Students enrolled in the fine arts programs are constantly occupied with creative projects. This is especially true during the week of finals, which spanned Dec. 15-21. To wrap up the semester, each art class was given an assignment that was unique to the course they participated in. 

In Painting I, students composed self-portraits, whereas in Painting II, those enrolled in the class were tasked with creating one of five required theme paintings. In the Animation course, students learned how to bring an on-screen character to life using techniques they learned throughout the semester. For AP studio art, one of the only college-level art courses offered at Ladue High School, students are permitted to work on individualized projects for their portfolios.

“[AP Studio Art is] my favorite [class to teach] because everybody’s project looks totally different,” Daniel Raedeke, who teaches the aforementioned art classes, said. “Everybody’s working on their own personalized work that’s totally customized, and they’re working on it for their own portfolio.”

While the art classes are similar in content, they encourage students to flex varying creative muscles.

“Technical skill [is] found mostly in Painting I,” Raedeke said. “[From] the time you pick up a brush at the beginning of a class to the end of the class, you’re learning how to shade, how to create illusionistic space, how to blend and mix colors and how to paint various subject matter. In AP [Studio Art], you’re going to be advancing into conceptual skills. So, you already know how to technically make this stuff, but anybody can do that. It’s [about] what your ideas [are]. What are you communicating with your work?”

Not only do art classes allow students to strengthen their skills within the classroom, but they also encourage them to explore various art forms outside of a school setting.

“I paint and draw a lot at home and have been for years,” junior Ashley Gray, who has been enrolled in art classes at the high school since her sophomore year, said. “[Art is] a really good way for me to express myself and a great outlet for my creativity.”