Arts are integral to the life at St. Mary’s School. They are a powerful mode of communication through which students explore and construct a sense of self and develop an understanding of the world around them. Arts provide students with a wide range of opportunities and means to respond to their experiences and engage with historical, social and cultural perspectives. The students are stimulated to think and to articulate their thoughts in new ways, and through a variety of media and technologies.

St. Mary’s School recognizes that not all learning can be supported solely through language, and that arts as a medium of inquiry also provide opportunities for learning, communication and expression. Learning about and through arts is fundamental to the development of the whole child, promoting creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and social interactions.

The term “visual arts” is used to describe practices that have been more traditionally described in education as “art, craft and design”. It is important that students are exposed to a broad range of experiences that illustrate the field of visual arts, including architecture, bookmaking, ceramics, collage, costume design, drawing, graphic design, film, illustration, industrial design, installation, jewelry, land art, mask making, metalwork, painting, papermaking, performance art, photography, printmaking, sculpture, set design, textiles and woodwork.

Wherever possible, students should have the opportunity to experience visual arts beyond their own initial involvement. This may be achieved by inviting artists into the school, or by visiting art galleries, museums, artists’ and designers’ studios, exhibitions, films sets and/or theatres. Students will begin to appreciate the depth and breadth of the field by experiencing visual arts created by diverse artists—locally and globally, now and in the past, by women and men, and by people of different backgrounds.

ICT(Information and communication Technology) can be used in the visual arts classroom as a tool to enhance the creative experience. Photo and film editing, animation, web design, drawing, computer-aided design, audio and word processing programs can be used as tools to engage students with the conceptual understandings detailed in the continuums.