Arts at BSH

At BSH, we believe that the arts nurture higher levels of thinking that carry over to learning other academic subjects and to life outside of school. At BSH, we invite students to explore the fine arts through immersive, engaged learning that builds on a practical understanding of the world around them. 

The celebration of the Arts provides students with a living canvas to enhance their creativity, their studies and their lives.  Through the arts, students learn to discover, observe, interpret, value different perspectives, analyze, and synthesize. Notably, an arts education fosters creativity, one of the top five skills employers prize for the 21st century. 

Arts education at BSH includes visual arts, performing arts, expression through music in the lower school and the opportunity for art history immersion with our annual travel abroad arts trip for High School students. 

 

Visual Arts Travel Abroad Arts Trip Performing Arts Lower School Music

 

Visual Arts Program

The visual arts program at BSH offers students opportunities to innovate and create using a variety of media in a flexible environment designed to encourage experimentation, careful observation, open-mindedness, self-expression, perseverance, and reflection.  Using foundations in skills like observational drawing, composition development, and color theory, students seek their own approaches to creative problems. The breadth of our middle and high school programs, from beginning to advanced celebrates each visual arts student with experiences in self-direction that leads to discovery of their voice.

 

Mrs. Joann Mertz

BSH Lower School Art & 6th Grade Art

Our youngest children focus on art as a means of communication; a way to express themselves.  They acquire ideas from their own experiences while developing their motor skills to fold, cut, glue, color, draw, paint, and construct.  They will learn that art has value and teaches us about other times and places, our faith, and connects us to the world.

As our students grow older, they learn to appreciate art as a universal language as they connect art with other areas of learning (such as social studies, math, etc.).  Emphasis is placed on cognitive, affective, sensory, and motor development using a problem solving approach. Students express themselves in art using a wide range of materials, skills, techniques, and processes. They learn to brainstorm, think creatively, sketch and plan, as well as evaluate their work.

Our older boys and girls focus on the principles of art and the elements of design as the building blocks for art appreciation, production, and self-assessment.

 

Ms. Haley McCuiston

Middle & High School Art/Art History

Since the beginning of time, humans have recorded their observations of places, people, animals, objects, and events.  Whether drawn on a cave wall, carved in stone or created on a computer, art images reveal what people see and know about their world.  Creating art is a basic human need shared around the globe.

In art class, children feel free to experiment, explore, evaluate and discover while they express themselves.  There are no right or wrong answers.  Learning about art from various cultures fosters an appreciation for other people and other times.  It is not just something that happens once a week in an isolated space; but a shared experience with ALL people around the world.  Art encourages a student to be a team player, share materials and ideas, take risks, problem solve, think “out of the box”, become a critical thinker, make choices, while nurturing their creativity.  When a child creates an image, he or she is communicating in a very powerful and personal way.

As an art teacher at BSH, it is my responsibility to provide an art program that allows students to experience the challenges that art can address.  Art offers a taste of the past, an appreciation for what has been, and a sense of excitement for what the future holds!

Mr. Croix Richardt

Digital Art Teacher

 

 

Travel Abroad Arts Trip

Mr. Patrick Winterrowd

Latin/ AP Art History Teacher

International travel experiences bring our BSH classroom studies to life and encourage a global citizenry mindset for our students.  For the last eight years during spring break, our students have immersed themselves in the history and culture of Italy, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain. From explorations of the Alhambra to marveling at the soaring heights of Chartres Cathedral, from experiencing a production at London’s Globe Theatre to admiring the view from atop the Pont du Gard, from attending Palm Sunday mass in Florence’s Basilica di Santa Croce to standing in awe under Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling, our students make invaluable connections to AP Art History, AP English, History, Religion, Latin, and Spanish classes.The breadth of our middle and high school programs, from beginning to advanced, celebrates each visual arts student with experiences that lead to discovery of their voice. 

 

Performing Arts

The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Drama Department engages, inspires, entertains, and challenges audiences with theatrical productions that range from the classics to new works.  Our department is comprised of unexpected, dedicated, inspired, and inspiring individuals. It is our mission to train, empower, and support the next generation of theater artists as they engage audiences, engineer imagination, and build up our community. 

Drama at BSH features a Fall play which includes students grades Six through Twelve, and a Spring production featuring primarily high school students.  Our repertoire includes such plays and musicals as:

 

There is an opportunity for all students to participate in the Drama Department at BSH.  This includes those students who are involved in Athletics as well. In fact, the majority of our actors are also found on our athletic fields and courts.  We stand behind the concept of a well-rounded education here at BSH, and work together so that each Knight can pursue and fulfill all of their interests.

There are many opportunities as well for students who wish to participate in the theatre in other ways.  This can include helping with stage crew, costuming, makeup, and sound and lights.  

 

Mrs. Martha O’Brien

Drama Director

 

Lower School Music Program

Mrs. Debbie Thompson

Music Director

“We are all musical to some degree”

Although many people think they are musically impaired, we are all musical to some degree. Even before babies can talk, they respond to their mother singing to them. Music surrounds us and it wrings our emotions. It is important to us. Students gain an appreciation for listening to different types of music whether it be a Bach Concerto or a Jazz piece by Louis Armstrong.  Music is fun and should give students an outlet of expression.