Skip to content

Senior Self-Portraits

SWHS Visual Arts Curriculum

Our hope is not necessarily to create a school of artists, but to provide artistic opportunities to students so they learn to see the world in different ways.

The Visual Arts Curriculum at the Seattle Waldorf High School fosters skills that support student creativity and craftsmanship – building skills in both artistic creation and artistic literacy. Each year students study both fine arts (watercolor, pastel, charcoal, oil) and practical arts (stone carving, woodworking, metalsmithing, ceramics). The elements of observation and exploration are encouraged through various materials and themes.

  • Grade 9 students delve into the world of light and shadows and practical work with wood. Working from simple still life studies to copying works of old masters, the curriculum this first year fosters an interest in learning how to create dimensionality with a variety of mediums and tools.
  • In grade 10 the world of color opens up with the introduction of watercolor and pastels as well as printmaking and gourd weaving. What was learned the previous year now has a new element which enhances the form and mood.
  • Grade 11 focuses on the human figure. Learning about anatomical proportions, drawing student models, and sculpting life size clay heads prepares them for their senior year.
  • In grade 12, students work on stone carving and oil self portraits. This painting project is the culminating project and allows the students time to work, to reflect, to refine and fully complete the work.


    • Why do students do a Senior Portrait? 

    The Visual Arts Curriculum at Seattle Waldorf High School culminates in grade 12 with a self portrait in oil paint on canvas. This process builds upon students’ prior work with figure drawing, paintings from observation, and copying works from master artists. The question “Who am I?” is at the core of this project. Students are introduced to oil painting and working with a limited palette as they explore and refine their techniques and observations. Classroom discussions and feedback occur on a regular basis supporting a lively, inclusive, studio environment.

    Capacities and Skills Built

    The studio becomes a space that both challenges and fosters skills that develop a sense of beauty and a deep sense that students can create something that is both beautiful and meaningful. It provides them with the opportunity to make an intention, potentially fail and have to rework and then succeed, often beyond their initial idea. These opportunities to work within a social setting, a studio, where other thriving artists are also working through their own challenges with specific deadlines, is dynamic and supportive. These experiences are like little seeds that will continue to grow in whatever area our graduates pursue. They are empowered with the idea that they can problem solve and draw upon the capacities they have learned through the arts in any area of study.