November 2023

Creating Beauty through Fine Art

At MacLaren, everyone is an artist. Throughout the school day, students learn to see beauty all around – in their surroundings, in other people, and in the artwork that lines the school halls. While growing an appreciation for beauty, students receive focused instruction to create their own works of art.

Art teacher Pam Burrell explains, "Art is not reserved for certain people. Everyone has talent, and everyone can nurture their artistic side." Whether a student is in kindergarten, or high school, the approach to art instruction has a common thread. The art studio is a training ground where students observe techniques in various works of art and learn to use those techniques in their own creations.

While learning specific skills, such as how to draw a face, or how to create a full spectrum of colors from the primary colors, students practice those techniques in benchmark projects which are put on display for MacLaren's community of learners to enjoy. The self-portrait is a project which finds expression in the Lower School and again in seventh, eleventh, and twelfth grades, becoming more sophisticated as students grow in both their self-understanding and artistic abilities.

Student self-portraits in Lower School (left) and by MacLaren seniors (right).

At MacLaren, art instruction is not a "special," but is a core element of a liberal arts education. During the course of their Lower School years, students enjoy a world tour of art, with exposure to fine paintings, architecture, sculpture, and other forms of art representing different periods of history and varied cultures.

Through exposure to acknowledged masterworks, students develop the skills to observe the techniques used, discuss what they see, and practice modeling those techniques. Lower School art teacher Kimberly Proffitt, explains, "We observe a work together. We try to see the elements as well as feel and appreciate the art on a deeper level. We are analyzing the whole work and thinking about how it impacts us."

Ms. Proffitt reminds her students that "great art takes time." With this approach, she encourages students to slow down and take the time to grow in their skills to observe and then create. Students learn to express themselves creatively as they draw, paint, and make sculptures. Ms. Proffitt's passion for art and her students is contagious. She shares, "I love teaching them to love and appreciate art."

Students use a variety of materials to explore the many different ways to create art.

During their years in the Lower School, students explore elements of line, shape, color, form, space, light, and texture. With each new concept, students complete a project that puts the new skill on display. Kindergarten students begin exploring line and color and create sculptures with paper. First grade students study the art of Ancient Egypt and paint King Tutankhamun. Second grade students are introduced to Augustine Rodin's The Thinker and sculpt their own version with clay. Edvard Munch's The Scream painting inspires third grade students as they model his techniques, and fourth grade students explore flying buttresses found in Gothic era architecture. Fifth grade students develop skills for drawing with perspective and a value scale.

Mrs. Burrell teaches the techniques of drawing an eye (left). Student calligraphy and landscapes are displayed in MacLaren's halls for all to admire (right).

Seventh grade is a foundational year for art instruction as students explore writing as a form of art. Through calligraphy, students are immersed in the artistic concepts of line, composition, rhythm, and structure.

While acquiring skills they will use in every subsequent art project of their Upper School years, students are also learning artistic expression as a cornerstone of what it means to be fully human.

Mrs. Burrell encourages her students to shed unhelpful ideas about art and reminds them that everyone can create art. The seventh-grade girls in Burrell's class have taken these lessons to heart and initiated a daily practice of declaring, "I pledge not to say that my art is bad!" Though humorous, this practice helps students set aside self-criticism and remain open minded to Burrell's goal of helping each student "find, nurture, and appreciate their artistic self."

Eighth grade students delve into the limitless options and opportunities of color. While learning color theory, students complete landscapes modeled after masterworks of art using watercolor and colored pencil.

To further hone skills of art observation and appreciation, teacher Mariah Ziemer leads her class in respectful discussion of each student's finished work. She explains, "Watching students discuss their work and encourage one another – through what can be a vulnerable process – is so sweet."

Seniors hard at work in the studio.

High school students take studio art and art history classes in both eleventh and twelfth grade. At this stage of their artistic journeys, students have received rich exposure to well-regarded works of art and in-depth training in a full spectrum of art techniques. They are ready to dive deep into culminating projects of a master copy, modeled after a famous painting, and a self-portrait which displays their individuality.

Student compositions turn MacLaren's halls into a gallery.

They have seen the displayed artwork of upperclassmen hanging in the hallways for over five years. Of this exposure Mrs. Burrell observes, "It impacts them, and it inspires them. Sometimes it scares them, but it changes them. I had a student tell me, 'I've been thinking about this project since my sophomore year.' We had a twenty-minute conversation about his source of inspiration."

While creating works of art, students are stretched and shaped.

Senior Carl Cummings reflects, "There is a point, in each of our projects, whether charcoal, master copy, or self-portrait, where you think, ‘this looks awful, and it won’t ever get better.’ But by the end, I can say I was genuinely happy with each final product. This taught me that if you give up when something doesn’t seem to be working, you’ll never accomplish anything great.”

Our Vision

We believe all students should be immersed in the best our tradition has to offer. We believe all students can be active and useful participants in the ongoing and enduring conversation that is a vibrant civilization. We believe all students can be formed in a habitual vision of greatness that makes lifelong learners of the doctor and the mechanic, the homemaker and the professor. Thomas MacLaren School strives to build a lasting community of learners in which each student is the agent of his or her education.



Our Mission

From the seminar to the science lab, from the music room to the playing field, we begin with the conviction that all human beings can know truth, create beauty, and practice goodness. To that end, we expect students to develop basic tools of learning, ordered basic knowledge, moral seriousness, breadth and depth of imagination, artistic ability and sensitivity, and a sense of wonder.

We believe all students can be active and useful participants in the ongoing and enduring conversation that is a vibrant civilization. Jacques Maritain, the French philosopher, described education as a human awakening. The goal of Thomas MacLaren School is to develop young men and women who are fully human and fully awake to the world.