Art & Design
The Art & Design Department offers:
- Ceramics and Sculpture
- Fashion and Textiles
- Film & Animation
- Painting Studios
- Printmaking
The Studio staff are all teaching enthusiasts as well as respected artists in their own right. The highly creative and inclusive teaching environment is central to the success of pupils at all levels. Charterhouse Art Director, Helen Pinkney is a distinguished artist and teacher who puts creativity and learning at the heart of her own practice and teaching.
In Year 9 the pupils work within five-week intensive blocks and experience a foundation in Art, Design and Textiles as a preparation for GCSE. Pupils who choose to pursue art at GCSE level are encouraged to experiment widely and then specialise in an area where they learn to refine their practice and express individual ideas. An open and creative mind are key at GCSE level as pupils are taught techniques to express their ideas.
At Sixth Form pupils are encouraged to aim high as they learn to take risks with wide ranging materials that they may not have experienced before. They research their ideas in depth and are encouraged by visits to inspiring exhibitions which challenge their own practice.
Study trips are offered at both GCSE and Sixth Form. Recent destinations have included New York and St Ives. Trips with other departments are also favoured as pupils are encouraged to make connections across their subjects.
The Art Department, known as Studio, is a purpose-designed building with facilities for painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, fashion/textiles and digital work. Studio has a strong tradition of life drawing and visits to art galleries abroad (e.g. New York, Los Angeles and St Petersburg) and more locally (e.g. Tate Modern and numerous London galleries). There is a belief in active engagement with both contemporary art and art history.
Sixth Form pupils are exposed to an intensive and highly creative programme of workshop sessions which allow them to experience a much wider and personal range of expression. They populate their own workspaces with ideas, experiments and resolutions. Their sketchbooks play a key part in recording their progression and become individual to the pupil’s ways of working. Portfolios show casing a progression of ideas as well as making links to other artists.
Art in the Sixth Form has always maintained a high profile with pupils achieving top grades and entering Art College to study fine art, architecture, fashion and textiles, design, art history, advertising, film and photography. With creativity being a key element across a range of further education courses, A Level art, design and textiles has proved successful in enabling pupils to study a wide range of university degrees.
