Photographers Take On Venice

December 7, 2016

Each year a group of TASIS photography students armed with digital (and film) cameras descend upon Venice for a week of shooting. What other high school photography class has a week-long field trip to such a location! Eighteen students and three TASIS faculty explored the canals and winding streets of Venice, the fish market, the island of Burano, and Piazza San Marco at sunset.

This trip is an important part of the TASIS photography curriculum, and both beginning Photography 1 students, Advanced Placement students and IB first year students were on the trip. The photo gallery below is on display in De Nobili with the photographs printed and mounted for everyone to enjoy. Needless to say, there were literally hundreds more images taken on the trip! Enjoy the gallery and if you click on an image you will be taken to a full screen view with each photographer's name and grade.

Antonio Giovanni (Canaletto) Return of the Bucintoro to Molo on Ascension Day c.1733

It Pays to be Quick in Venice

November 8, 2016

There is, of course, nowhere quite like Venice and TASIS students were fortunate enough to travel there recently to draw and paint and to discover something of the magic of this city of canals.

John Singer Sargent - Watercolor sketch, c.1883

Down the centuries Venice has cast a spell on thousands of artists; J.W.M.Turner’s atmospheric and evocative watercolors, the lively studies of canal life by Singer Sargent, the detail and charm of Canaletto and the highly colorful and impressionistic paintings of August Renoir remain some of my favorites. Its ability to inspire has seduced a host of writers, poets, composers and filmmakers, too. Hermann Hess, Goethe, Lord Byron, Vivaldi, Benjamin Britten, Fellini and Woody Allen have all fallen for its charm.

JMW Turner The Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Salute, Venice c.1835 — JMW Turner
*The Grand Canal with Santa Maria della Salute, Venice* c.1835

There were an estimated 16 million visitors to Venice last year. Therefore it comes as no surprise to discover that finding a good place to draw in the streets and along the canals has become a challenge. Artists today have to compete with gangs of camera-wielding tourists, bulging café terraces, packed vaporettos and even hordes of pigeons to capture the Venice they have come to see.

It’s not all bad news for the artist, and there are solutions, of course: learning how to sketch quickly, and being really selective are two. Although the resulting artwork may, at first glance, appear to lack sophistication - and may even have glaring errors - a rapid interpretation will often have captured something of the essence of the view far better than a more elaborate and careful one. In this case, less really can become more.

Like so many seemingly simple techniques in art, the reality requires some considerable practice. However, with time, this not only develops the student’s hand-eye coordination it also builds confidence and encourages them to look that much harder.

Look out for more Venice sketches from TASIS students on this website, soon.

“Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual. ”

— Edward Weston

Photographing the Familiar

October 10, 2016

These were the words read to the AP Photography class before they grabbed tripods and cameras to photograph De Nobili's dining room. "Really," said one student. "We are going to spend time in the dining room? It is dark and not interesting at all!"

The challenge facing many photographers is learning to see. It is important for photographers to try and develop a creative eye and see things in a different way. The images below are the result of only 30 minutes of shooting one afternoon. After the exercise the students agreed that they were surprised, excited, and admitted the assignment forced them to 'see differently.'

"The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep." - Paul Strand

New Year for the Visual Arts

September 19, 2016

A very warm welcome both to the new academic year and to this, our showcase of the very best of art and design at TASIS, as it happens. Art is a very special language, one through which every artist hopes to find a voice, and for 60 years countless students at TASIS have been given the means to give expression to this idea. My colleagues and I in the Visual Arts aspire to see this long tradition continue and together we look forward to a creative and successful year. - Martyn Dukes, Fine Arts Department Chair

New galleries on the site include: AP Studio Art 2-D Photography (2016) and AP Studio Art Drawing and Painting (2016).

The Palestra was filled with artwork!

June 5, 2016

It takes a couple of days to get the Visual Arts exhibition up every year for the Spring Arts Festival, and then only a few hours to take down. This year the work was especially impressive from the younger artists in the Elementary and Middle School to the IB/AP work of high school juniors and seniors. The slideshow below does not do the exhibition or work justice, but you get an inkling of the many talented artists TASIS has in every division.

The gallery below is from our TASIS SmugMug site where photographs can be viewed and/or purchased.

TASIS Spring Arts Festival Off and Running!

May 20, 2016

The 42nd annual TASIS Arts Festival began on Thursday May 19 with an Opening Celebration in the Palestra, and will conclude with outdoor workshops led by guest artists on the afternoon of Sunday, May 22. The days and hours in between will be packed with concerts, theatrical performances, art exhibitions, and much more.

Download and view the schedules in PDF format here, Arts Festival Program 2016 in English, Arts Festival Program 2016 in Italian). Please note that the general public is encouraged to join TASIS for this year's exciting celebration of the Arts.

Enjoy a gallery of images from the first couple of days from this busy and jam-packed weekend!

IB Visual Arts Final Show

April 27, 2016

TASIS Art, Photography, and Architecture/Design students held their IB Visual Arts final show April 16-18, 2016.

This final exhibition, spread across the Palestrina, the Palmer Cultural Center and the Horst Dürrschmidt Gallery in the Śahenk Fine Arts Center is the culmination of the students' IB Art experience. Students presented a selection of their best work in the form of a curated final show, and defended and articulated their purpose and intention in a written rationale. The exhibition represents 40% of final grade awarded.

A busy and often challenging day of moving screens, creating installations, placing and hanging pictures and models saw an abundance of good humor with students and teachers collaborating closely to get the show ready for the opening.

The exhibition remained open for three days. During that time the show receive a variety of visitors from both TASIS and members of the local community, and was also assessed and marked.

Click on any image below to view the photographs in a slideshow. For more information about the TASIS Visual Arts Program please visit the TASIS website. Click here for more information about the 2016 IB Architecture and Design students' work.

The TASIS Spring Arts Festival runs from May 20 - 22, and all the Visual Arts students will be displaying work along with Sunday workshops, and musical/dramatic performances throughout the weekend. The Spring Arts Festival program will be posted soon!