Visual Arts, Drama, & Music

Visual Arts

Friends Select’s lower school visual arts program challenges students to explore, experiment, and joyfully express themselves through a range of media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramic sculpture, and collage. All lower school students take art class. They study the work of professional artists and take part in a year-long Artist Study that explores that person’s life and artistic choices. Students participate in multiple exhibitions throughout the year, including our Sights on Site program, where they study and create artwork related to a neighboring institution.

Giving students time and space to create and reflect is a focus of our program, along with introducing them to artists from various backgrounds and traditions. Quaker values are central in our studios; students learn to appreciate each other’s work as a personal reflection of their inner selves. 

Drama

The mission of Friends Select’s drama program is to educate, entertain, inform, and transform. We encourage students to have a comprehensive theater experience; with this in mind, students have the opportunity to perform on stage in our Blauvelt Theatre, try their hand at playwriting, direct fellow student actors, or work behind the scenes on set design and construction, costumes, lighting, or sound! Our intimate yet robust drama department allows for every student to be highlighted. In lower school, dramatic play is woven throughout the curriculum. The After School Program also produces a short musical and talent show each year.

Music

Friends Select’s music curriculum guides students to understand that music belongs to them. Faculty members encourage students to explore their musical ideas, make different choices, and dive deeply into whatever fuels their passion. The program emphasizes creativity, experimentation, and mastery—with a focus on being fearless rather than flawless.

Our lower school music program gives students a grounding in the fundamentals of music in an age-appropriate, joyful way. Using source material from diverse performers, students learn about different genres of music and explore instruments, stories, and songs from world traditions. Instrument play is part of each year, but in grades 3 and 4, families can elect ensemble studies in either strings or our Orff ensemble, which includes percussion, recorder, and ukelele.