Your name and your background
My name is Joëlle Newby and I deliver the Visual Arts course here at ISSH from Grades 6 through to 12. I am from a seaside town in the North West of England and lived opposite the sea for most of my life. I have lived in Switzerland for ten years now and have been a part of the ISSH community since I arrived.
Can you tell us more about the DP Arts Programme?
The DP Visual Arts course encourages students to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. It is a thought-provoking course in which students develop analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking, while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers. In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with and critically reflect upon a wide range of contemporary practices and media.
The course is split three ways:
Part 1 is the Comparative Study worth 20% where students analyse and compare different artworks by different artists. This independent critical and contextual investigation explores artworks, objects and artefacts from differing cultural contexts. Higher Level students will also compare their own art work with those chosen.
Part 2 is the Process Portfolio worth 40% where students submit carefully selected materials which evidence their experimentation, exploration, manipulation and refinement of a variety of visual arts activities during the two year course.
Part 3, the Exhibition which is worth 40% requires students to submit for assessment a selection of resolved artworks from their exhibition which they curate at the end of the course. The selected pieces should show evidence of their technical accomplishment during the course and an understanding of the use of materials, ideas and practices appropriate to visual communication.
Why do you feel the Arts Programme is beneficial for students?
The DP Arts Programme allows students to explore their world creatively, artistically and vocationally. Not only is it educational, it is therapeutic and allows a student to express themselves through art, thus beneficial for anyone who loves alternative forms of expression.
Can anyone do the Programme?
Anyone can do the programme, however, a keen interest in Art is vital, as is some awareness and ability in the application of artistic mediums and techniques. A firm knowledge and understanding of art history and analysis is also highly beneficial. Most of all though you must be creative, imaginative and be prepared to dedicate hours and hours of yourself to the production of artwork. The course is designed for students who want to go on to study visual arts in higher education as well as for those who are seeking lifelong enrichment through visual arts.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
To be able to meet your favourite artist is for many a once in a lifetime opportunity or not even a possibility, yet I get to teach mine which makes me incredibly lucky. Therefore to see a student take pride over their art and develop their own skills, style and ability is incredibly rewarding. Art allows a student to explore a topic in depth for personal gain and growth. It is a subject that demands time, emotion and love. When art is produced, hours upon hours go into the making of the piece, the exploration, the process, the product. A piece of art is a part of one’s soul and a part of their history, to be a part of that experience and to facilitate such an experience as an educator is a driving force, a reason to teach.
Why do you think ISSH is a good school for the Programme?
ISSH has a fantastic Middle School Art programme including the Pre-DP Art course which fully prepares students for the Diploma Art course. Students are taught how to apply a vast range of mediums and techniques from an early age, how to research, analyse, reflect, evaluate, honour artist’s of inspiration and produce unique, individual, highly creative artworks. Students in the DP Visual Arts course receive one to one instruction due to the small class sizes and materials can be sourced for all ideas in which students wish to pursue. It is wonderful that the DP Visual Arts programme is offered at ISSH and it continues to produce highly talented art students.
