Fine Arts

The fine arts curriculum presents challenges that are intellectual, physical, and creative. The department seeks to offer a balanced curriculum in visual art, drama, and music. Students are encouraged but not required to fulfill their Upper School fine arts requirement with courses from more than one division.

Fine Arts Courses 2007-2008

Classes I-IV

Studio Art
In the Lower School, students are exposed to a wide variety of media and techniques including drawing, work in color, printmaking, sculpture and clay. Girls work on large and small scale projects in small groups and individually. They create art for themselves and the community, and also work two- and three-dimensionally. At all levels, the art curriculum is coordinated with the study of many cultures in history.

Music
Students sing, move, play instruments and compose. Music theory is introduced in relation to these activities. Melodic and rhythmic skills are developed and refined, and musical perception is heightened through structured listening to music of various styles and origins. Three groups offer additional opportunities:

Lower School Chorus

Descants
This is a select vocal ensemble of girls chosen from Classes III and IV. Students sing two- to four-part choral literature in performance at Winsor and community service venues.

Lower School Orchestra
This instrumental ensemble of musicians from Classes I-IV plays music at the beginning level of standard orchestral classical literature, film music, and folk songs. Students who play flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, bass or piano are encouraged to join this group, which performs at Winsor and community service venues.

Drama
Relaxation and vocal techniques, basic stage direction, plot development, and character-building are presented through theater games and activities. Team-building, imaginative exploration and ensemble exercises build a solid foundation for all subsequent theater work. The focus is on having students become confident and comfortable on stage.

Students continue to deepen their practice of the specific tasks required of actors bringing scenes to life on stage.Lower School drama culminates in the production of one of Shakespeare’s plays. Students select one technical theater area in which to specialize. The play is performed in the winter for an audience including the school population and the wider Winsor community.

Class V Courses

2D Studio: Drawing, Painting and Printmaking
This course introduces a number of drawing, mixed media, painting and printmaking techniques and media including pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, acrylic and linoleum cut.

3D Studio: Sculpture and Ceramics
This course provides an introduction to clay and other 3D media through the exploration of both functional and decorative forms.

Class V Photography
Students will be introduced to pinhole photography, digital point and shoot and
the Holga camera. Emphasis will be on experimentation and creative forms of
image-making. This course will study the techniques of camera operation,
exposure, development and printing.

Acting I: On Stage and Off Stage Roles: Fitting It All Together
Students are introduced to directing, the responsibilities of the production team, and script analysis as well as individual acting skills. Great value will be placed on the expression of genuine emotion through vocal projection, body awareness, and acting as reacting. Students will be asked to work in imaginative situations truthfully. Emphasis will be placed on individual growth, discovery of personal strengths, process oriented work, and an ensemble approach to theater.

Winsor Chorale
This large choral group sings a broad range of female choral literature, concentrating on developing the singing voice and basic choral skills. The group performs 4-5 times per year at Winsor, at other schools, and in coordination with other schools. Chorale members participate in two annual joint concerts with the Belmont Hill and the Roxbury Latin schools, performing major works with orchestra at their holiday and March concerts respectively. Repeated involvement in Chorale is by recommendation of the instructor. Open to Class V-VIII, by audition only and by permission of instructor.

The History of Pop Music
Have you ever wanted to know what Paul McCartney was thinking when he wrote the song “Michelle?” Who was Mick Jagger’s favorite jazz musician? Learn this and much more! Discover what pop music really is and how and when it began. We will study a broad overview of pop music in America through the generations.

Classes VI-VIII

Art

Wheel Throwing
In this course, the basics will be covered including clear, easy steps to centering on the wheel. We will explore making cylinder forms and bowls. We will look at what happens after the throwing—trimming and altering. Glazing and surface design will be explored. More advanced students can expand their skills.

Architecture
Through a variety of different projects and media, this course will provide students with the fundamentals of architectural design. Sketches, scaled drawings and models will be made to explore the issues involved in designing a well-thought-out structure.

Watercolor and Oil
This course is designed for those wishing to explore painting in watercolor and oil. A wide range of techniques will be introduced in order to expand personal imagery and vision. Students will be encouraged both to try new media and to develop what they already use to greater effect. Work will be done on both canvas and paper. The focus will be direct observation and response to nature. Composition, brush handling and the exciting use of color will be stressed.

The Figure
This course is designed to teach the concepts of gesture, structure and proportion. Working from models, students will draw, paint and sculpt the figure to learn the body’s structures, basic anatomy and proportions. Students will explore form, space and composition through the complexity of human anatomy.

Sculpture Studio
Students solve visual problems by means of construction of three dimensional forms. This course includes hand-building, casting, modeling and carving techniques. Work will be done from observation, imagination and memory.

Basic Black and White Darkroom
Students will use their 35 mm mechanical camera and learn to create excellent black and white prints in the darkroom. This class will study the techniques of camera operation, exposure, development and printing. Exercises exploring photography as a means of communication, expression and description will be included. Aspects of composition, design, value, lighting, and spatial relationships will also be considered. Students need a 35 mm camera; a limited number of cameras will be available on request.

SLR Digital Photo
Students will learn how to use all the various functions and exposure techniques that the single lens reflex digital camera has to offer as well as how to effectively fine tune, edit and print images from the computer. Emphasis will be placed on the use of the computer as a parallel tool to traditional photographic processes. We will also discuss and evaluate the role of the computer in contemporary photography. A 35 mm digital camera will be lent to each student for the duration of the class.

Digital Mixed Media
In this course, students will explore how to manipulate digital images through the use of various techniques such as Photoshop, photo silkscreen and digital video. Learn to enhance pictures, improve and refine digital imaging skills, from importing images into the computer through making final prints. A 35 mm camera will be lent to each student for the duration of the class.

Art History
This course explores periods of art by focusing on individual artists as well as artistic movements. Art history may be taken for one or two semesters and is considered a full academic course, meeting four periods per week. From Ancient Egypt to the Pre-Raphaelites will be offered in 2007-2008 and alternate years. Modern Art will be offered in 2008-2009 and alternate years.

Portfolio Class
Portfolio Class Is for advanced students who already have familiarity with the techniques, processes and ideas that they intend to use, who have taken a number of Upper School art electives, and who are prepared to work intensively to prepare a portfolio either for art school, as a supplement to their college application, or for the AP Studio Art Portfolio. Portfolio Class may be taken for one or two semesters.

Independent Study in Advanced Darkroom
In this course, students will work on an independent project of their choice in the darkroom.

Drama

Acting II: Character and Dialogue
Acting II builds on the skills developed in Acting I. The first unit will focus on improvisation. Students will hone storytelling skills and characterizations as well as the ability to act and react in the present with others on stage. Using their personal experiences as well as movement, voice, script-analysis and improvised scenes, students will learn how to create fully embodied characters. The course will culminate in scene work, bringing these characters to life.

Building A Character
A fundamental aspect of the actor’s craft is to impersonate other people. Developing observation skills, both of self and of others, students will go through the process of building a character. Students will test their creations in improvised situations. Setting up an actor’s notebook and scene study will be key in this workshop-style course. Students will also create characters using a script as source material. They will have ample opportunity to present monologues and scenes in front of the class.

Storytelling & Oral Performance
The resurgence of storytelling and oral performance as a respected art form demonstrates its important role in our culture. With ancient oral tradition as the model, students learn the fundamental skills needed to be a weaver of tales. The class will also explore differences between genres of story such as myths, legends, folktales and spoken word, with emphasis on cross-cultural story appreciation.

Theatre and Society: August Wilson and the Hill District, Pittsburgh, PA.
Whose stories does a playwright draw on? How does her local audience perceive her? How does she craft local story in such a way that it has universal resonance? Focusing on the 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle by playwright August Wilson, students will explore his influences as diverse as the art of Romare Bearden, the music of the Blues and the rise and fall of the Hill District neighborhood in Pittsburgh, where all the plays save one are set. Students will also bring selected scenes to life in a scene festival performed for an invited audience. Their scene studies will also be part of a co-created media resource project about the playwright and his work.

Independent Study in Drama
A student wishing to direct a piece either for credit (Independent Learning Experience) or non-credit (extra-curricular) will need to submit her chosen script to the Drama Division six weeks before her projected audition date. Projects can be done in the spring or fall. Rehearsals will take place at the Winsor School while technical rehearsals and performances will take place at either Roxbury Latin or Belmont Hill School.

Music

Winsor Small Chorus
This is a select vocal ensemble of approximately 20 voices that performs a wide and varied repertoire of music from Gregorian chant to 21st century literature in 10 to 15 concerts annually. The group sings at Winsor and beyond and has performed at the Gardner Museum, at Symphony and Carnegie Halls, at other schools, hospitals and nursing homes and in conjunction with the Boston Ballet. The group has participated in music festivals and competitions in the U.S. and abroad, and has done concert tours to twelve countries. Students are required to be in one period of Winsor Chorale per week, and two periods when close to concert time, in addition to their regular rehearsals. 

Class Guitar
In Class Guitar students will learn beginning guitar technique and basic music theory. Students will master chords and several strumming and picking patterns, putting fingers on the strings, reading chord charts, switching chords, and singing and playing simultaneously. Students will also learn to read and play treble clef melodies. Guitars are available for in-school use. A guitar at home for practicing is encouraged but not required.

Chamber Music
This course is designed for instrumental musicians who enjoy playing classical music with other people in quintets, quartets, trios, and other combinations. The course is designed for those who have an intermediate to advanced proficiency. Music will be selected from the standard chamber music repertoire and geared toward the instrument combination and level of the students enrolled. For those who would like to join the group, a brief audition will be scheduled in the spring of the year prior to indicate eligibility.

Class Voice I
This is a beginning level course for singers interested in learning about the mechanics and physiology of the vocal instrument and how to produce a healthy, free singing tone. Students will learn the basics of good singing technique through a series of exercises and repertoire designed for the development of the solo voice, including folk songs, art songs, and Broadway show tunes. Students gain confidence as performers by regularly singing for one another. Students will also learn basic sight-singing techniques and how to prepare a song for a musical audition.

Independent Project in Music
Students may elect study in a particular area of interest not offered by the music curriculum by submitting a written proposal one semester in advance. Advanced musicians may choose to do work in the following areas: preparing music for a final recital, doing research for a project in music history or theory, writing an original composition and/or learning and applying new music software programs to their own work. A final public recital or presentation is required for all IP music students.

Music Theory, Composition and Technology I
In this beginning level course, instrumental musicians or singers will develop their understanding of music theory by exploring the relationship between the written score and the music that is heard. Students will utilize the fundamentals of music including work with rhythm, meter, modes, major and minor scales, triadic shapes and harmonic progressions to analyze music, study scores, and practice notation. Students will do basic ear training work and learn to listen critically to identify basic musical elements in complex textured works as well as explore form in music. Students will compose their own short works and learn to do notation and sequencing work using Encore and Sibelius software programs.

Dance

Dance/Choreography Workshop
This new dance course at Winsor will involve the study of dance technique, artistic expression and the elements of compositional design. We will focus on the development of dance technique and the understanding of how movement is used as a physical and artistic tool for creative expression and intellectual ideas. The appreciation of dance as an art form and its relation to the other arts, including art, music and theater, will be a major component. Each week will include a modern/ballet technique class and choreographic exploration. Critiques on dance performances as well as studio creative time will be required. The course will culminate with a final dance performance. All levels welcome. This is a full credit course meeting 4 periods per week and can be taken for Fine Arts or PE credit and can be taken as a sixth course.