Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him.
– Gerard Manley Hopkins
At Covenant, we want every student to learn to love and enjoy beauty, both as a viewer and as a creator. In addition to growing a knowledge and skill base in the visual arts, process and confidence are of great importance. We believe that as life giving as creating art is, it is also a discipline that can be achieved by all. There is deep fulfillment that comes with making, since we have been made in the image of our Creator. Our marks are as different as He has made us from one another and as we learn to see the beauty that surrounds us, it is our desire that our students at Covenant believe that they can humbly and joyfully participate in and contribute to it.
Students begin learning about the rudiments of art in kindergarten and receive art as a mandatory course through 8th grade. The class schedule is as follows:
- Kindergarten meets 1 hour each week.
- 1st-6th grades meet once a week for 75 minutes.
- 7th and 8th grades meet twice a week for 75 minutes, half of the year.
- In 9th-12th grade, students may choose an art elective to explore a specific discipline such as: drawing, painting, 2-D design, 3-D design, sculpture, stained glass, collage, or mosaics.
One of our primary objectives focuses on learning the principles of art (line, shape, value, form texture, space) and elements of design (balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, unity). These are taught using various mediums with a heavy emphasis on drawing. Students also study art history. With each trimester they will look at an artist or art movement and create their own work of art in that same style. Students will complete at least three major pieces by the end of each year.
Artwork by: Lucas Lanza, Class of 2018
Covenant students are informally introduced to drama in the Grammar-school by performing historical skits and selections from literature. Highlights of this would be Kindergarten’s celebrated Peter and the Wolf, and 2nd Grade’s popular rendition of The Boxcar Children. Upper-school students enthusiastically audition for our spring theater productions. These have included Antigone (2004), The Fantasticks (2006), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008), Twelfth Night (2009), 12 Angry Jurors (2010), Eurydice (2011), Best Laid Plans (2012), Little Women (2013), The Curious Savage (2014), Hamlet (2015), Arsenic and Old Lace (2016), The Imaginary Invalid (2017), and Romeo and Juliet (2018), The Importance of Being Earnest (2019), The Exchange and Manikin and Minikin (2021), Pot of Gold (2022), As You Like It (2023) and Electra (2024). Covenant is committed to providing excellent experiences in the theatrical arts. Our offerings aren’t limited to acting on the stage. Students are involved from the outset to the final curtain of the theatrical process. Students can help preview scripts, brainstorm costuming and set design, acquire props, manage the stage, crew the sound and lights, even direct, all guided by an experienced faculty and parent production team. From the conceptual to the practical, Covenant students are deeply invested in serving their community by producing great performances.
Mr. David Kemper with the cast of Romeo and Juliet
Spring 2018