Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School’s Fine Arts Department recently created a Visual Arts Conservatory, which is looked upon as a prestigious award received by seniors “who have demonstrated exceptional interest and proficiency in the visual arts,” said the Chair of Saint Stephen’s Fine Arts program, Ms. Peggie Johnson.
This year, nine seniors were recognized for their completion of required artistic academic programs of study and for their general passion for visual arts. The inductees are Michelle Benz, Alyssa Jones, Alison Kanter, Kaitlyn Moore, Charlotte O’Driscoll, Stephen Scroggins, Victoria Stadlin, Lucas Stolarczyk and Jennifer Xie.
Johnson explained that now is the time for Saint Stephen’s to enact a conservatory in their already strong arts program.
“We are at the state now in our visual arts program that we have the depth of courses and student interest in the courses that we wanted to foster that interest to give the students who have really pursued the arts more of a recognition, just to bolster their interest in the arts.”
These nine seniors inducted into the conservatory were recognized during the Alexi Tucker Memorial Art Show held earlier this month. However, the benefits of the conservatory are not just limited to those seniors who are inducted each year.
Johnson said, “As we [are starting] the conservatory program, we’re adding workshops, bringing in guest lecturers, going to [art] sites, and we are bringing that to those in the advanced, honors and AP level classes, so the whole program is growing exponentially.”
Along with these workshops, students must complete “a minimum of four visual arts courses with at least one of those courses at the Honors or Advanced Placement level or five visual arts courses with at least one at the Advanced level,” Johnson said.
Looking towards the future, the Fine Arts department is hopeful for the success of the conservatory, but even more so, the success of implementing workshops and field trips designed to cater to the interests of its art students. They hope to find that this will continually expand the art program.
If you missed the Alexi Tucker Memorial Art Show, be sure to stop by the Anna Maria Art League on Friday, April 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 to view the nine conservatory members’ artwork on display.