Although we are not a conservatory, Community High’s courses in the arts are considered “core” classes, and are required and weighted in the same way as those in other disciplines. We consider the arts to be vital to an engaged citizenry, and essential to the development of full mastery of other subjects, to self-exposition and critical thinking.

Current Courses (Spring 2026) are marked with an *

2D Design (F'22)

In this class students will study 2D design fundamentals: color, value, composition, space, and more. A variety of mediums; cut paper, graphite, and gouache, to name just a few, will be used to challenge students’ visual and critical thinking skills. An introduction to programs like Photoshop and Illustrator will help students bring their creations into the digital space. The principles and concepts covered in this class are meant to provide a foundation for visual thinking in any medium.
3D Modeling & Sculpture (F'23)

In this class, students will learn to create digital sculptures and scenes within the 3D modeling workspace Blender. This will begin with basic use of the software, moving onto simple manipulation of objects in 3D digital space, and finally moving onto more advanced modeling and sculpting. The semester will be finished with a brief foray into 3D animation with blender. This course will challenge a student’s technical skills and critical thinking, and gain them experience working in a quickly growing artform and industry. Students will produce four projects, including a final project, which will illustrate their understanding of 3D principles.
Advanced Drawing (S'21)

This is a year-long advanced drawing portfolio development class which will follow the College board AP Drawing syllabus which requires work that focuses on mark-making line, surface, space, light and shade and composition.The AP course requires the completion of 15 artworks, long sessions (3+hours) periods of self-directed drawing practice several times a week, contemporary artists research, documentation and writing assignments in addition to a final exhibition. The AP Syllabus will be a guidline we can chose to follow, critique or abandon as the needs of CHS students require. Students do not have to take this class both semesters, however portfolio requirement will not be completed sufficiently enough to take the AP test. This section of AP Drawing Portfolio offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art based on an in-depth investigation of materials, processes, and ideas of their choosing done over time. Sustained investigation is guided by questions: it involves practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. Visual and written evidence of inquiry are required. The objective of this class is to give CHS students an opportunity to experience the College Boards AP approach to Art.
Advanced Printmaking (S'22)

We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to t-shirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and collaboration, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Advanced Printmaking you will build existing printmaking skills and learn the techniques of lino-cut relief, silkscreen printmaking, color reduction, multicolor prints, collagraphy, and mono-printing. You will set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
*CHS Community Lunch (S'26)

Come get to know the new CHS kitchen in this cooking and lunch discussion class! This course will be largely student-driven, and will entail a planning and shopping session during Tuesday classes and cooking and eating one lunch per week on Thursdays (during the Thursday class period plus lunch time), together with your classmates. Students will work within a budget to plan our menus, decide on appropriate stores for ingredient shopping, purchase food, cook meals, and eat. Students will also plan and lead a series of lunch discussions on topics of their choice during the Thursday lunch sessions. This class is not associated with a specific discipline, but we will attempt to cover a number of food-related topics while we shop and cook, including (but not limited to): cooking skills, nutrition, choosing recipes, budgeting, food equity, food system sustainability, global cuisines, and more. There will be minimal homework, though we may read an article together here and there to inform our discussion sessions. We will take food restrictions into account when menu planning.
Cinema History: Who's Watching?: The Here and Now of Cinema (S'23)

Could we call a tik-tok a short film? Are Marvel movies really ‘cinema?’ Why or why not? In this course we will investigate how streaming services, social media platforms, and big-budget, blockbuster entertainment have changed the way we define, produce, consume, and critique film. The course will introduce students to the fundamentals of film theory, production, criticism, and history. No prior knowledge of film or experience in film production is required.
Cinema Production (S'23)

This course will introduce students to the craft of filmmaking. Students will experience every stage of the filmmaking process — from pre-production through post-production — in the creation of a short film, including (though certainly not limited to) screenwriting, camera operation, and editing techniques. By the course’s end, students will create a polished, narrative short film. No prior knowledge of film or experience in film production is required for this course.

I am committed to covering the content listed on this syllabus. However, please know that this is a provisional document — the course schedule is subject to change. I will give you at least a week’s notice, via email, if I anticipate a major change to our schedule.
Crankies, Caja Lambe Lambe & Shadow Plays (S'24)

In this class students will be introduced to a storytelling artform rooted in Appalachian tradition called crankies. Crankies, or moving panoramas, are drawings or paintings that can be manually scrolled within a box “stage.” Students will develop basic scripts, create imagery and use their crafting skills to narrate a tale using this interesting medium. But it is not all crankies! Caja Lambe Lambe are miniature worlds that are created for the purpose of telling a two minute story, and that story alone. These small peephole box theaters were invented in Latin America in the 1980s and are only now becoming recognized here on the East Coast. Shadow puppets are an ancient storytelling medium and have a huge variety of forms. A semester goal is to collectively make one or two performance-ready crankies, Cajas Lambe Lambe and/or shadow puppets plays. Rumors are that these could be included in Roanoke’s first Puppet Slam!
*Creative Writing: Developing Technique and Style (S'26)

We will develop and refine our skills in storytelling and language in its many narrative, formal, and psychological aspects while developing the craft of writing short fiction. Students will write four major short stories in addition to weekly writing games, exercises, theoretical discussions, and collaborative projects. Students will be expected to write regularly outside of class and keep up consistently with draft deadlines in order to share and workshop each other’s work. Although you do not need to have taken Fundamentals of Fiction Writing for this class, it will be assumed that students will be coming in with a basic understanding of how to use basic techniques such as characterization, atmosphere, figurative language, pacing, and the narrative arc.
Creative Writing: Fundamentals of Fiction Writing (F'25)

We will explore the fundamental skills of storytelling and language in its many narrative, formal, and psychological aspects while developing the craft of writing short fiction. Students will write three major short stories per semester in addition to weekly writing games, exercises, theoretical discussions, and collaborative projects; they will work together to edit and publish their work in chapbook zines for distribution to the broader student community. Students will be expected to write regularly outside of class and keep up consistently with draft deadlines in order to share and workshop each other’s work. Students may choose to take this as a single-semester class, or continue second semester to keep honing their skills in Creative Writing: Developing Technique & Style.
Digital Photography (F'23)

This class explores the theory and technical aspects of still image making with digital SLR cameras. Through weekly exercises, reading assignments, lectures, and field study, we will learn how to light, compose, and properly contextualize photos in our increasingly image cluttered world. For today’s photographers, divers ethical and creative conundrums have been caused by the advent of digital technology, social media, and generative software, which have flooded the field with new and exciting tools, while updating older technologies and methods to be much lighter, faster, and more accessible. As students develop their own body of work, they will consider questions about the photographer’s role in a rapidly changing creative world.
Drawing in the Modernist Way (F'24)

In this course, we will be learning how to draw in the “Modernist” style that Picasso made infamous for so many around the world. Picasso had to work hard to draw “like a child could do it”. In anticipation of the school trip to Picasso’s hometown of Málaga in Spain, we will start each class by looking at a modernist drawing and then spend the remaining class time learning how to interpret ideas into our own drawings. Some drawing skill is helpful, and students must be prepared to step out of their comfort zone to learn by doing.
Fiction (S'23)

We will explore storytelling and language in its many narrative, formal, and psychological aspects while developing the craft of writing literature, with an emphasis on short fiction. Students will write three or four major short stories per semester and explore the fundamental principles of poetry, in addition to weekly writing games, exercises, theoretical discussions, and collaborative projects; they will work together to edit and publish their work in chapbook zines for distribution to the broader student community.
Figure Drawing (F'25)

Although we each possess one, the human form can be one of the most daunting subjects to render in two dimensions, yet humans have been inspired to reproduce images of themselves since well before the dawn of recorded history. In this class students will learn the basic anatomy of human skeletal and muscle structures, draw the human form in short gesture drawings, blind contour, and long finished compositions, working in charcoal, graphite, ink, and pastels. The unique problems of drawing people from life, photographic reference, and reflected images present a challenge to artists that can improve the awareness of their own bodies and their work in other fields – medicine, sports, dance, comics and more. Whether you are looking to simply improve your observational drawing skills, add accuracy to the characters you draw, or follow in the footsteps of the Renaissance masters, this class is for you.

Students will complete a self portrait, a multi-hour full body drawing, and a final project of their own design.
Film History (S'21)

Theater Production is a yearlong course, tackling production activities in the manner of a professional theater company. Despite our unique situation, we will again attempt a production each semester. In the fall, we will tackle some new and old acting exercises with a focus of putting together an online production in November. Students will be expected to tackle assigned roles, learn lines in a timely manner, and be a member of the artistic ensemble and assist with production values when needed. Following our Fall Production, students will have an opportunity to participate in the ESU (English Speaking Union) Shakespeare Competition. Theater Production is an immersion of theater styles, production and an exploration of each student’s potential as an actor or as a production specialist (props, lighting, costumes, set construction, marketing and more).
Game Development in RPG Maker (S'24)

Students will learn how to develop simple games in the RPG Maker Game Engine. This course will focus more on the art side of game development than the code and design side. RPG Maker is a very easy to use program, and this class will most likely appeal to more artistically minded students than to code oriented students.
*Grandin Film Lab
Hands-on Animation (F'24)

Animation is encountered by most in the western hemisphere from an early age and many never grow to understand the inherent challenges within. This course will help students explore animation in various forms and stages. Students will learn about these forms in concept and practice, beginning with archaic variations, such as phenakistoscopes and zoetropes, moving through cut-out animation, with a brief look at cell animation, and ending with claymation.
How to Visit Galleries (F'21)

Did you ever get the feeling that Contemporary artists make random “art” just so they can laugh at us? Or, perhaps, contemporary art seems to be all about money with million-dollar art works, outrageously wealthy collectors, and high museum prices? And then what do we make of public monument: outdated statues, memorials, and community art projects? This class will visit museums and galleries not just to talk about art, but to talk about contemporary ideas and culture and how we fit in it.
Introduction to Ceramics (F'25)

You have been asking for a ceramics class for several years now and your wait will be over this Fall! We do not have the space or equipment to offer Ceramics in our building and there was not a community partner who could offer our student classes, until now. Motel Studios is a 15-minute walk from CHS. They have 7 pottery wheels, a couple kilns, and two experienced instructors who will teach you how to “throw a pot”, and how to decorate and glaze your creation. They will also teach you how to make vessels and shapes from clay slabs. Brian will write your evaluations and communicate with Motel studios, but he will not be in the class with you. There is no guarantee that we will have any other classes at Motel Studios beyond the Fall: that will depend on how well the semester works out for everyone.
Narrative Drawing (F'23)

The plan for this class is for you to have a chance to make drawings that tell a story. We will focus on non-sequential visual storytelling, and explore the relationship between vision, visualization, and imagination. There will be two white boards mounted in the studio for you to draw on with Expo markers, and you will have sharpies, colored pencils, graphite crayons and paper to draw on for your portfolio. You will be encouraged to work both communally and individually, you will be expected try new ways of drawing and to take creative risks.
Observational Drawing (S'25)

If you love to draw in a realistic way, this class is for you. We will explain shading techniques, art journaling, the rules of perspective for architecture and still life, object foreshortening, tonal drawing skills, and strategies for tackling complicated subjects such as people and plein air. This is an advanced class and space is limited. We will prepare work for your college portfolio.
Paint Mediums (F'21)

This class will introduce students to a variety of water-based painting media and materials. We will learn how paint is made and explore how to compare the utility and qualities each paint offers. Most of the materials and mediums that we will use in this class been used to paint medieval icons and still are used by contemporary artists today. Students will be assigned videos to watch for assignments, and some additional reading will be encouraged. Semester work will emphasize exploration over the completion of multiple artworks, but each student should complete once portrait/ icon/ image by the end of the semester.
*Performance Band

Students will study ensemble performance by choosing material, charting material, rehearsing, and performing in a musical ensemble, using core rock/jazz instrumentation: drums, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard and vocals. We will also encounter popular music history organically, and benefit from periodic master classes by musicians touring the area.
*Physical Education

Physical education is a class to help students practice and develop skills in a wide variety of activities to teach and prepare students for a physically healthy future. This course will explore various physical activities curated for students to better understand their bodies and find healthy movement options. This course aims to reshape how students perceive and understand what it means to have a healthy relationship with fitness so that they will continue to find avenues that interest them in school and after they graduate. This class also includes a sexual education component.
Poetry (F'22)

In this course students will explore the craft and theory of poetry, while experiencing the reciprocal relationships between writing, reading, publication and discourse. As both readers and writers they will explore a wide range of poetic practices and traditions, from the ancient to the contemporary and the conventional to the experimental. They will engage with a variety of verse forms, genres, and processes to develop their technical versatility and their understanding of language, rhythm, sound and thought on a fundamental level. Simultaneously, they will explore the social, ethical, psychological and philosophical dimensions of literary practice. They will be expected read work by their peers and by other poets each week, and discuss it with sensitivity and detail. Other sessions will be devoted to in-class writing activities, writing games and experiments, and other discussions in which substantial participation is also expected. The class will regularly publish their work to the school community in a periodical chapbook.
Poetry and Poetics (F'24)

We will discover what happens when language ceases to be a thing we use and becomes a thing we play with, explore, and live within. Students will become sensitive to the rhythmic, conceptual, aural, expressive, and psychological dimensions of language and learn to craft them into verse and, when appropriate, perform them. While developing a body of work according to their own poetic sensibilities, students will engage with a wide variety of poetic forms, movements, and approaches, from rhymed and scanned sonnets and villanelles to visual and sound poetry. Students will be expected to read and write poetry every week, and to discuss the work of their peers in class.
Printmaking (S'21)

We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to t-shirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and collaboration, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Printmaking: Silkscreen and Relief you will learn the techniques of lino-cut relief and silkscreen printmaking. You will set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
Printmaking: Relief (S'25)

We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to t-shirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and collaboration, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Printmaking: Relief you will learn the techniques of lino-cut and wood-cut relief printmaking. You will set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
Puppets and Creepy Dolls (S'22)

The class will focus on making small figures in paper mache and will include some plaster casting and sewing. We will make “Punch and Judy” characters based on Commedia Della Arte Masks for hand puppets and as Large walking heads. Some performance can be expected.
Screenwriting (S'22)

When films look great, they can seem effortless. But behind the CGI and fancy-schmancy acting, good films come down to one thing: solid writing. This course will start with an understanding of the art of screenwriting by looking at masterful examples. And then, the course will equip you to write your own blockbusters–or at least a solid scene or two and a short piece. We will work on every stage of screenwriting from treatment to shooting script to both give you insight into the process and help your burgeoning creative voice speak as clearly as possible.
Sculpture (S'21)

Black Lives Matter has inspired renewed criticism of the role public sculptures play in our society. At the same time, Covid-19 has limited the safety of the public spaces we enjoy, adding an element of risk to the simple act of touch. How can sculpture address these challenges? In this class students will consider these issues as they create sculptures to be privately or publicly engaged. Sculptural techniques using found materials and polymer clay will be demonstrated in online demos and asynchronous packets. Critiques and research assignments will build students critical thinking and visual investigation skills. This class requires attendance at one online meeting a week and the completion of three sculptures: an assemblage, a flux box, and a figurative polymer model for a proposed monument.
Short, Short Docs (S'21)

This class is primarily designed with the notion of do it yourself, no budget nonfiction digital storytelling. Students will use what they have available (phones, tablets, personal computers) to explore the different forms of documentaries and to help critique what is out there. As a class we will have viewing and lecture periods to help the student get a better feel of how to make their own mark in this field.
Silkscreen (S'24)

We often take for granted the sea of printed images around us, from magazine stands to billboards, from textbooks to tshirts. What can the study of printmaking tell us about these phenomena of mass culture, about process and team based creativity, or the potential reach of our own ideas? In Silkscreen you will learn the techniques of serigraphy, one of the oldest print mediums known, and set goals to improve the craftsmanship, expressivity, and conceptual reach of your work. Critiques will help beginning and more experienced printers hone their visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Gallery visits and discussion will enrich your technical and historical understanding of print studies and visual culture at large.
*Theater Production

Theater Production is a yearlong course, tackling production activities in the manner of a professional theater company. We will mount a production each semester—one in December, the second in May. Students will be expected to tackle assigned roles, learn lines in a timely manner, and be a member of the artistic ensemble and assist with production values when needed. Theater Production is an immersion of theater styles, production and an exploration of each student’s potential as an actor or as a production specialist (props, lighting, costumes, set construction, marketing and more). Additionally, there is the opportunity to participate in the English Speaking Union’s Annual Shakespeare Monologue Competition during the fall semester.
*Watercolor skills: Journal to Portfolio (S'26)

This class is designed for students to enjoy exploring watercolor’s complexities while learning how to deal confidently with washes and color mixing. You will learn the fundamentals (including materials, brushwork techniques and color theory) of painting with a limited pallet and using a watercolor journal for travel sketching. We will also learn basic studio skills like washes and hard and soft edges in addition to more complex topics like composition, perspective and texture. Once you acquired these skills and techniques you will have the freedom to create your own portfolio ready watercolor work.
World-Building Workshop ('S25)

Students will work over the course of the semester on building and expanding their own fictional worlds, including group workshop/brainstorm sessions on each other’s worlds, analyses of worlds created by others, and research into actual historical, social, literary, and/or scientific principles, to give the world internal consistency. They will manifest their worlds through a combination of small specific assignments and a larger project to present their world in the form of written fiction, a game/game system, or other creative format of their choice; students should have some experience already with the technique their chosen format coming into the course.
*Writing Comics (S'26)

In Writing Comics students will take on the disciplines of writing, penciling, inking and lettering serial visual narrative forms, otherwise known as comics. Lectures on character design, world building, scripting, observational drawing, narrative, flow and the interaction of words and images will help students engage the unique aesthetic and formal qualities of the medium, applying them in their own work. This class emphasizes analog craftsmanship, micro publishing, collaboration, experimentation, and making the best with limited materials. Working primarily in collaborative teams, students will produce at least three comics throughout the semester.
YOTA Making Community Engaged Art (S'23)

Roanoke will be “The Art City” for 2022-23, and YOTA (Year of the Artist) can include you! As a student at CHS you can get involved in this city project by working with a City Artist-in-Residence. Roanoke City has engaged 10 or more Artist-in-Residents to work closely with city groups like “The Gun Violence Prevention Committee” and communities like S.E. Roanoke to nd ways the Arts can build a better future for Roanoke. Scores of art projects have already been funded and we will see a wide diversity of art events throughout Roanoke from July 2022-June 2023. Students will learn how to: build a rapport with the city and neighborhood, complete applications on deadline, write art proposals and annual reports, prepare art budgets, help fundraise, and PLAN YOUR OWN ART EVENT. The city wants YOTA to help map arts funding in Roanoke for the next 10 years and it especially wants more youth focused projects to fund. Your work this year will help show the city what Youth Programs they should fund.