The Visual Arts

Admissions

"Westminster School seeks curious and engaged students who want to grow and learn in a challenging and supportive environment. Students who are motivated to become their best selves both in and out of the classroom, taking advantage of the myriad of opportunities Westminster has to offer."

Miles Bailey ’94

Dean of Admissions

About

“At Westminster, we aspire to an extraordinarily ambitious commitment to secondary education, a commitment to nurture the participation of our diverse school community across our entire program — from academics, to studios and labs, gyms, fields and rink, and service to our Hartford community partners. Westminster students are inspired by opportunities to make a difference in all their endeavors.”

Elaine White

Head of School

Arts

"The visual and performing arts program at Westminster weaves the community together and nurtures the spirit of the Westminster campus. The arts at Westminster inspire students of all levels of experience from the very beginner to the advanced artist to practice the freedom of creative self-expression. Professional teachers guide students to work through the creative process from inception to the presentation, building a lifelong respect and appreciation for the arts."

Kerry Kendall
Head of Visual and Performing Arts Department

Athletics

"Athletic success at Westminster is measured not only by wins and losses, but through the bonds created between teammates and coaches, individual and team improvement, and personal growth. When students learn how to be competitors and how to cooperate with one another, they are better prepared to be citizens of the global world."

Tim Joncas '00
Director of Athletics

Hartford Partnerships

“Driven by a desire to serve young people and conscious of the opportunities for private schools to support a public purpose, Westminster School’s mission statement concludes with the call ‘to commit to a life of service beyond self.’ Westminster’s Hartford Partnership programs aim to deliver on that mission while making a direct impact on people and programs in Hartford.”

Patrick Owens
Executive Director, Horizons at Westminster
& Hartford Partnerships

Student Life

“Involvement will be the key to your success at Westminster School. Get involved with the arts, try a sport you've never played, start your own club, run for student council. You will get out of this experience exactly what you put into it. Do these things early in your life — keep seeking more opportunities for growth.”

A-men Rasheed

Dean of Student Life

Visual Arts at Westminster

Arts classes range from Introduction to Studio Arts, where ideas are fostered through a student’s personal vision and approached through formal and conceptual means, to Architecture where living and working spaces are planned, to AP Studio Art where the most motivated and able students create art to go into a portfolio that is assessed against student work from the whole country. Our photographers also capture in a split second images that are long lasting. The history of art and architecture informs the creative process and serves as a source of insight. Westminster’s visual arts teachers are working artists, architects and photographers and they bring to the classroom a multitude of experiences. Whether they’re painting or sculpting in the Hamilton Art Studios, working at drafting boards in the Engineering and Design classroom, creating digital art in a computer lab in Armour, or building sets, hanging lights, or choreographing dances in Werner Centennial Center, Westminster students find innumerable ways to explore their creativity. In addition, students frequently get the opportunity to learn from visiting performers and artists in master-class settings.

The arts studios at Westminster are inspiring spaces where students are encouraged to practice their creative process. Through practice, experimentation and revision, students learn new skills, and advance their abilities while overcoming artistic challenges and self-doubt. The practice encourages problem-solving, collaboration with peers, honoring personal lived experiences, researching global issues and learning how to utilize art as activism. Students find their authentic creative voice in the visual arts at Westminster, and hone their skills to express their unique human experience in our community.

For many students, Westminster studio arts offer an opportunity for students to explore their creative spirit; for many others, our program nurtures a lifelong interest, leading some students to recent acceptances into selective college art programs such as Rhode Island School of Design, The Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, Syracuse University, Parsons New School, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Trinity College.

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