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san francisco university high school

2020 Winter Arts Festival: Visual Arts


 

AP Studio Art

Theme Study: Identity, Community, Place
Instructor: Jenifer Kent

For this project, students were asked to create a piece in response to the theme of Identity, Community, or Place. Our class watched artist interviews with Mark Bradford, Kehinde Wiley and Jordan Casteel and read an essay from Belonging: A Culture of Place by bell hooks. Students were asked to use any art or found materials to create their project, and were able to work outside their primary media if they wished. Our online class discussion focused on the ways that each student interpreted their chosen topic, and also how the themes of Identity, Community, and Place were interchangeable. Consider which topic you think these pieces address.

View AP Art


 

Ceramics I & II

Ceramics I & II
Instructor: Matt Scheatzle

Ceramics I students overcame significant challenges in Q1. First and foremost, they adapted to, and learned to create hands-on/ project work at home. This included creating mini-studios, organizing and caring for: tools, materials, workspaces, and their developing work. In this manner, students reached the important goal of becoming proficient Project Managers. Along the way, they acquired key skills and implemented Strategic Creative Practices, that included: sketching, mind-mapping, and research. Not least, students gained technical ceramics skills - wet and leather joining, hollowing building, multi-stage construction and glaze application.

For some students, this learning became a labor of love, while others it was simply Work, difficult and challenging. All are commended for doing their best in a less than ideal situation. The work shown here is a testament to their determination in the face of adversity. Many of their Final Projects (at the end of the video) are remarkable successes regardless of Covid-19!

Ceramics II students are in an intensive Self-Portrait workshop in Q2, with the primary goal of first create convincing human heads, then ultimately their unique portrait in clay. As anyone who has tried it knows, this is an uncompromising challenge. To achieve the complexity in their faces repetition is essential. They will complete 3 half-scale self-portraits, culminating in a final creative sculpture at the end of the quarter. It’s important to note, life-like sculpture is alive and well in Contemporary Art, From Kiki Smith to Ron Mueck, as a primary vehicle for conveying and expressing a wide range of ideas. Interestingly, 3D portraiture still relies upon strategies developed hundreds of years ago, tying the present to the past. As you will see in the video for this class, it’s a gradual process, that is intertwined with student’s self-conception, thus sculpting their heads becomes very Meta project work.  Look for their Final Project in the Spring!

VIEW CERAMICS I & II

 

 


 

Drawing I & Painting I

Drawing I & Painting I
Instructor: Lisa Carroll

This Fall students learned the foundational skills of painting and drawing through a variety of exercises and assignments that ultimately engage them not just in the mechanics of the practice but in developing an understanding of perception. While the perception of light and shadow (via understanding values with pencil drawing and employing color theory with painting) is often the primary skill to develop, there is also the perception of edges, spaces and relationships that weave into every assignment. For the Winter Arts Festival you will see examples from still life to interior space, to landscape and portraiture assignments. Because of the online classroom, students also learned a few peripheral skills, such as building their own still life set up, going on a walk with the sole intention of tuning in to a specific color or form in the landscape, collecting specific objects in the natural world and tuning in to the layers of space just outside the window. It is my belief that as screen time engagement increases, it becomes more important to build our sensory abilities of seeing, touching, smelling, listening and tasting. The practice of art is a vital way to do this. And a vital expression of what it means to be human.

View Drawing I & Painting I

 

Drawing & Painting III

Layered Transformation
Instructor: Jenifer Kent

For this project, students had to tell a story or describe an event using 3 or more layers. Rather than working in a linear narrative fashion as they did for their narrative triptych, students were asked to use mixed media and visually layer various elements of their story. They were also asked to vary the scale of each layer to create a more engaging composition which challenges the viewer to interpret the story. This is an advanced project where students are pushed to use new media and to work in a more conceptually interesting way.

View Drawing & Painting III

 

Drawing & Painting III

Narrative Triptych
Instructor: Jenifer Kent

The Narrative Triptych project was the first project of the year for this advanced class. Students were asked to tell a story in three parts, working in any two-dimensional media. They were encouraged to think about scale and shifting perspectives while creating a clear three-part narrative.

View Drawing & Painting III

 

 


 

Photo I

Truth and Beauty
Instructor: Gale Jesi

The Truth and Beauty Assignment is the second assignment in Photo I. Students were taught how the camera’s aperture controls focus/depth of field in a photograph. The criteria was to take a photo that was entirely focused (deep depth of field) and one that was selectively focused with one part of the photo in focus and the other out of focus (shallow depth of field). Students were to use the following two quotes as a prompt and inspiration for their choice of subject matter:

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” John Keats's, Ode on a Grecian Urn

"One man's beauty is another's ugliness” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles

Photo I

Photo I

Unfamiliar Place 
Instructor: Gale Jesi

The Unfamiliar Place Assignment is the first assignment in Photo I. Students were taught to use a digital single lens reflex camera in manual mode to get a proper exposure. They were asked to creatively interpret “an unfamiliar place,” and be aware of composition and form, lighting, focus, and what their choice of subject matter conveys.

Photo I

 

 


 

Photo III

Homage To A Photographer
Instructor: Gale Jesi

The “Homage To A Photographer” is the first assignment in Photo III. Students were asked to choose a well-known photographer and select one image to replicate as closely as possible. The criteria was to pay close attention to composition and form, as well as lighting, tones, proportion, scale, etc. It should be mentioned that this was the first project that required students to use a digital single lens reflex camera and Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for post-production. 

Photo III

Photo III

New Genre
Instructor: Gale Jesi

Photography is broken down into many genres such as landscape, portrait, war, fashion, street photography, etc. Students were asked to invent an important genre that might be missing from the photographic dialog. Students were then asked to illustrate how the ideas of their genre might impact other fields of study, such as history, politics, literature, music, science, etc. 

Photo III

 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 

THANK YOU!

A Huge Thanks to Jenn Soult for making these pages for our festivals and getting the word out about the UHS Arts Department, all semester long!

Another Huge Thanks to all the Parents who’ve supported their students’ remote art/music/performance making out of their homes for the last 9 months!

And a Huge Thanks to the UHS Facilities Team for keeping our campus – and all our Art-Making spaces – safe for our eventual return!

 

 

THE VISUAL ARTISTS

AP Studio Art
Jenifer Kent, Instructor
Isabella Caro ‘21
Micaela Clark-Herrera ‘21
Cal Deam ‘21
Owen Flanagan ‘21
Lucy Hurlbut ‘21
Ava Jo ‘21
Annika Kral ‘21
Devin Leung ‘21
Brandly Mazariegos ‘21
Athena Nooney ‘21
Madelyn Ockner ‘21
Janavi Padala ‘21
Drew Phillips ‘21
Aurélie Roubinowitz ‘21
Amelie Scheil ‘21

Ceramics I
Matthew Scheatzle, Instructor
Georgia Badenhope ‘24
Kamila Baker ‘24
Ella Bartlett ‘24
Elizabeth Boi ‘24
Sophia Caro ‘24
Mila Chan ‘24
Jordan Chau ‘24
Diya Chaudhary ‘24
Ibrahim Donia ‘24
Julia Dorival ‘24
Luke Dougherty ‘24
Cece Erhart ‘24
Nicki Gaito ‘24
Isabel Grohne ‘24
Alia Hobart ‘24
Naomi Johnson ‘24
Samantha Kung ‘24
Christopher Lee ‘24
Leyton Lin ‘24
Oswen Martinez ‘22
Lila Martini ‘24
Finn McHugh ‘24
Ariana Mulla-Feroze ‘24
Sanayah Mulla-Feroze ‘24
Ella Palmer ‘24
Annika Peterson ‘23
Flora Pinner ‘24
Alex Plants ‘22
Randall Tom ‘24
Annie Nykamp-Whitehead ‘24
Thomas Work ‘24

CERAMICS II
Matthew Scheatzle, Instructor
Kaitlin Dang ‘23
Lucy Falzone ‘23
Fiona Frankel ‘23
Rowan Goranson ‘23
Nala Hamer ‘23
Ben Johnson ‘23
Sammy Kim ‘23
Max Stuebe ‘22
Abi Westerlund ‘23
Rosie Yanowitch ‘23

 

Drawing I
Lisa Carroll, Instructor
Cole Boake ‘24
Mirabelle Brettkelly ‘21
Harper Clementz ‘23
Cian Dowling ‘24
Jasmine Farfan ‘24
Cami Fishman ‘24
Gus Fried ‘24
Pierce Friel ‘24
Avery Fringer ‘24
Raphaella Alioto Grace ‘24
Christopher Gray ‘24
Bea Hord ‘24
Claire Howell ‘24
Alexis Hu ‘24
Cybille Irissou ‘23
Finlay Jennings ‘24
Ryan Jo ‘24
Gabriella Kelley ‘24
Antonia Miller ‘24
Teddy Molfino ‘23
Jones Murphy ‘24
Miranda Oakes ‘22
Gus Parsons ‘24
Isabella Perez ‘24
India Poetzscher ‘24
Mia Reilly ‘24
Charlie Sears ‘22
Zach Tang ‘24

Drawing & Painting III
Jenifer Kent, Instructor
Frances Anderson ‘22
Lily Ehsan ‘23
Katherine Holden ‘22
Julia Krepelka ‘23
Janine Navalta ‘22
Greta Pilkauskaite ‘23
Grace Schneider ‘22
Summer Sun ‘23
Alexa Tabibian ‘22
Adelaide Tranel ‘23

Painting I
Lisa Carroll, Instructor
Lilli Black ‘22
Maya Egrie ‘24
Jack Gaitley ‘23
Cate Hewitt ‘24
Simran Hira ‘23
Sydney Lee ‘23
Kalyani Nair ‘23
Isabelle Oh ‘23
Will Perkins ‘24
Alice Sappenfield ‘23
Sam Shulman ‘22
Mia Sisitsky ‘24
Katharine Vari ‘23
Lucy Welch ‘23
Chelsea Woolf ‘23

Photo I
Gale Jesi, Instructor
Henry Brockland ‘24
Jack Clancy ‘23
Daphne Coplon ‘24
Charlotte Dann ‘24
Katya Davis ‘24
Madeleine Dimitre ‘24
Charlotte Dodson ‘24
Sonia Esteva ‘23
Keili Gorczyca ‘24
Elizabeth Gorman ‘24
Mary Kelly ‘23
Kylie Kong ‘24
Maggie Marks ‘24
Ruth Mondesir ‘24
Ava Morandi ‘24
Cianna Muth ‘24
Dean Myers ‘24
Angela Narkin ‘24
Isabella Ong ‘24
Hannah Salkever ‘24
Isabella Shen ‘24
Skye Sobel ‘24
Brenton Song ‘24
Will Sugar ‘24
Julian Sweet ‘24
Trevor Tarm ‘24
Talia Venchiarutti ‘24
Lauren Williams ‘24

Photo III
Gale Jesi, Instructor
Nico Brubaker ‘22
Emma Cameron ‘23
Mia Giles ‘23
Fletcher Grumbach ‘21
Zach Gurion ‘23
Santiago Herrera ‘23
Sophie Jones ‘23
Anthony Latone ‘23
Michael Mooney ‘23
Sally Ume-Ukeje ‘23
Hannah Urisman ‘22
Alexandra Wythes ‘23

Independent Study
Gale Jesi, Advisor
Gigi Schrier ‘22
Alexandra Wythes ‘23

Independent Study
Jenifer Kent, Advisor
Marissa Lumpkin '22
Kai Seidel ‘22
Alexa Tabibian ‘22

Independent Study
Lisa Carroll, Advisor
Annabelle Brauer '22
Caroline Hall Sherr '22
Alicia Lopez Guerra '22
Janine Navalta '22