Art Courses an Outlet for Student Creativity

At the furthest end of the main building there is a space full of creativity, color and new ideas. Students gather here for classes and during their free time to explore their passion for making things and advance their skills in the world of art.

Northwood offers a variety of art classes including Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, and Sculpture where students can learn how to work with different mediums. Student artists work with pastels, acrylic paint, water color, paint markers, oil paint, clay, a variety of different types of paper, found objects, charcoal.

In the beginning of the trimester in Painting I students were taught a variety of skills such as, the basics of color by using frosting mixed with food coloring. We then mixed the frosting to make all the colors and painted vanilla cookies with it. It was a simple, hands-on exercise that was informative, fun and delicious!

Artist: Conrad Katzander ’22

Artist: Julia Turner ’23

Caroline Harrison’s Color Palette

Artist: Caroline Harrison ’22

Color assignment in Painting I

Painting I students spent more time in in the fall figuring out ways water can affect the canvas depending on how much water is used when working with watercolor. They also learned how to bring shapes of our choice off of the page by layering the shapes on top of each other after putting down a base coat and carefully painting certain areas.

The culminating project in Painting I is “The Chair Project.” Ms. Van Slyke spent the summer collecting chairs so her students could choose an artist of their choice and then transform the chair into a version of a piece inspired by that artist. Students picked famous artists like Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Keith Haring, Lee Krasner and others. The finished chairs are currently displayed in Northwood’s dining room and pictured below.