Arts

The arts are integral to the curriculum and are viewed as essential to the Renaissance experience. Classes are enriching opportunities for all students, regardless of experience or self-perceived talent. Four-year candidates are required to take two years and three-year candidates are required to take one year in each of the following artistic disciplines: Visual Art, Performance Arts, and Music. Additional information is available on the Curriculum/Arts submenu above. By junior year, students who intend to pursue arts study in college may choose the “Michelangelo Curricular Stream”, a path that includes additional electives in the arts and scheduled time for portfolio and/or audition preparation (more detail available on “Curriculum” page). Our graduating seniors in the arts have been admitted to some of the finest art and design or performing arts colleges in the country, and with generous scholarships.

Why the Arts are Crucial

At Renaissance studying the arts is viewed as fundamental and not as extra-curricular or budget-dependent. Students engaged in the arts gain skills far beyond their production of artwork, skills that make them better thinkers and problem-solvers.

Researchers Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland validated our belief in their article in the Boston Globe in September 2007 entitled, “Art for our Sake”. Following a year long study, they offered quantifiable research to support the mission of keeping the arts central in curriculum.

“The implications are broad, not just for schools but for society. As schools cut time for the arts, they may be losing their ability to produce not just the artistic creators of the future, but innovative leaders who improve the world they inherit.”

Authors Winner and Hetland go on to define crucial “studio habits of mind” that art students develop in addition to craft: persistence, expression, making connections between the classroom and the world, observing, envisioning, innovating through exploration, and reflective self-evaluation.

Furthermore, they describe that these essential critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are hard to find elsewhere in curriculum. This research not only affirms what we at Renaissance do every day, but should be a must read for everyone working to build and maintain a strong arts program in education. Click on the link below for the full text:

The Boston Globe: “Art for Our Sake” by Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland

Dr. Ellen Winner is a Professor of Psychology at Boston College. Dr. Lois Hetland is a Professor of Art Education at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.