Curriculum Detail

Discover Our Curriculum

Visual Arts

Trinity’s mission statement calls us to “challenge the minds, fire the imaginations and train the bodies of the young people who have been entrusted to us; to enlarge their spiritual lives; and to increase their capacity for mutual and self-respect.”

Through our offerings in ceramics, photography, art & design and art history, the Visual Arts Department hopes to achieve these goals for all our students. Assignments that invite individual responses inspire students’ imaginations. Immersing students in a creative studio practice develops their confidence in taking risks and challenges their problem-solving skills. Discussions, maintaining sketchbooks & daily practice nurtures critical thinking and meta-cognitive abilities as students reflect on their own work as well as the work of others.

Many assignments encourage the investigation of personal narrative or the investigation of others, allowing students to make their own voices heard and giving them opportunities to hear and value the varied voices of their peers.

The Fine Arts requirement for graduation is 1.5 credits or three semesters in either Visual or Performing Arts. Only 1/3 of the requirement may be fulfilled by art history. Notably, students typically engage in many arts courses beyond the requirement during their time at Trinity.

  • ADV. ART HISTORY: PREHISTORY-1300/Fa

    THIS COURSE IS NOT BEING OFFERED IN THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR.

    This course introduces students to the major themes, issues, and approaches to art history. Although the primary focus will be on western art, non-western cultures will be explored as well. The full range of artistic expression will be considered, including painting, architecture, sculpture, prints, photography, and the decorative arts. Major goals of the course include recognizing and analyzing major styles and artistic movements from a variety of periods throughout history, thinking critically about artistic meaning, and understanding art's role within a broader historical context. Issues for discussion include the changing definition of beauty over time and in different cultures, the role of the modern museum, and the nature of modernity, especially in relation to architecture and urban development. Museum and gallery visits—looking at original works of art—are an essential component of the class.

    The fine arts requirement for graduation is 1.5 credits or three semesters in either the visual or performing arts. Only 1/3 of the requirement may be fulfilled by art history.

    This course may be taken for a full year (1 credit) or for the fall or spring semester (1/2 credit).

    This course may not be taken as a 7th course.

    Prerequisite: Global History II

    4 periods per cycle

    Grades 11 and 12

  • ADV. PORTFOLIO I/Fa

    This course is open to students who are committed to developing a focused body of artwork in collaboration with a member of the Visual Arts Department faculty. Students will be encouraged to define and work within a focused subject relevant to their experiences. Projects may include any media, including but not limited to traditional media—i.e., digital, photography, ceramics, two dimensional or sculptural. Ultimately, students will develop a unique body of work, an artist's statement, and a portfolio suitable for presentation purposes. Critical thinking, self-initiated research, and active participation in group discussions and critiques are central to this class. Students will be urged to explore the city's abundant array of arts institutions, learn how to engage in active field research, and to establish meaningful contact between artist and gallery. Lectures, trips to museums and galleries, and research into past and current artists, designers, critics, and art historians will allow students to place their ideas within an historical context, deepening their understanding of their own work.

    Prerequisite: Four semesters of any US Visual Arts classes and a proposal for a body of work.

    Pass/Fail
     
    4 periods per cycle
     
    Grades 11 and 12

  • DRAWING/Fa

    Students in this class will study and create work specifically tied to
    drawing techniques using a variety of media including, but not limited to,
    graphite, charcoal, pastels, ink, mixed media, collage and more. Classes
    will include learning about traditional and contemporary artists who use or
    focus on drawing in their work. Drawing lessons will focus on connecting
    our eye and hand through a series of empirical exercises while connecting
    with the importance of composition, space, perspective, line, texture and
    more to be utilized for both representational and abstract work. A variety
    of formal and informal critiques will be used to learn and think critically
    of our own work, the work of peers and beyond. In addition, students will
    be sketching outside of school, making use of the city as our extended
    classroom as well as seeing artworks in area museums and galleries.


  • PAINTING/Fa

    Students in this class will study and create work specifically tied to painting techniques using a variety of materials including watercolor, acrylic and water-based oil paint. Students will learn about traditional and contemporary painters, and basic compositional design and color theory, while working in both representational and abstract styles. Students will engage in formal and informal critiques, and will enjoy the experience of displaying their work in public spaces at school. In some cases, students may partner with another department to create co curricular work. Students will be exposed to artworks in New York city via field trips off-campus.

    Pass/Fail

    4 periods per cycle

    Grades 9-12

  • ADV. ART HISTORY: 1300-2020/Sp

    THIS COURSE IS NOT BEING OFFERED IN THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR.

    This course introduces students to the major themes, issues, and approaches to art history. Although the primary focus will be on western art, non-western cultures will be explored as well. The full range of artistic expression will be considered, including painting, architecture, sculpture, prints, photography, and the decorative arts. Major goals of the course include recognizing and analyzing major styles and artistic movements from a variety of periods throughout history, thinking critically about artistic meaning, and understanding art's role within a broader historical context. Issues for discussion include the changing definition of beauty over time and in different cultures, the role of the modern museum, and the nature of modernity, especially in relation to architecture and urban development. Museum and gallery visits—looking at original works of art—are an essential component of the class.

    The fine arts requirement for graduation is 1.5 credits or three semesters in either the visual or performing arts. Only 1/3 of the requirement may be fulfilled by art history.

    This course may be taken for a full year (1 credit) or for the fall or spring semester (1/2 credit).

    This course may not be taken as a 7th course.

    Prerequisite: Global History II

    4 periods per cycle

    Grades 11 and 12

  • PAINTING/Sp

    Students in this class will study and create work specifically tied to painting techniques using a variety of materials including watercolor, acrylic and water-based oil paint. Students will learn about traditional and contemporary painters, and basic compositional design and color theory, while working in both representational and abstract styles. Students will engage in formal and informal critiques, and will enjoy the experience of displaying their work in public spaces at school. In some cases, students may partner with another department to create co curricular work. Students will be exposed to artworks in New York city via field trips off-campus.

    This course may be taken for a full year (1 credit) or for the fall or spring semester (1/2 credit).

    4 periods per cycle

    Grades 9-12
139 West 91st Street | New York, NY 10024-1326 | (212) 873-1650
Located on the Upper West Side of New York City, Trinity School is a college preparatory, coeducational independent school for grades K-12. Since 1709, Trinity has provided a world-class education to its students with rigorous academics and outstanding programs in athletics, the arts, peer leadership, and global travel.