Philosophy: The visual arts program at Bethlehem Academy builds on a process-based approach to learning in both middle school and high school for students who wish to have the opportunity to investigate and develop their artistic talents and skills.  Our program is structured so that we explore the visual world beginning with our own eyes, what we “see,” and then expand to “see” our world from various perspectives through the works of others.  Through this approach the curriculum promotes intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic, and emotional growth.  Each student has a visual voice proclaiming imagination that has the potential of generating a stronger understanding of the creative experience, allowing us to evolve and mesh as a community of critical thinking individuals.

Students will

• Create a deeper connection and understanding of the visual world that we live in (physically and spiritually).
• Employ students’ knowledge of how visual art influences and reflects the cultures we live in and the purpose of the works we create.
• Apply ideas and techniques when exploring how to create something, taking risks in an attempt to express our way of feeling or seeing; to ask, “What if?” and “Why not?” when creating works of art.
• Support students’ personal strengths and open doors to create opportunities for them to sign on to a process and see where it takes them.
• Express ideas and discuss them with each other, to be reflective, thoughtful, and aware of what we are creating and why.