Cover artwork and quote by 2020 Fine Arts Distinction graduate Midora Firebaugh. 
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Fine Arts Distinction

“The arts have been an inseparable part of the human journey; indeed, we depend on the arts to carry us toward the fullness of our humanity.” —National Standards for Arts Education

Goals of the Program

1. To inspire students to become immersed in a field of art, music, or theater.
2. To strive toward the highest levels of skill, achievement, and creativity in art, design, music, and theater through continual practice, performance, and reflection.
3. To encourage students to seek interconnectedness between the arts and other disciplines.
4. To promote endeavors in the fine arts, whether or not in pursuit of an arts-related field in the future.
5. To honor students who have dedicated their talents to the development of the fine arts at North Cross School.

Program Requirements

1. coursework
Fine Arts Distinction Scholars must take at least 4 arts classes throughout their career in the Upper School. Students must also complete the AP or the highest level when available.
  • Those students focused on theater will meet coursework requirements through productions and membership in the International Thespians Society (ITS). 
2. NCS events
The Fine Arts Distinction encourages students to produce work beyond the classroom within the North Cross community.
Each year students are required to attend at least three of each of the following:
  • Outside performances, programs, speakers, etc. 
  • Arts-related seminars (group meetings about articles, documentaries, current events, speakers, etc.)
Both types of events require written responses that must be submitted to the Fine Arts Department for review. 

In addition, students are expected to be active participants and leaders in the arts program at NCS. Students have robust opportunities to present at assembly, submit work to Calliope, and perform at Muses at Bay. Students can also engage in the arts through serving as an organizer for events such as Symposium, Muses at Bay, Artist-in-Resident workshops, etc. 
Arts-related travel in the form of school trips also offers students the ability to reflect either through writing, presentation, or project. 
3. off-campus events
The program also requires that students participate in the greater arts community in Roanoke and surrounding areas. These activities include but are not limited to
  • ​All-District audition and participation (chorus/band)
  • All-State audition and participation (chorus/band)
  • submitting artwork to shows and placing in art shows (juried shows, awards)
  • arts participation outside of NCS (e.g. Roanoke Youth Symphony, Roanoke Children's Choir, Mill Mountain Theatre, Grandin Film Lab, lessons, etc.)
  • arts-related summer internships
  • arts-related summer programs/camps

Examples of art events offered in the community in the 2019-2020 year were
  • the creation of a sand mandala by Tibetan Buddhist monks at Roanoke College
  • Art by Night Downtown Roanoke
  • arts activities featured at GoFest
  • Roanoke College International Film Festival (through February 28) -- flyer attached
  • a showing of the year's Oscar Best Picture Parasite at the Grandin
  • Arts Pop! -- an arts celebration at the Taubman
4. summer reading
Students may either select an arts-related book of their choice  OR create an artistic response for a book of your choice. The book  may or may not be art related and the response can be in any arts realm. For both options, the choice of book and project must be approved by the Fine Arts Department in advance.
5. Arts-related deHart Project
The Senior Project at North Cross School, renamed in 2010 in honor of retired English teacher Gates DeHart, has been an
enduring North Cross tradition for over four decades. Student presentations take place during Morning Assembly before
the entire upper school and members of the broader North Cross community. This focused academic research, which may
include experiential field work and interaction with experts in the chosen topic, will be codified first in a research paper of at
least ten pages. The DeHart Project represents the capstone of the Upper School curriculum and is designed to showcase
the cumulative education of a North Cross Senior. Successful completion is required for graduation.
6.  ​senior show
Students are encouraged to explore collaborations and intersections between their realms of creativity.  The show must include a new element of work; it cannot be limited to a retrospective of previous work. The form the show takes will vary based on a student's area of study and may be a performance, exhibit, project, etc. 
7. ​ Culminating reflection
 With the assistance of guiding questions and criteria, students are asked to reflect on their growth as an artist during their time in the program. A portion of the reflection also includes compiling a Fine Arts Curriculum Vitae.
Thomas Costello
Fine Arts Department Chair, Musical Theatre and Choral Director
​South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University—B.F.A.
Appointed 2022
PictureFine Arts Distinction Overview