The low sound of scratching pencils. The shuffling of creamy paper. The chatter of students. Washed in warm yellow lights, my Art Spectrum class at Palo Alto High School was a comforting haven in a sea of academic pressure.
While the Art Spectrum room’s peaceful atmosphere isn’t going away, things are about to change.
Starting next school year, the Art Spectrum course will be split into two lanes, each focusing more in-depth on 2D and 3D mediums, respectively.
Although the Art Spectrum class will be missed, I think the switch to 2D and 3D art lanes is overall a positive. As someone who took Art Spectrum freshman year, I found the class fun and welcoming, but I felt frustrated that I was relearning a lot of the concepts I already knew and had learned in middle school. However, the new lanes offer an opportunity for students to opt to focus on specific aspects of art.
In an email exchange with The Paly Voice, art teacher Sue La Fetra said she hopes this decision will encourage more students to participate in Paly’s art curriculum.
“We felt that Art Spectrum had become a barrier to students getting into the type of art they love,” La Fetra stated. “By high school, most students have a preference for 2D or 3D, and this way students can get into the path they love quicker with more learning and the mediums they prefer.”
This change is great for students who know what kind of medium they want to specialize in. However, because each lane has its separate pathway, students who haven’t fully decided which path to commit to may have to take two years of prerequisite courses before taking advanced classes if they change their mind.
Sophomore Clair Kwac, who took digital Art Spectrum, an alternative to Art Spectrum, said she liked how the class covered a breadth of topics.
“You were able to try out all the different art mediums of 2D and 3D and pick later which one you’d like to go into,” Kwac said. “Now, you just have to just know [what you want to do] for the rest of your art pathway.”
Art Spectrum was a great introduction to a wide range of materials and concepts over the course of the year. In addition, students who took Art Spectrum had more freedom in deciding what kind of advanced art classes to take.
Still, my favorite unit was after we moved past the basics and started on our multimedia paintings. It felt like a breath of fresh air, of something new.
Freshman Le Do, who took digital Art Spectrum, said the course wasn’t what she expected.
“We only used iPads for two assignments,” Do said. “It was kind of the same assignments that Art Spectrum was doing. … I’m just kind of sad we didn’t do a lot of digital art.”
According to La Fetra, the new 2D Art I class will make more room for digital art and other related projects like printing.
“We’re replacing clay, which was two different projects, with digital stuff,” La Fetra said.
La Fetra added that 3D Art I will be entirely 3D art, such as clay, glass, and other 3D mediums.
By cutting out projects that do not align with their specific area of study, the new lanes ensure that students can focus on what they actually want to do.
