Program Highlights – Junior/Senior High Campus

Our art program/department instructors must have knowledge and some experience in all art forms. Ninety percent of what we see in the real job world contains at least some art aspects. With that statistic mentioned, art-related work can be very “worldly,” which makes it very important for us to raise up solid Christian artists who are able to glorify God in their workplace through their art. Therefore, the philosophy of our Art Department centers around several key components:

  • Treating and encouraging all art students as if they have enough art potential to have a related career
  • Encouraging all art students to glorify God in their art expressions appropriately while still developing the students’ art vivaciousness (meaning while still developing their originality and encouraging a lack of fear within their art expressions)
  • Preparing students to not just be “college ready” but also “career ready”
  • Challenging each artist to the point where it “forces” them to be great

CCS JH/SH Art Department “goes deep” with its students in many realms. What does that mean? It means that:

  • Our art department has a phenomenal reputation within the art education community, both at the junior/senior high level and, more importantly, at the college/university level. (More details are below about why our reputation is impressive.) We easily compete talent-wise with even much larger area schools. In fact, because of the more intimate sizes of our art classes, students receive even more regular one-on-one instruction and discussions are student-talent-level specific.)
  • Our art department course curriculum encompasses such a large variety of offerings for a school our size. These courses can be very in-depth, as can be seen by reading the course offerings details below.
  • The art instructor seeks to educate and prepare students not only with the basics of art genres and the growth of their talent but also to add components that “go deeper,” such as real-world, business-related experiences and information. They do so not only for those furthering their art-related career via the college/university route but even if the student isn’t planning to attend an art university/college, art courses will include relevant business-related information (such as merchandising, logo creation, business requirements, etc.).
  • Our art department has a long-standing reputation for competing and doing well in state and national competitions, namely Scholastic and Governor’s competitions.
  • Our art department offers an unheard-of amount of instruction and support for those students interested in pursuing an art-related career. We offer partnership opportunities with local art universities/colleges, such as our Portfolio Day with on-site relationship-building and portfolio assessments with:
    • Art Institute of Cincinnati (AIC)
    • Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) – Virtually every CCS student that was accepted by AAC received at least $40,000 in scholarships.
  • The art instructor forms relationships with our students that are long-lasting. CCS alum often contact our instructors well into college and beyond, with questions or just to catch up; they are bonds of caring mentorships and friendships that last.

And they are successful at the following schools, just to name a few:

  • University of Cincinnati’s DAAP (Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning)
  • CCM
  • University of Cincinnati (fashion)
  • Kent State (fashion design and interior design)
  • Carson-Newman University
  • Pratt in New York
  • Ohio State
  • Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD)