Happiness Project

Our first Advanced Art project, “Happiness,” introduced students to one of the central ideas of the course: developing an artistic voice through exploration, experimentation, and revision.

Rather than simply completing a series of unrelated assignments, students are encouraged to develop ideas, ask questions, experiment with materials and techniques, and make intentional artistic decisions. Throughout the year, they will build a body of work that reflects their individual interests and ways of working.

For this first project, students explored the question: What does happiness look like to you? They could interpret the theme through personal experiences, memories, people, objects, symbolism, color, or imagination. Students worked in either pencil or colored pencil while practicing value, shading, layering, texture, and mark-making.

We also looked at contemporary artists for inspiration and discussed how artists develop recognizable visual languages. Artists such as James Jean, Yellena James, and Amy Sherald provided examples of different approaches to color, imagery, symbolism, and personal expression.

Students are also beginning to read Lisa Congdon's Find Your Artistic Voice, which connects closely to our work in the studio. The goal is not simply to make technically strong artwork, but to begin figuring out what they want to say, what they are interested in exploring, and how their artistic choices can communicate those ideas.

The Happiness Project was the first step in that process. As the year continues, students will continue to explore, experiment, revise, and develop their own artistic voices.