Art 4: Personal Directions in Art Studio Honors/AP River Hill High School Art Department 2008-2009

Course Syllabus
(Retain this packet in your visual journal throughout the semester!)

Course Description
Students in Art 4H/AP will continue to build on the body of work begun in Art 3. Art 4 students are expected to create work that is more technically refined and more intellectually challenging than the work they made in Art 3. To this end, students will frequently be required to make work of larger scale, of greater challenge, or of more considered personal or conceptual exploration. Art 4 students are expected to work more independently and to develop a personal artistic direction or theme. Art 4 students who are registered for Advanced Placement credit are expected to take the A.P. exam in May. Bear in mind that these students will be required to meet the National Advanced Placement Board requirements, which may require additional work beyond the requirements of this course. Students and parents are asked to carefully consider the level that best suits the students academic and artistic goals. Students taking the AP Studio Exam will be required to create a digital Portfolio via Flickr, to write an additional artist statement, and willat all times throughout the yeardemonstrate exceptional commitment to creating art for this course. Independent Study Seniors in Art 4 who wish to pursue an independent body of work will have the opportunity to do so at the end of the first making period. You are eligible to apply for independent study, if you: 1. Have demonstrated that you have the self-motivation and self-discipline to work independently. 2. Have a B-average or better in art. 3. Submit a written proposal. Your proposal must clearly state the theme and media you intend to explore. This statement may be revised, as recommended by the instructor, before approval is granted. 4. At the instructors discretion, you may be asked to arrange a conference with the instructor and your parent(s). During this conference we will, as a group, review the goals and expectations for your independent study. If your application for independent study is approved, your independent study contract will bind you to all of the following: 1. You will work an average of four hours per week outside of scheduled class timeat home, in the art studio, or elsewhere as necessary. This work should include preparatory research, sketching, as well as more refined, sustained works. 2. You will use scheduled class time to create work that is thematically related to your independent study. You might create a separate body of class work that parallels issues you are working on at home, or, you might bring your outside work to class for further development.

3. Finally, you will meet with me for an individual (or group) critique about once every three weeks. For this critique you are required to bring all works-in-progress or newly completed from both inside and outside class. This is an excellent way to receive meaningful feedback that will help you (and maybe, at times, inspire you!) as you progress in your study. Your independent contract may be renewed for future marking periods. The renewal is dependent upon your successful completion of one semesters independent work. Phone or in-person conferences with your parents may take place at intervals throughout the term. The instructor reserves the right to terminate an independent study contract if, at the end of any marking period, you are not abiding by the stipulations of the contract. At the close of the year, you will present your work and research to the rest of the Advanced Art class. Ordinarily the presentation and/or your final artist statement will comprise your Final Exam grade.

Course Objectives
In this course you will build a portfolio of work that can be used for college admission and for advanced placement credit.

Art 4 Honors students will

1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the purpose for monitoring the production of artwork through in-progress assessments 2. Demonstrate an insightful understanding of ways to collaborate with peers and instructors in the development of a written artists statement as justification of purpose. 3. Engage in a sophisticated dialogue with instructor and peers to develop an independent plan and serve as a role model for first, second, and third year students. 4. Analyze and apply ways cultural exemplars, contemporary and master artists and other curricular disciplines serve as catalyst for in-depth pursuit of a personal idea for an artwork or thesis project. 5. Use comprehensive sketchbooks/journals to develop personal imagery and meaning using written commentary as a catalyst for planning and executing a thesis project. 6. Manage the content and presentation of items in their portfolio by way of selecting, editing, updating and documenting for an audience, application or professional purposes. 7. Maintain and refine digital portfolio of personal artworks for the purpose of participating in a web-based community.

In addition to the above Art 4 AP students will also

1. Establish criteria to be used in the development of personal artwork and defend artistic choices using sophisticated vocabulary at the beginning of each quarter. 2. Articulate the content, technical skill development, and motivating factors of ones body of work to clarify personal intent. 3. Analyze, evaluate and prepare personal portfolios to meet specic criteria for further educational and career goals (AP, college entrance, work resume). 4. Apply creative processes to seek divergent solutions to self-directed, conceptually focused problems with specic intent.

5. Select and apply specic materials and techniques to communicate the artistic intent of a focused body of work. 6. Maintain and refine digital portfolio of personal artworks for the purpose of participating in a web-based community. 7. Maintain a Personal Portfolio Plan, which will be attached to the inside of your portfolio folder. Your will be required to update the table of contents before submitting your work for a grade at the end of a marking period.

Requirements for the Portfolio

There are three essentials to every portfolio: 1.The portfolio work will be of the highest possible quality. 2.The portfolio work will document a range of technical, formal, and expressive experiences. 3.The portfolio work will begin to focus on a particular interest, theme or problem. In the building of the best possible portfolio, this course will focus on interpreting your own experiences, primarily through observation and experimentation. At the end of the term, the work in your portfolio should demonstrate your ability to do the following: Think creatively. Think critically. Take risks. Interpret the world around you. Experiment with techniques and concepts in a visual journal. Create a composition. Work in diverse media. Depict light. Depict space. Handle color. Draw/Paint what you see. Respond to or reinterpret works of master artists and artists from other cultures. Develop a series of thematically related works.

Homework
As this is a Honors/Advanced Placement course, a minimum of three hours of outside work is expected each week. Most often, for each marking period there will be three assignments, each taking nine or more hours to complete. As the long-term homework assignment allows for the greatest individual interpretation and creative problem solving, the expectation is substantial. Significantly, these are also the works that colleges tend to be MOST interested in because the homework problems have the greatest latitude for personal interpretation. Therefore these works are primarily responsible for getting you into the college-level art program of your choice. The homework is given more weight than individual classwork assignments. Therefore, any student not submitting homeworkor submitting hastily-prepared homeworkwill be unlikely to pass that marking period. Thanksgiving break, Winter Break, and Spring Break are homework-free (AP students may need to prepare for May exams during Spring Break). Homecoming weekend and Prom weekend as well as 2 other weekends of the year will be homework-free. As assignments for

this class are often independently driven, ongoing, and involved, these homework-free times do not preclude ongoing or long-term work. Students that need extra time may find working during these breaks necessary.

Sketchbook Requirements
Throughout each quarter, you will be expected to continuously work in your sketchbook, in addition to your other class and homework requirements. Suggested prompts will be provided for you to explore in your sketchbook. Sketchbooks will be submitted at the close of each quarter for grading.

Assessment and Grading

We will assess each art problem while it is in progress and/or when it is complete. This may take the form of written reflections, individual critiques, peer commentary, or (most often) group critiques. Intelligent, thoughtful, and open-minded participation in the assessment process is mandatory, and will affect your marking period grade. Individual projects will not be assigned grades. However, if at any time you would like additional feedback or are unsure of your progress, please see me at any time. At the end of every marking period you will assess your own progress, reflecting on your finished works, your processes, and your participation. After completing the grade assessment, you will submit your entire portfolio, your visual journal, and your self-assessment to me for a letter grade. Submitted work must be in pristine condition. Ensure that your work is not smeared, creased or torn; and is chronological order.

Other important items that will affect your life:

Field Trips
You are expected to attend one field trip this yearone in the fall, the second in the spring. You will be given 6 weeks advance notice to ensure that you can arrange to miss your classes that day. We usually return to school by 2:00 p.m. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of seeing art beyond River Hill High School. As a member of the Art 3/Art 4 class, you are declaring your passion for art, and with that, you have a responsibility to educate yourself about art in the world. Therefore, you should view these field trips as not merely a diversion, but rather a profound educational experience. Exhibits we see will directly relate to work we are undertaking in class. In the past these field trips have directly (or indirectly) influenced students choices for their artworks, Independent Studies, and college majors. Also, we always have a good bit of fun! Finally, for at least one of the field trips, I recommend particular museums/exhibits/artworks for you to seeeveryone in the class may have a different set of recommendations. The fee for each trip could be between $5 and $10, plus the cost of lunch. Any student unable to attend the field trip will be required to write a research paper analyzing a work of art. Students enrolled in this class for double credit, should expect to do two research papers.

Art Exhibitions
There are multiple opportunities for students to have their work exhibited both school and countywide throughout each school year. Following various class units, artwork may be selected to hang in the school lobby or various display cases. In March, Howard County will be displaying artwork for the annual Youth Art Month exhibition, for which two pieces of artwork per school will be selected. Also

in March will be an exhibition titled PaperCraft, in which each teacher will select three pieces of artwork to display at the Howard County Center for the Arts.

National Art Honor Society

The National Art Honor Society encourages and supports outstanding artistic scholarship, service to the school and community, artistic endeavors, and good citizenship. Student members of this organization exemplify these standards, and work to promote an awareness of art and to support the education process at River Hill High School and in the community. Membership is open to all students who have completed an art course with a 3.0 average. Past NAHS activities have included: mural painting, gallery and painting trips, public sculpture projects, elementary art days, coffeehouses, postcard exchanges, T-shirt printing, etc.. NAHS members are eligible for scholarships at many art colleges and universities. The first meeting open to members will be in mid-September; an announcement will be made in class.

Advanced Placement
Students may apply in three areas: 2-D Design, 2-D Drawing, 3-D Design. You are required to submit 24 digital images of your work and five original/actual pieces (no larger than 18 x 24-inches) by the end of April or beginning of May. Specific dates will be given in class. If you plan to attend college and to study art, advanced placement credit enables you to place out of introductory courses, and to go directly into upper level studio courses. While I recommend that everyone take the AP exam, you must be aware that if you do not give 100% in this course for the entire year, you are unlikely to earn a 4 on the examthe minimum score necessary to place out of college-level studio art courses. If you earn an A average for the Art 3 and Art 4 courses, statistics show that you will likely earn a 4 or better on your AP.

Digital Images
Students applying to the College Board, to college art programs, and to organizations offering art scholarships will need to present reproductions of their artworkusually 24 works in digital form. The instructors in the art department will be happy to set you up for shooting your work, but you will need to provide digital storage or CDs, in addition to uploading them to your digital portfolio. This year, you must make arrangements with me in advance to photograph your work during class time. Only on rare occasions will you be able to photograph work after school. Therefore, plan ahead: Allow ample time for shooting. While I want everyone to succeed, I cannot be responsible for assisting you with your photo documentation if you have waited until the last minute.

Letters of Recommendation
If you have an A-average in my classes, I am most happy to write letters of recommendation, provided you have followed the protocol outlined by the guidance office. (If you have consistently turned in work late, or of less than your best efforts, please do not ask me to write your letter if you do not want me to mention all the facts.) Make sure you ask me for a recommendation well in advance of your application deadlines.

Scholarship Opportunities
Many opportunities for scholarships come up during the school year. Make it your habit to check the Art Announcements Board by the entrance, where I will post these competitions. You are encouraged to take advantage of any opportunity that is presented. I will make all of the pertinent application

information available to you, but it is up to you to take the initiative to follow up on it. Any additional slides, recommendations, or input you might need from me is, of course, available upon request, in the timely manner mentioned above. I am always happy to help excellent students pursue their goals!

materials
All materials are required, unless otherwise noted. A hardbound sketchbook. (This is required immediately!!) Choose the size that feels right to you. You might purchase a blank sketchbookas sold in art supply stores and bookstores, or you might wish to find or purchase a second hand book that you could re-create as your own. A tackle box, ArtBin, or other box to store your materials, approximately 10-12 in length. You will be able to store this in the art room. During the first week you will be given an individual supply of pencils, eraser, charcoal, etc., that you will be required to keep in your materials box. Should you lose your supply, you are responsible for replenishing it. Materials that are simply used up in the process of making art will, of course, be replenished by our art department supply. You will have the opportunity to obtain a cardboard portfolio during class the first week. Always know exactly where your portfolio is stored! This is your prize possession! Guard it as such! You may want to purchase a more sturdy portfolio than what you are given in class. The cost of this will be your responsibility, and should be a minimum size is 30 x 40-inches. Watercolors, pastels, Prismacolors or other materials that you will need in large quantities, must also be purchased by you. For instance, if your Independent Project will be almost exclusively oil pastel, you should purchase your own setwhich you will, no doubt, need to replenish frequently. I provide paint for our first oil painting. At that time, if you wish to continue working in oil, students must purchase Winsor & Newton Artisan Water-soluble Paints (OR other similar brand as recommended by the instructor). A minimal, high-quality set is available for about $34. The colors you are required to have are: Cadmium Yellow Cadmium Red Permanent Alizarin Crimson French Ultramarine Viridian (Green) Yellow Ochre Titanium White (largest tube available) The art department will provide you with one new 1-inch long-handled brush for your personal use, but you are welcome to purchase you own, higher quality brushes. (There is also a plentiful class-

supply of used brushes of various sizesand various states of decay. These must be returned to the sink storage, whereas your new 1-inch brush is your personal brush, and must be stored with your materials.) You will need to bring in a metal coffee can with lid, tall plastic jar with lid, or a glass jar (spaghetti sauce jars work great!) with lid for paint solvent to be stored when we begin oil painting. This should be labeled with your name. The art department will provide paper, cardboard, and/or other painting supports. If you wish to paint on more than one stretched canvas, see me! Ill point you in the right direction for purchasing supplies. On occasion you may be asked to collect found materials or to bring in objects. This should not incur any additional funds. The art department will supply the rest of your materials for the year. It may, however, be the case that you wish to purchase your own materials for use at home. If so, take your student I.D. (for 10%-20% discounts) and check out any of the following retailers for art supplies: Utrecht Baltimore (www.utrecht.com) 1-800-223-9132 Chase Street (near MICA) Pla-za Baltimore 410-625-2276 Cathedral Street (near MICA) Baltimore, MD Maryland Institute College of Art Store 410-225-2276 1300 Mount Royal Avenue Baltimore, MD