Visual Arts: Little School

Art in the Little School is dedicated to focusing on the experience and process of making and creating. The children are invited to explore materials and techniques such as print making, collage, painting, and clay. 

Children use collected and recycled materials to build sculptures from paper tubes, create printing plates from cardboard, and recycle painted paper to add texture and depth for new projects. This reinforces our Quaker mission of Stewardship of the Earth.  

By learning about the creative work of modern and historical artists, we reinforce connections between artists’ methodology and how students create their own art. Literacy and visual art go hand in hand in our Reggio-inspired classroom. Picture books and storybooks are introduced by beloved artists like Eric Carle, whose work they are inspired by during their scientific study of butterflies.

Reggio Emilia Studio Experience

Inspired by the ateliers of the pre-primary schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, the Early Childhood Studio is a place of beauty, discovery, and exploration for children ages three to six, with weekly visits in small, carefully configured learning groups. The Studio experience is a three-year journey from the Early Childhood years through Kindergarten. 

Materials include a variety of art media, found objects from nature, and recycled and repurposed treasures. Experiences involve discussions as well as individual explorations and collaborative investigations and activities. Projects take place over time to allow for in-depth learning and the scaffolding of ideas. Day by day, children learn to use materials and tools in developmentally appropriate ways and with care and respect, expanding their knowledge and perspective. The Studio serves many purposes, but at its core it’s a place where children can be supported in all areas of their own unique development. Children learn what it means to be a positive and cooperative member of a group as we create a community together, ever mindful of our Quaker values. Listening, participating thoughtfully in discussions, and being respectful of ideas shared by others are valued, taught, and encouraged.

Visual Arts: Lower School

Lower School art focuses on self-expression and developing a strong artistic vocabulary through exploring a wide variety of materials and processes. Students work with both two- and three-dimensional media, including ceramics, while making cross-curricular connections. They are inspired by both contemporary and historically influential artists through biographical stories and field trips. Lower School artists head to Middle School empowered by their confidence in creative problem-solving skills and able to express ideas through the language of visual art.

Across the elementary years, art instruction is designed to match students’ developmental stages, beginning with an emphasis on self-expression, foundational drawing, and fine motor coordination, then gradually expanding to include a broader artistic vocabulary and increasing comfort with both two- and three-dimensional media. As students grow, they engage more thoughtfully with artistic ideas and influences while strengthening technical skills across a wider range of materials and processes. By the later elementary years, they are able to integrate prior experiences, demonstrate greater control and intentionality in their work, and understand core concepts of art and design, using visual art as a meaningful form of communication as they prepare for more advanced creative exploration.

Visual Arts: Middle School

Curriculum focuses on diving deeper into their understanding of the elements and principles of art and design as they explore how to utilize tools and materials to express unique ideas and creative voice. Students are focused on the reinforcement of creative work based on personal identity and investigation through the lens of diverse projects and a wide variety of media and artistic methods. 

Students are challenged to approach each project in terms of how their work reflects who they are as a growing artist, and encouraged to uncover ways that they can personalize each creative prompt to fit their own unique experience and ideas. Through the sharing of thoughts and personal vision experienced within the in-class critique, reflective project analysis, and use of artistic vocabulary, student celebration is reinforced. Art history, art appreciation, creative problem solving, and critical thinking are also integrated into each student’s singular creations or their work together as a group.

Visual Arts: Upper School

Throughout Upper School, Visual Arts classes are all about individualization. Here, students are involved with the creation of not only art, but the fundamental content behind it. Throughout that process, students are encouraged to reflect on their thoughts, feelings, and identities to shape the creative process. In each class, experimentation, trial, error, and joy reinforced and celebrated at every step. We assess the process of artistic learning, not just the final product, holding both up as significant learning experiences which support the student artists who create them.

Students discuss traditional modern and historical art, but we also place a heavy emphasis on artwork created by historically marginalized populations including female artists, queer artists, and artists of color. After completing Studio Art in Grade 9, students select from many unique electives including Photography, Advanced Photography, Advanced Studio, Ceramics, Advanced Ceramics, Art of the Assemblage, and the Art Major, which concludes with the creation of a portfolio and a senior art show.

Lincoln is home to several signature electives—the only school in the state to offer these opportunities. In Life Drawing and Figurative Sculpture, students learn about anatomy while drawing and constructing the three-dimensional forms alongside an on-site model. In Art of the Assemblage, students learn how to engineer sculptures or garments out of recycled materials and found objects. And jewelry and metalworking are offered through our relationship with the Providence Steel Yard. 

SEE COURSE CATALOG