Fine Arts

The University Prep Fine Arts Department guides students as they develop lifelong relationships with the arts through skills, process, critical thinking and courageous self-expression.

University Prep offers a Fine Arts program that is both broad and deep with classes in Dance, Drama, Choral and Instrumental Music and Visual Arts. In this program there are opportunities for students to explore every area of the arts as well as opportunities to focus on and develop a specific skill or talent. In the Middle School we introduce 6th grade students to our program with a rotation through each of the four disciplines. Fine arts classes focus on developing basic art skills and teaching students to utilize art as a mode of personal expression. They learn to analyze and critique their own work and the work of their peers, and become comfortable taking creative risks.

From 7th-12th grade, students are free to choose their Fine Arts electives, free to dabble in every discipline or to become a regular cast member in the Middle or Upper School play, a member of our jazz and orchestra performing ensembles, a dancer extraordinaire, or to hone their visual art skills in everything from photography to architecture, to painting, to filmmaking. Upper School Fine Arts classes build on the skills developed in Middle School, while offering the opportunity to begin layering an abstract, conceptual approach on top of the more advanced technical work.

Students in both divisions are assessed in a variety of ways including public performances, participation in festivals, self assessments, one-on-one feedback from instructors, peer sharing, class critiques, student-designed rubrics, self-evaluation forms and portfolio reviews.


Faculty

Puma Pride:


“The kids here are great mentors and accepting, no matter who you are or where you come from.”   Jaylen, eighth grade