MARYVALE ART PATHWAY

Maryvale High School is excited to introduce our Art Pathway to the surrounding community. This pathway provides an avenue for students who show a deep interest in the visual or performing arts to develop their skills and make meaningful connections during their high school experience. If accepted, this pathway puts incoming students into a specialized cohort of peers who will grow together over their 4 years at Maryvale. Art pathway students have unique opportunities such as:

• Trips to museums, exhibitions, and live performances - experience new things
• After school art activities and events - make new friends
• Guaranteed acceptance into art classes all 4 years of high school - these classes fill fast and space is limited
• Mentorship and application assistance to art scholarships 
• Guaranteed seating for visiting artist presentations/performances
• Community art show participation - Maryvale participates in one of the largest public art shows in the country
• The prestigious Arizona Art Seal - This honorable seal is awarded to Arizona art students who have gone above and beyond in the arts throughout their time in high school. This seal is a major accomplishment and is looked upon favorably by college admission offices as well as future employers. The Art Pathway plays a major role in assisting students towards achieving this award.

Interested in applying? Fill out the form below and it will automatically be sent to the department Instructional Lead: Megan Vanbuskirk for approval.

Application: 

***Click HERE to apply!!***

Classes

• Explorations in Art 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and AP
  
  • This class lets students use a HUGE variety of materials including paint, pencils, colored pencils, clay, paper mache, wire, oil pastels, printmaking, pen and ink and more. Students get to discover and explore what materials they enjoy working with as they advance through the courses.
• Drawing and painting 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
  • This class focuses on 2D art materials to create drawings and paintings. Students learn skills to improve and advance in their ability to draw and paint.
• Digital Photography 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
  • This class focuses on teaching students how to take photos with a digital camera and advance through learning Adobe Photoshop to edit, modify, and create unique compositions with their photos.
• Ceramics 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
  • This class focuses on using clay to create ceramics. Techniques are taught to help students advance in hand-building methods such as coil, slab, and pinch pots. As students move through the courses they will be taught to use the pottery wheel and create more complex sculptures and pottery sets. 

Mission

The Visual Arts at Maryvale High School are dynamic and enriching. We offer engaging options for students from all levels, from the most inexperienced to the very advanced. We use student feedback, progressive, research-based teaching methods, and critical professional conversation to guide our curriculum, promoting an environment of continual growth. Our most valued feedback comes from the students themselves; we use it to inform us in a variety of ways. We ask ourselves questions like:

• What classes can we add to increase creativity, excitement, and curiosity?

• What can we do to make the classroom a place where students feel safe, engaged, connected, and challenged?

• How can we embed authentic learning into stimulating projects?

• Are we connecting our students to their communities and each other?

• What methods can we discover to improve the learning environment?

• How can we make learning a meaningful experience for our students?

VISION

 We use curiosity and experimentation to develop a program that is always improving. Failure is a meaningful part of the learning experience and we teach our students that failure now, may become a breakthrough in the future and is essential to learning. We use that same approach with our curriculum and program development. This motivates us to try new things and creatively solve problems that occur in modern classrooms.

CONNECT WITH US

Meet the team

Megan Vanbuskirk B.F.A, M.Ed: Instructional Lead

Email Megan Vanbuskirk

Jennipher Tanori B.F.A: Drawing and Painting

Email Jennipher Tanori

Chad Knapp B.F.A, M.F.A

Email Chad Knapp

Ressa Mazzocoli B.A, B.F.A, M.Ed: Drawing/Painting

Email Ressa Mazzocoli

James Pyper Ceramics

Email James Pyper

Gabe Ramirez B.A.Ed, M.Ed: Digital Photography

Email Gabe Ramirez

Connect with us on Instagram: Maryvale Instagram

COMPETITIONS AND EXHIBITIONS

We host and participate in a variety of art competitions and art exhibitions annually. Some of which include:

• Annual 8th-grade art competition
• Annual First Friday art walk
• PXU Art competition
• Shemer "Horizons" art exhibition
• Congressional Art Competition

Interested in our scholarship competition? See more details below!

This competition is only open to 8th-graders. We accept up to 3 entries per school and award 3 winners. This competition happens annually between April and May.

Winners will receive:

• A full scholarship to our Art Pathway which covers art fees for up to 4 years of high school
• A gift card from our sponsor, Arizona Art Supply in the amount of $100, $75 or $50
• A gift basket stocked with art supplies

Want more information? Click the link below to connect with us

Click here for more information!

ARTWORK

Thank you for visiting our page, we can't wait to connect with you!