Arts

In addition to the courses listed below, students may take private voice, instrumental and/or dance lessons for an additional fee. They may also participate in SAS, community, and Univeristy performances in theatre, orchestra and dance.

Theatre Arts

While this course will touch on many aspects of theatre including (but not limited to) theatre styles, history, terminology, and etiquette, students will focus on developing acting skills. Through improvisation, theatre games, ensemble-building techniques, and solo and small group work, students will gain basic acting training. Students in this class will also attend the SAS Players' production which occurs during the course semester, as well as one University of the South theatre production.

Studio Art

This course will focus on strengthening the student’s ability to use the elements and principles of design through self-discovery. Students will be led through self-exploration exercises as they create line and value drawings of human proportions, design conceptual self-portraits, build surreal autobiographical sculptures, etc. The course will emphasize design and composition, as well as the way that color affects emotional and physical space. Highlighted throughout the semester will be an incorporation of historical and contemporary artists whom students find influential in their creative process.

Mixed Media

Students experiment with color using various art mediums to create paintings on paper and canvas. Through the use of oil pastels, chalk pastels, and watercolor, students create landscapes and still life paintings from direct observation. Students also use acrylics to explore the possibilities of color harmony and other color theory principles. As different techniques and materials are introduced, appropriate artists and movements in art history are examined. The term ends with a final critique and presentation of a finished painting on canvas.

Functional Pottery

This class will allow students to learn the basic techniques of working with clay both on and off the wheel. Students will explore the properties of clay – its possibilities, potential, and limitations – working with different forms and decorations to produce pieces which can be used. As students develop stronger skills, more complex and multi-faceted forms will be explored. Work will be fired in both reduction and soda-salt kilns. Students may take this class for one semester or for several semesters: assigned projects are changed regularly to reflect increasing skills.

Chorus

The emphasis in this course is on the development of singing skills--intonation, projection, working within an ensemble--and on performing a wide selection of religious and secular choral music from different cultures and historical time periods. The Chorus will perform throughout the year in chapels, and during the Winter and Spring concerts.

Ensemble

Students rehearse a wide variety of music from different cultures and historical periods and perform throughout the year during weekly chapels, the Winter and Spring concerts, and for the Winter Musical in February. There is an emphasis on learning to read music and exploring the context of the literature performed. Students are encouraged to develop their technical facility and to learn to work together to perform effectively.