The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers has selected Cece Campbell ’26, Sydney Hauben ’25, Olivia Rodrigues ’25, and Charlotte Janney ’24 for Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The awards are the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition for creative teens and boast a long list of notable alumni, including Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Tracy Reese, and Lena Dunham.
Art and Design
In King School's Art and Design program, students are engaged in art-making based on observation and vision. They are encouraged to use critical thinking and to persist in exploring unique ways of executing their work.
Artistic skill-building is supported by exposure to the history of art and work from artists around the globe. Reflection and class critiques further strengthen artistic growth, and conceptual thinking. Students gain an understanding and respect for art through interacting with artists who are part of King’s Visiting Artists Program and the OPEN Mentor program.
Areas of study include painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, ceramics, sculpture, and digital media, including photography, animation, filmmaking, web and graphic design.
In the Lower and Middle School, art classes meet two or three times per rotation.
In the Upper School, after a one semester required art class, students can choose to take Art and Design high school electives in specific disciplines or to take Advanced Art classes as a major course of study.
At the advanced level, students are guided in developing a portfolio and creating a website which are used during the college application process.
King students across all three divisions participate in the Visiting Artists Program. For example, students enjoyed a week of creative expression in mixed media portraits as they worked with Michael De Feo, a New York City based artist internationally known as “The Flower Guy."
Visiting Artist Michael De Feo Inspires Students
Advanced Art Colloquium
Senior Advanced Art students develop a personal “theme” at the beginning of the school year on which they base all of their art. Throughout the year, their artwork evolves and becomes increasingly more sophisticated. At the end of the year, they exhibit their work in the PAC Lobby Gallery and they participate in the Senior Art Colloquium where they present their work and explain their processes to the Upper School community.
Students took a journey into the heart of American history through the lens of the nation's beloved pastime in the upper school History course "Stars, Stripes, Seams, & Stitches: Baseball & American Culture.” The semester-long study, designed and taught by History Department Chair Patrick O’Neill, uses baseball as a lens to investigate and assess complex historical and societal issues while examining the origins and expansion of the game from the late 19th to the late 20th century. The course, now in its second year, was conceived out of a desire to explore American history in a unique way.
Upper and middle school students explored the art of cyanotype printing from Monday, December 4, to Friday, December 8, with visiting artist Leah Caroline, culminating in a large-scale installation in the Performing Arts Center. Cyanotype is a nineteenth-century photographic printing technique originally used for recording natural elements. In this process, plant materials, found objects or film negatives are placed on chemically treated paper or fabric, exposed to sunlight, and then developed in water. This development process transforms the paper from a bright yellow-green to a brilliant Prussian blue, leaving the unexposed areas white.
King School’s Art and Design program provides students across divisions with a strong technical foundation to express their ideas and identities in visual form. As students explore different techniques and ideas, they bring their artistic visions to life. Whether it's sketching en plein air, sculpting in our studios, or harnessing the power of digital illustration, artists thrive throughout King, refining their skills and enhancing their capacity to communicate through the language of art.
Upper School Art Teacher Corina Alvarezdelugo was recently named the 2023 Connecticut Outstanding Art Educator of the Year by the Connecticut Art Education Association (CAEA), a professional organization which represents the art teachers of the state. Alvarezdelugo earned the recognition for her work cultivating artistic growth and critical thought in her students by offering a multidimensional and rich multicultural curriculum.
This week, “The Morning Show” returned with a teaser for the second season of the episodic, student-produced series on Tuesday, October 10. The show was created by Connor Neary ’25. Previous productions included athletic highlight reels, a promotional video for the King 5K, short student and teacher interviews, and a podcast. Connor expanded the show this year by creating a club to support the production. “The Morning Show” Club allows more students to contribute ideas and segments.
Culminating a years of research and self-discovery in the arts, nine senior advanced art students presented capstone projects at two Art Colloquia in the Performing Arts Center at King School in late April. The presentations result from the school’s O.P.E.N project experience: Original, Personal, Experiential, and Novel, with the advanced students spending an entire year exploring a theme of their choosing. Students used different mediums to explore topics including the environment, human behavior, geology, and technology creating work that reflect their interests or experiences.
In the first part of their linear perspective unit, Grade 8 students majoring in Art and Design created murals in the Middle School, demonstrating their knowledge of one-point perspective. Working from initial sketches, students carefully placed and trimmed colorful masking tape to create the illusion of depth on the flat walls. After Spring Break, students will use this experience to inform work using a two-point perspective.
As part of the King School Visiting Artists Program, artist Jeilla Gueramain kicked off her residency this week with a lower school assembly during which she discussed her artistic inspiration and process. The King School Visiting Artists Program is an opportunity to enrich, enhance and inspire the visual arts students’ experience at King, providing them with an immersive experience.