CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM SOLVING ARE THE CURRENCY OF THE NEXT GENERATION.
Our personal, social, economic, and cultural environments are shaped by the arts at every turn. Visual, dramatic, and musical arts connect people to their environment, each other, and themselves while developing and fostering the creative and problem solving skills necessary for the 21st century. All students at MPA receive a rigorous, skill-based arts education. Students in the Fine Arts Certificate of Distinction Program are masters of their craft, who tackle additional time, work, and individual responsibility to advance their interest, knowledge, and skills in the Fine Arts.
FINE ARTS CERTIFICATE OF DISTINCTION PROGRAM
WHO? All MPA Upper School students are
WHEN? We encourage students to explore as
eligible to work toward a Fine Arts Certificate
many courses in a variety of areas in ninth
of Distinction (FACD).
and tenth grades and make a decision to pursue the certificate by their junior year.
HOW? Students interested in pursuing a
Portfolio building may begin after ninth grade.
FACD should discuss their plans with a Fine Arts Department faculty member. From
RECOGNITION
there, students may download a FACD
While the primary goal of the program is
packet from the MPA website. The packet
for students pursue a self-driven passion,
includes all requirements, forms, and
strong skills, deep knowledge, and a rich Fine
information to guide students through the
Arts experience that goes beyond the MPA
process of achieving a Fine Arts Certificate
classroom/studio, students who complete
of Distinction.
the program will also receive a certificate and academic distinction.
REQUIREMENTS ACADEMIC
FINE ARTS SERVICE
ENRICHMENT
Students must exhaust the Fine
Students’ senior service project must have
The enrichment requirement
Arts course offerings within
a Fine Arts focus and give back to our rich
is intended to encourage
Performance or Visual Art, thus
arts community in the greater Twin Cities.
students to explore areas of
participating in all aspects of the
interest involving the Visual or
must take a minimum of 6 credits
FINE ARTS PERFORMANCE AND EXHIBITION
in FA and achieve a 3.5 (B+) in all
Students must complete a culminating artistic
experience representative of
Fine Arts Certificate courses.
performance or exhibition that represents
Artistic Inquiry & Discovery and
continued focus and extended study.
Artistic Practice.
certificate field. To do so, students
Performing Arts. Students need to earn 100 hours of outside