Visual Arts
Two-Dimensional Art
Students explore the visual language, develop their own creative conceptions and expressive goals and purposes, and learn to work with all kinds of media and materials in the vibrant and exciting setting of Cate’s spacious, well-equipped, and beautiful Art Loft studio.
In addition to gaining familiarity and skill with studio techniques and materials, student artists also develop a sense of self as a creative and capable individual. At all levels of the program, which extends from the introductory course, Foundation Visual Arts, to intermediate and advanced (and AP) courses in art and design, students work in a project-based curriculum that develops strong skills even as it always challenges students to think for themselves in smart and creative ways. At Cate, students gain exceptional experience and training in the disciplines of the studio arts, but they also gain a clear and well-developed sense of their own directions and special interests and capabilities as art students, and as artists.
Cate’s studio is supplied with outstanding materials and tools and resources for art and design. The Studio Art courses do not focus merely on techniques (though students gain experience and skill in all traditional and new media) but work instead in a more interesting and effective way by posing questions and problems in art and design that not only allow for, but also require thoughtful, individual, and creative contributions by the student. As a result, Cate students develop personal portfolios filled with interesting, meaningful, and well-executed pieces. Students with special interest in continuing their education in the art department of a college or university, or at the country’s finest and most selective art schools are consistently successful in doing so.
Student studio work, in the form of selective shows as well as exhibitions featuring every art student in the school, take place in our beautiful Bruno Gallery where they capture the attention of the entire Cate community. Digital and photographic work is exhibited as well, alongside ceramics and sculpture. An alumnus of the school, a collector and gallery owner himself, makes awards in two dimensional and three dimensional art shown in this exhibition.
Ceramics and Sculpture
Clay is the vehicle through which Cate students explore the possibilities of three-dimensional sculpture and design. Yes, our students throw pots -- remarkably well, really -- but the ceramics program is broader than a course in pottery. Ceramics students explore shape and form, and gain familiarity with and understanding of the medium of clay and glaze, by undertaking a progression of stimulating and challenging projects in sculptural design. These range from introductory experiences in the entry-level course to the intermediate and advanced projects undertaken at the upper levels of the program.
This coursework takes place in our Ceramics Barn, which is arguably one of the finest environments anywhere for work in clay. Open, well-lit, cheerful, and well-equipped in every way, the Ceramics Barn is a place not only for classes, but for out-of-class work as well. Both gas and electric kilns are used for firings.
The best way to grasp the nature of Cate’s ceramics program is to see the work that students produce in these classes. Cate ceramics are distinguished by powerful and imaginative, truly three-dimensional forms, by exceptional construction and handling of materials (including very fine thrown pieces), and by the individuality and creativity of each person’s work. Ours is not a program where students are taught to make certain forms well; in Cate’s ceramics courses, students imagine and create their own forms beautifully.
Students with interest in sculpture and design in other media have the opportunity to take a course in Sculpture and Three-Dimensional Design.
