Visual Arts

Covering the school with the
fruits of creativity

The visual arts are a flourishing part of the Saint George’s environment. Just look on the Lower School hallway walls, where students’ colorful drawings, paintings, collages, and weavings grab your attention. The same is true for the Middle School’s walls, where thoughtful haiku poems accompany painted mosaics and student-cut paper masks smile down from a display on African culture. Walk just a little further to the Upper School Art Gallery to view a student exhibit of black and white photos of everyday objects from unusual angles.

Saint George's School

All of this creativity begins with our teachers – each a professional painter, photographer, or ceramic artist – and our outstanding art facilities. The Lower School’s Art Room is a separate building packed with paper, paint, posters and busy students exploring subjects as diverse as Aboriginal-style patterns and cut-paper self-portraits. The fifth graders paint copies of French Impressionist masterpieces, then dress up like their artists – in top hats, overcoats and beards – to re-enact the Paris Salon of 1874 in the Davenport House’s refined atmosphere.

Saint George's School

Middle and Upper School students expand their intuition, imagination and dexterity in the expansive art, photography, and pottery studios of the Fred and Claire Gilbert Art Complex. Renowned local artists demonstrate their techniques, while a Montana printmaker visits each year for a week of sharing with students the finer points of intaglio and drypoint etching. The results of all this activity brighten Saint George’s walls and are mirrored in the growing confidence and ability of our students.

There is not another high school in the area – in fact, very few anywhere – that offer instruction in traditional etching techniques.”

Judi Morgan Middle/Upper School Art Teacher, Artist

Visual Arts News

  • Civic Theatre to Honor Jeanne Hardie

    The Spokane Civic Theatre will honor SGS drama teacher Jeanne Hardie at its annual Endowment Awards Dinner on July 16. She will receive the margot and Robert Ogden Lifetime Achievement Award for her work as an actor, director, choreographer, and instructor for the community theatre. Along with performing in a variety of roles on the Civic's stage, she formed and ran for two decades the Box'n'Hat Players, a community musical theatre troupe for students. The awards event on July 16 begins with hors d'oeuvres at 6:30 p.m., followed by the awards and a showcase at 7:30 p.m. of the Civic's next season musical productions. The evening ends with dessert and champagne. Cost is $30 per person, with tickets available through the Civic Theatre's box office. In her nearly 15 years at Saint George's, first as a part-time drama teacher and now full-time, Jeanne has directed, choreographed and coached Middle and Upper School students in annual musical and drama productions. "In the classes I try to instill a love for theater, along with basic performing skills," she says. Congratulations, Jeanne, for a richly deserved honor!

  • ArtWalk: All-Campus Celebration on May 13th

    How much artistic talent can be packed into one afternoon and evening? Come to Saint George's annual ArtWalk celebration for all grades on Thursday, May 13 and find out!

    Activities begin with a performance of the Sixth Grade Musical from 2 - 3 p.m. in Founders Theater. Then starting at 3 p.m. you can take in the Book Fair and view Lower School student artwork in the Little Gym, see student writers' books on display in the Dragon's Den, and enjoy Middle and Upper School student artwork in the Upper School Courtyard while listening to the school choirs sing.

    Get a Picnic Dinner for each member of your family in the Upper School Courtyard from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. (but remember to sign up for boxed meals on the school website -- all meals must be pre-purchased). Then Upper School students present Drama Shorts in Founders Theater at 6:30 p.m., while Lower School students join their Writer's Celebration reading groups in the Dragon's Den by 6:40 p.m. Finally, everyone is welcome to return to the Upper School Courtyard at 8 p.m. for dessert and a musical send-off!

  • View AP Art Student Exhibit in Upper School

    Seven senior artists have their AP work on display in the Upper School through May 5. Check out "Landscapes" in acrylic and oil by Alicia Burns; "Circus Theme" in acrylic and mixed media by Tammany Ogden; "Architecture" in prints and mixed media by Lauren Gzrelak; "People in Animal Suits (stereotypes)" in acrylic, watercolor, and aquatint by Taemin Eum; "Conflicts" in acrylic, oil, mixed media by Lena Leverett-Standal; "Following the Train" in photography by Stephen Burgess; and "Family" in mixed media and collage by Delaney Reynolds. This is the largest AP Art student show at SGS in years!

  • Child Abuse Prevention Poster Artists Honored

    SGS students again created posters for Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month, and several were People's Choice winners. Congratulations to Lower School students Cambrie Rickard (1st), Audrey Harrell (2nd), and Ava Alaeddini and Erika Plotrowski (Honorable Mentions); to Middle School students Karsten Eckert (1st), Dana Parkin (2nd), and Keyara Williams and Jamie Nord (Honorable Mentions); and to Upper School students Alex Wert (1st), Taryn Stamper (2nd), and Aniel Schlott and Ty Cowles-Meyer (Honorable Mentions). All will be displayed at the Our Kids, Our Business event at the SCC Lair at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 6.

  • Four SGS Artists Earn Regional Awards

    Four Upper School students have earned awards in the ESD 101 (NE Washington) High School Art competition. Stephen Burgess' digital print "Ramón" earned a First Place; Sarah Wagstaff's black and white photo "Forever 57" also earned a First Place; Lena Leverett-Standal's scratchboard "Gorilla" received a Platinum/First Place; and Delaney Reynolds' screen print with mixed media "Clocks" earned a Second Place. All will be displayed at the downtown Spokane Public Library starting this Friday, March 19. Then Stephen and Sarah's works will go to the State Art Show in Olympia this spring.

  • Students Create "Haiti House" Magnets

    Our 7th- and 8th- grade art students have created dozens of colorful "Haiti House" magnets. You can buy one (or more!) for a $5 donation at the Jan. 26 performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Funds raised will go to Mercy Corps. Check out the Haiti House website to learn how student craft projects are helping rebuild that shattered land.

  • Student Artists in Top NW Show

    Two student artists' work will appear in the top juried show for high school artists from throughout the NW. Tammany Ogden's acrylic painting "Melville" is part of her AP Portfolio Concentration. Lena Leverett-Standal’s scratchboard print of "Friends" also will be in the show at George Fox University from Jan. 26 through Feb. 16.

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  • Student Prints Are Textbook Examples

    Upper School art students Lauren Grezlak and Tammany Ogden have artwork included in a new textbook titled Experience Printmaking. Lauren's piece Building of Shades illustrates intaglio technique, sharing a page with a print by the young Pablo Picasso. Tammany's piece Red is the sole example of chine collé presented in the textbook. US Art teacher Judi Morgan was one of two dozen contributing editors and consultants to the book. Click Read More to see the pages where the student prints appear.

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  • Baek's "Vacancy" in State Art Show

    Michelle Baek's intaglio print "Vacancy" of old hotels in downtown Spokane is one of the First Place winners on display at the Superintendent of Public Instruction's 36th Annual High School Art Show in Olympia. You can view Michelle's print and learn more about the statewide show at the OSPI Website.
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  • Student-Produced Film Honors Deena

    Upper School students in the Spring Term "Cinema 001" class have written, acted, filmed and edited a brief film about Deena Barber and the scholarship fund that was created in her memory. You can view the film on the Scholarship Fund's Website.
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