Arts
rts classes, curriculum and instruction at Buxton are unparalleled. Not only does our faculty truly believe in art as the foundation of modern education, but also we are located in the cultural heart of the northeast – with the very top artists in the world as our neighbors, mentors and teachers. Our students follow suit: blowing us away with their talents and capabilities every year. It is a pleasure, a challenge and an unmatched opportunity to explore the arts at Buxton.
Classes usually consist of no more than five students, each working at his or her own pace. Students are also invited to use the studios for outside of their assigned class time, including after school and on weekends. Visits to art museums and galleries, off-campus assignments, workshops with visiting artists, slide shows, figure drawing and other evening and weekend events are all part of a student’s introduction to making art. Student work is displayed twice each year—during the Fall and Spring Arts Weekends.
For students who want to learn both the basics of throwing on the potter’s wheel and / or how to hand-build clay works. Classes include slide shows, reading assignments and trips to local galleries and museums to broaden understanding of the past and present states of ceramics as art.
This fall the Photography classes are going to concentrate on Analog, 35-mm, black and white “classic” developing and printing photography – learning the techniques if you are new to this and expanding your skills and eye if you are experienced with the basics. In the second semester there will be more classes looking into digital photo, alternative techniques, cyanotypes, etc.
Students who are already familiar with the basics of photo and want to explore digital or other areas as independent projects will be able to do so.
Printmaking at Buxton is of the intaglio variety, meaning students incise an image or design into a surface, roll the surface with ink and then place paper on the surface to transfer the image.
Through exploration in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, fabrics, found objects, and mixed media, students can begin to articulate their artistic visions. Projects are defined through individual discussion. Students are encouraged and introduced to use a broad range of materials. What inspires the student determines which methods of working, materials, and ideas are explored. Throughout, students begin to relate their daily experience to the process of making art.
Students can take structured art classes that offer formal skill sets in drawing, painting and printmaking with an emphasis on balancing direct, observational skills with expressive, independent work. There also is the opportunity to take ‘open studio’ classes where students can work independently on any idea with almost any medium; instruction is available and responsive to individual projects.
Spring term we will be looking at satire and mockumentary as a means of telling stories through video. As a class, we will create videos that aim to honestly capture our lives here at Buxton, and when appropriate, poke fun at the more absurd parts of it. People of all editing levels are encouraged to join; no previous video production is necessary
Offered as either a single- or double-semester course, video production offers students the chance to work hands on with HD, DSLR and DV cameras and Final Cut Pro X software to tell stories via narrative, documentary and experimental filmmaking. Each student maintains a storyboard and video journal and must complete weekly assignments in short documentary and narrative video experiments.
Testimonials
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"Buxton has given me the freedom to be the person I want to be, make the art I want to make, and learn the things I want to learn. At Buxton we learn not only in the classroom, but in the community. We learn how to be good to each other and how to support each other. Buxton has so much to offer students, both inside the classroom and outside of it."Great Barrington, MA
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“At Buxton you get to focus on what you want to be learning; whether it is social skills or in-depth studying- you learn to take responsibility of your education.”Troy, NY
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“Living your education means to not only learn things, but to use what you learn in your everyday life.”Mexico
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“To me, living your education means to be independent, to take charge, to not be afraid of asking for help, to learn from your peers, to love to learn, to take what you have learned from a loving environment and take it into the world.”New Hampshire
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“Your education is more than just your time in class, it’s your life as a whole. Learning is not limited to a teacher teaching you something in a classroom.”Missouri
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“To me, at Buxton, it’s not boundaries that you make, but the ones you break through.”New York, NY
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“At Buxton, I can choose what I want to do with my education. I can design my own path and invest my time studying topics that I’m really interested in.”New York, NY
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“At Buxton you can experience your intellectual development in a community that accepts your perspective of the world.”Mexico
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“I felt instantly at home when I stepped on the campus. At Buxton, we are in school 24/7. We learn things in the classroom, but we really learn valuable things outside of the classroom. We learn how to work with others and respect each other’s spaces. Our education surrounds us and we learn new things everyday.”Albany, NY
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“I chose Buxton over public school because I think I function better in a smaller environment. You’re able to get to know students and faculty on a deeper level, which is rare.”Williamstown, MA
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“Students should be happy when they are learning. They should not feel like studying is a burden to them. You learn things from your living space and environment - you are learning every second you are living.”China
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“Buxton has shown me that it is possible to forge close bonds with teachers as well as students. It also gives you the ability to try new things in an environment where there is no judgment.”Puerto Rico
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“I chose Buxton for a small community-based education with focus on the individual as part of the world at large, along with the learning settings.”Boston, MA
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“I love the atmosphere and how tightly knit the community is. At Buxton you take what you learn in the classroom and use it in everyday life - you learn from the world around you and see how you can make it better.”Boston, MA
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“At Buxton you bring your education into everything you do, and learn important, relevant things that you can utilize all the time.”New Lebanon, NY
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"In the last year, Buxton has become my home. It has provided me with a place where self-exploration is encouraged in and out of the classroom. I have made unbreakable bonds with faculty and my peers."
Albany, NY
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"To me living your education means enjoying it to the fullest. Do the things that make you uncomfortable, like activities, clubs, or sports you wouldn't normally participate in. Like the saying goes, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Boston, MA
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"Buxton has given me room to fully realize what inspires me and the resources to create it. The next big grade is no longer a constant worry. I have more space to be and do what I want."
Williamstown, MA
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"Buxton has given me the freedom to be the person I want to be, make the art I want to make, and learn the things I want to learn. At Buxton we learn not only in the classroom, but in the community. We learn how to be good to each other and how to support each other. Buxton has so much to offer students, both inside the classroom and outside of it."
Great Barrington, MA
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“A sense that everybody matters, that you are in a community where everyone can make a difference and reach their full potential, where you are interdependent and you work together, and most importantly where you understand that you can do whatever you want to do and whatever it is that you do, you have got to make a difference. I think that, more than anything, defines my experience at Buxton.”Governor of Vermont, Buxton Alumni
