Visual Arts

Discover the Artist Within You

The visual arts are an integral part of Suffield Academy’s curriculum. When you walk into the Tremaine Visual Arts Center, you will find artists pursuing a variety of interests—from painting and drawing to drafting, photography, ceramics, and sculpture. The foundation of the teaching philosophy in the arts department is the belief that everyone has potential. Here, self-inquiry begins and fundamental skills are taught and learned. Teachers work closely with individual students to find their strengths. Students work independently, but with close faculty mentoring, and explore and develop their own ideas.

Artistic expression is believed to be the impetus of self-expression, which is the cornerstone of a liberal arts education. At Suffield, we believe educational processes that deny humanity's artistic nature limit what and how we learn. The visual arts program encourages students to examine the artist's methods and learn how the artist thinks. The curriculum is supportive of both students with less experience tapping into their creative resources and those with remarkable talent.

Suffield’s visual arts curriculum teaches students to:
- Acknowledge the artists within themselves
- Acquire fundamental skills and develop authentic artistic expression
- Understand that the skills needed by the artist are related to those used by scholars in other disciplines

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Tremaine Visual Arts Center is a bright, uplifting 7,000 square foot space that is the home of Suffield’s Department of Visual Arts. The sky-lit upstairs studio is used for painting, drawing, and digital media courses.

The bottom floor of the Tremaine Visual Arts Center has an extensive ceramics studio, the Violich Photography space and darkroom, and the Lee Roberts ’74 Gallery. Ceramics Studio is located on the lower level and houses a variety of ceramics classes along with workshops and open studios.

The Set Design Shop is attached to the Jeanice Seaverns Performing Arts Center. This 2,400 square foot workspace is used to build theater sets and has hosted woodworking and architectural classes. It has sophisticated equipment to support all of these purposes.

Jenny Graham

Jenny Graham

Chair, Visual Arts Department
Erica Caginalp

Erica Caginalp

Visual Arts Department
Garrett VanderVoort

Garrett VanderVoort

Visual Arts Department