Arts

Visual Arts

Check out our website to see our students work and keep up to date on exciting events in the Arts: https://swcarts.commons.hwdsb.on.ca/

Department Members: 

• Ms. L. Chupa (Department Head) ext. 5760   [email protected]
• Ms. A. Havercroft (Assistant Dept. Head) ext. 5764  [email protected] 

The Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School Visual Art Program provides exciting hands on experiences and enables students to develop their skills producing and presenting art by introducing them to new ideas, materials and processes for artistic exploration and experimentation. 

Art Students learn how to apply the elements and principles of art and design when exploring the creative process and use critical analysis to reflect on and interpret art within a personal, contemporary and historical context. 

Art courses at SWC include but are not limited to activities in drawing, painting, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, and digital photography and digital art, elements and principles of design, colour theory, art history and art analysis.  

SWC has three visual art rooms. These spaces includes a spray booth for air brush painting, a kiln room for firing clay, a dark room for experimenting with photography techniques, a lab for editing and presenting photography and traditional and new technologies for screen printing and crafting. 

Students who take their required art credit in grade 9 often continue to take art classes throughout their high school career.  Various Visual Art courses are available through grades 9-12, with the addition of a business minded craft class last year. Some grade 12 courses, such as AVI4M, may be used as a university entrance courses. 

There are many opportunities for artists at SWC to showcase their talent around the school and in the community, participate in field trips, and community and class art projects.  The art department continues to partner with The Art Gallery of Hamilton every semester on theme based exhibits and the Dundas Valley School of Art has renewed their Artist’s Connects program bringing local professional artists into the classroom through art education and hands on workshops. 

Students do not need a prerequisite for grade 10 art!  Show up with an open mind, creativity and a willingness to learn something new.

Drama

Department Member:

• Mr. W. Douglas (Drama) ext 5744  [email protected]

The Drama Department operates under the umbrella of the Arts Department and offers a selection of courses at each grade level. Grade 9, 10, and ADA3O (Grade 11 Open) are Open courses and do not require a prerequisites or any experience. It is recommended that students interested in Drama start in grade 9 or 10, thereby building on their experiential learning each year. The grade 11 Academic Drama, ADA3M, requires either grade 9 or 10 Drama, and ADA4M, Grade 12 Academic Drama, requires ADA3M as a prerequisite, and can be used on post-secondary applications. As well, students in grade 12 without an Arts Credit can take ADA4E, Workplace Drama, with a prerequisite of Grade 9 or 10 Drama.