources of inspiration, and altering perceptions will be covered. Students taking this class should be prepared to push themselves creatively with the ultimate goal of producing more self-directed and ambitious projects. Prerequisite: Mixed Media: Appropriation & Reinvention and Mixed Media: Connections with the Real World. This course fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.

Design Evolution offers a stimulating hands-on, studio based curriculum in which students explore a broad range of 2D and 3D art and design principles. Analytical skills in drawing, design, architecture, and sculpture are covered as well as hand-building and digital techniques, all of which contribute to the development and understanding of visualizing an idea from a 2D drawing into a 3D form. A variety of media including traditional (paper and chip board construction) and digital (laser etching and 3D printing) materials will be utilized. Creative and critical thinking, visual problem solving, and technique will be explored, and all students will participate in the formal critique process. This course is open to students in grades 10-12 and fulfills one semester of the four-semester arts requirement.