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Senn Arts

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Mission:
Senn Arts is a Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Program where creative Chicago students pursue artistic and academic excellence. Senn Arts provides students with an environment that fosters academic, social, and personal growth to cultivate artistic members of the global community.

Philosophy:
Senn Arts’ Studio School model is an arts education approach that emphasizes exploration, interaction, and creation. Our coursework provides the technical foundation necessary for students to clarify their ideas, and promotes open exchange and critical analysis in the classroom. Through immersion in the creative process and production of art, students will explore their sense of self and deepen their unique artistic identity.

Our goal is for all students to leave our program as artistically minded lifelong learners​​​​​​​ who are highly creative and deeply analytical. Senn Arts instructors are active artists and certified educators, who bring a working knowledge of their field into the classroom.

Senn Arts Curriculum is framed using the Studio Habits of Mind which describe eight dispositions students are taught so that they learn to think like artists.


DEVELOP CRAFT / TECHNIQUE

Learn to use the tools, materials, language & conventions of your discipline.
ENGAGE & PERSIST

Find personal meaning in projects, work through the challenges they present, and see them through.
ENVISION
Imagine new works and bring them to life. Collaborate with others to realize works.
EXPRESS
Engage in authentic connections with audiences through the creation and presentation of works that convey personal meaning.
OBSERVE
Look closely. Listen closely. Notice.
REFLECT
See artmaking as a process. Explore successes and failures. Question, explain and evaluate in order to make better. 
STRETCH & EXPLORE
Question. Play. Try new things. Take risks. Make mistakes. Learn from failure.
UNDERSTAND CONTEXT
Immerse yourself in the work of other artists. Interpret the meaning of the work of others. Use knowledge from all aspects of your education to make connections to history, society, and each other.