Visual Arts

Through art, we hope to stimulate creativity, curiosity, and reflection, all of which are crucial to fostering a student's self-expression.

Lower School

We believe every child who walks into our studios is an artist. We encourage students to take chances, make mistakes, reflect, and grow creatively. Like a muscle, creativity is something that we all have, but it can only be strengthened through practice. Our curriculum is balanced between structured lessons and open-ended "MakerTime." Through art history, literacy, and exploration of materials and techniques, we aim to develop students' talents and enhance their appreciation of beauty in the world. Because we treasure your student's artwork as much as you do, we create digital portfolios with high quality images of artwork that are archived, shared, and curated throughout your student's years at Germantown Academy.

Middle School

Our Middle School Art program revolves around the broader picture of what happens during the act of creating. Taking time to explore a medium, discuss ideas, think about possible solutions, and work through obstacles is vital to not only making art, but also to creating a well-rounded, confident individual. Through the development of these crucial skills, the Middle School art program enhances every student's development using exploration, active learning, and self-reflection.

Our holistic approach involves hands-on learning, where students develop problem-solving skills and explore their own creativity with new techniques. During this semester-long course, students are exposed to a wide range of two and three-dimensional media, including: drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, mixed-media, clay, metal sculpture and wood sculpture. Art history is referenced for each project, and trips to art museums are scheduled in the 6th and 8th grades.

Upper School

The Upper School Visual Art Department is committed to providing a comprehensive education in the arts within the context of a liberal arts education. Our foundation and advanced curriculum is a well-rounded and versatile approach to the study and application of art. It is designed to provide a creatively stimulating education in a studio environment.

While these courses extend excellent opportunities for the general study of art and lifelong arts advocacy, they are also designed to cultivate serious talents in the visual arts. Many of our students have gone on to prominent careers in commercial, fine, and applied arts. The visual arts program as a whole and the honors program in particular are designed as an opportunity to explore imagination while working to master craft. Additionally, students have sustained practice at key skills that educators and corporate leaders have identified as most critical to success in the 21st century—creative and innovative thinking, complex communication and collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking, and the ability to self-regulate progress and productivity.

Art Across the Academy, a cross-divisional, collaborative effort, is a program that shares the work of GA student artists and introduces the work of professional artists throughout the campus and into the daily lives of the community.