Art at Malvern
The Art Centre offers outstanding facilities for a wide range of artistic techniques. There are specialist studios for painting and drawing, ceramics, print making and photography. An introductory course in the first year forms the basis for more advanced work which a pupil may undertake as part of the GCSE syllabus or as an extra-curricular activity. Those continuing to sixth form are encouraged to be involved mainly in a specialist area in order to produce rich and well developed course work. Each year a number of students prepare portfolios for entry to Colleges of Art and Architecture.
Work from the Arts Centre is displayed extensively throughout the school buildings, and the exhibits are changed regularly, forming a powerful creative focus.
Contextual studies connected to A-level and IB coursework are augmented by frequent visits, organised within Europe to major capitals of artistic and cultural interest. There is an Art Society providing lectures and trips to Galleries. Exhibitions by professional artists are occasionally held, and the school has an extensive collection of contemporary paintings, etchings and lithographs.
Art Scholarships and a number of exhibitions are awarded every year after the submission of candidates' portfolios and an examination to test objectivity and imagination. Natural artistic ability is obviously important but so equally is real enthusiasm at this stage.
History of Art
Other subject combinations have included Classical Civilisation, History, English, French, German, Spanish, Politics, Economics and Business Studies. With the choice of four subjects at AS-level, it is possible for the science-based candidates to widen their cultural horizons with the inclusion of History of Art.
The aims of the History of Art course are to develop the ability to communicate an understanding and knowledge of the subject, including an awareness of the varied contexts in which art is produced, used and seen.
The course covers painting, sculpture, architecture and design, exploring why art is created, its function within society and how art is presented in the past contexts such as churches and institutions and as in the present in museums, galleries and public spaces. The way language is used to describe art, not only in the material and technical sense, but also in terms of aesthetics and value judgement, is considered particularly important.
There are regular visits to exhibitions and galleries and usually an annual trip to Venice, France or Rome. In the first year of the course, the AS syllabus is intended to give a broad overview of the last two millennia of the visual arts and architecture of Western Europe. The second year A2 syllabus focuses on specific areas of study including Renaissance Italy and Nineteenth Century France. A personal study on a chosen topic completes the course in the second year of the Sixth Form.