Learning about the fine arts at Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District

From kindergarteners making their first brush strokes to high school seniors preparing college portfolios, the Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District offers students a comprehensive fine arts education that builds progressively from elementary through high school.

“Visual and media arts give our students a powerful way to express thoughts and feelings that they may not yet have the words for,” said Erica Giglio-Pac, director of Fine, Performing, and Media Arts .”For many of our learners, this is the part of their day when they can engage a different part of their brain, think creatively and work tactically with their hands. That combination of emotional expression and hands-on making is essential to their growth, both as artists and as human beings.”

At Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School, art teacher Meredith Brustman introduces prekindergarten through second grade students to color, texture and storytelling.

Kindergarteners experiment with primary colors and pattern. First graders explore texture and color temperature to share personal experiences. Second graders move to form and movement while studying artwork from different cultures and time periods.

The curriculum expands at James H. Vernon School, where art teacher Stephanie Miley leads students in grades 3 through 6 through more advanced explorations. Third graders study Cubism and create mixed-media portraits. Fourth graders examine facial proportions and the cultural history behind Mexican amate paper paintings. Fifth graders experiment with abstraction and Aboriginal art.

Sixth graders study emotional expression through exaggerated portraits inspired by Edvard Munch. “Creating visual arts gives our students a chance to engage in problem solving while exploring various mediums. Engaging in the arts also exposes students to various artists and techniques as well as art from many cultures.

At the high school level, students dive into specialized courses that range from computer art and graphic design to photography, ceramics, sculpture, drawing and painting. Renovated facilities support this work with two Mac labs equipped with Adobe Creative Suite and a sculpture room with a kiln and professional tools.

Students interested in advanced study enroll in AP Studio Art. Photography teacher Scott Boris, now in his 27th year at the high school, takes students on field trips across New York City. Students exhibit their work through the Art Guild, Heckscher Museum, the All-County Art Show and the Media Arts Show at Five Towns College.