AP Bio, AP Comp Sci, Psych, Calc, Stats, Physics, blah blah blah. Those are all great, but what about AP Art? Or any art class for that matter? Rosary’s fine arts department is small but mighty. Room 4 contains everything to help you get from Fundamentals of Art to AP Studio Art, and Ceramics 1 to AP 3D Art.
To get a closer look into Rosary’s fine arts department, I got to interview ceramics students Melanie Kamel ‘24 and Faith Rohani ‘24, and AP artists Sami DiCrisi ‘26 and Sara Garcia ‘24
Q: Why are you taking this art class? What interested you?
Faith: Well first, I needed the requirement, and two, ceramics and playing with clay always interested me, and I already know how to use many other art mediums.
Sami: I am taking this art class because I genuinely just love art with everything in my soul and I really wanted an art class in my schedule, so I had an incentive to actually draw.
Sara: I wanted to explore my 3-D art skills in a setting that I felt comfortable in. In Ms. Christensen‘s class, I know that I can make mistakes and try again with support.
Q: Which project has been your favorite so far?
Melanie: We haven’t done a ton because good ceramics take time, but my favorite is the mugs we’ve made. I have one favorite that I actually drink from.
Faith: So far, my favorite is the Bust sculpture, but the one I am most proud of is my ceramic slab art.
Sami: My favorite projects have definitely been my fourth and my sixth project because they definitely mean the most to me. They are flowy and colorful and meaningful and everything I want to do in my projects, so I am really proud of them.
Q: Does this class relate to what you want to pursue in adulthood, or are you just taking it for fun? If it does relate, how so?
Melanie: I’m definitely taking this for fun, but I realize that as I pursue an engineering degree, ceramics helps me think of the big picture and plan projects all the way through. If my projects don’t work the first try, I learn to try a different strategy to accomplish my project. That way, I can look at one project from different perspectives and use multiple approaches, as I would in engineering.
Sami: I would absolutely LOVE to do art as my actual job. Despite the fact that I may make absolutely no money, the dream is to be a freelance artist that lives in a cutely decorated apartment in a fun city near all of my friends. That would be the goal, I fear.
Sara: Yes, it does. I plan to be an architect, so learning how to design in three dimensions will be extraordinarily useful in the studio.
Q: Now that we’re about halfway through the school year, how do you really feel about your art class?
Melanie: I actually really like ceramics and look forward to it in my schedule. It’s a nice break.
Sami: I adore this class because of the way it’s structured. It is interpretive and personal in every sense of it. I can explore any idea or concept in my art that I want to, and I feel really guided while still being free to explore all different types of artworks. I love it.
Sara: I love it so much, especially interacting with my classmates and their interesting art pieces.
Thanks, artists. Seems like these Royals’ art classes are preparing them for their futures in a fun and interesting way.
Next, I got to interview the artist behind all these students’ work, Ms. Christensen.
Q: What made you want to become an art teacher?
A: I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living when I was a teenager or in college. I love art, I love studying religion, I thrived in school, I like stability and rhythm. It was a guidance counselor who suggested teaching might be a good fit. So, I tested the waters by substitute teaching in Fullerton and surrounding towns in both public and Catholic schools. I discovered that I enjoyed working with young people and I particularly enjoyed the community of Catholic school environments. Given my Bachelor of Fine Arts, I decided to become an art teacher.
Q: What is your favorite part of being an art teacher at Rosary?
A: Teaching art at Rosary is like being a gardener who plants seeds and watches the plants grow and flower. In August I hand each of my Ceramics 1 students a 4 oz lump of clay. Few if any of them have never worked with clay before. They make their first pinch pots and that’s a real struggle at first. Now they’re in Ceramics 2 and the same girls are making portrait busts (a sculpture of the head and shoulders), puzzle boxes, slices of cake, or trying out the potter’s wheel. If I had a time machine to show these girls what they would be making just a few months later, I know many of them would be happily surprised with themselves. Also, before I taught at Rosary, I subbed various high schools in the area. In my experience, Royals were always the most polite and pleasant to work with among high school students.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add about the art program at Rosary?
A: With seventeen classes offered, graphic and visual arts, plus the performing arts classes, I think Rosary has an amazing program given its size. With drawing, painting, and ceramics, I hope to see more students progress from the beginning classes to the intermediate classes and then consider AP Studio Art and Design. I am gradually adjusting those classes to better prepare my students for the demands of AP which are very different from Fundamentals of Art or Ceramics 1.
Wow, it seems like the Rosary Fine Arts department is thriving. Check it out for yourself by taking an art class here. As Sami puts it, “If you haven’t taken an art class at Rosary, I feel sorry for you.” These art classes might just help you decide what you want to do in adulthood!
