Visual Arts

In the Visual Arts Department, our goal is to impart in our students visual awareness and acuity.

We look, we make, and we discuss all in the pursuit of understanding the fundamental questions of life: who am I? Why am I here? Where do I come from? What is my purpose? Why do things look the way they do? What if they looked different? We place a high value on craftsmanship through revision, analysis, and a lot of hard work. Sometimes this trilogy gets short shrift in today’s fast-paced world of instant gratification, where we lose our ability for extended focus through multi-tasking. Thus, all of our classes involve some historical analysis and they all require creation in some form or another.

Even though we are not in the business of making artists, almost all of the work students do is meant for public consumption. Their work is seen, critiqued, and evaluated; people respond to their work and in return students evaluate the responses. This public discourse is challenging, but it results in growth and stretching which is especially important in the development of mind, body and soul. Moving through our curriculum in a logical progression from foundational courses that set the stage, then building upon that foundation in advanced electives, allows students to develop at an appropriate level.

To lift a line from Gladiator- “what we do in life echoes in eternity;” we are invested in the process of looking at those echoes and we are trying to make a few of our own. Ars Longus, Vita Brevis (art is long, life is short) - Lawrenceville is honored to maintain this long lasting and important tradition.

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