VISUAL
& PERFORMING ARTS
The Visual & Performing Arts Department at Williston houses the various arts disciplines within a single department. Our faculty, who are practicing artists in their chosen fields, all bring their professional experiences to their teaching. We strive to instill in our students a broad respect for learning; to develop in them a respect for and enduring interest in the arts through knowledge and experience; to stimulate their awareness of their own creative potential, not only in the arts but in other endeavors; and to equip them with the skills and discipline necessary for pursuing one or more of the visual or performing arts. The arts faculty, while diverse in their own artistic pursuits, share a common concern for developing human expressiveness and a profound commitment to making the arts an integral part of their students’ lives and the life of the entire school community. The arts have historically been a strong thread that binds together all human endeavors and reveals the human response to the world and to one’s sense of self. Such awareness illuminates and gives depth to our own experiences. By engaging in studio practices and performing arts—painting, dancing, playing music, singing, and acting—students develop intellectual and cognitive operations that are central to all experiences in school and in life. Study of the arts provides a meaningful and constructive connection to other cultures and to the history of the world. Through the arts, students discover a unique opportunity to create community and to share with others, while experiencing the excitement of one’s own creative realization and self-discovery. It is our mission as well to train the audiences of tomorrow. We aim to shape audiences who, through their enlightened perception and understanding of the arts, will find their lives enhanced and immeasurably enriched both now and into the future. The lives of our students are also enriched by our close relationships with the Five Colleges and by the many cultural and artistic offerings in the Pioneer Valley that Williston calls home. Our students have the opportunity to attend concerts, dance recitals, theatrical performances, and visit the marvelous galleries and museums throughout the area, while also taking advantage of our proximity to New York and Boston. In addition, students and professors from the nearby colleges and universities have enriched our arts classroom experience through lectures, workshops, and demonstrations on our campus. With the exception of AP Music Theory, Chamber Singers, and AP Studio Art, courses in the Visual and Performing Arts Department are one trimester in length.
42 2022-23 COURSE OF STUDIES
