Normal

Kate Saylor

Art class with Milo is so much more than just a "normal regular" high school art class. It's the class I look forward to the most. It's the class that's not a class because AP art is something magical.Through our art we can tell stories, we can express emotion and we can send messages. Art helps us make sense of our crazy world, and broadens our experience and understanding. The arts enable us to imagine the unimaginable, and to connect us to the past, the present, and the future, sometimes simultaneously.

The art room is the place when we can laugh, smile, cry, scream, curl into fetal position, run around like headless chickens, but its also the place where we produce the most amazing pieces of artwork. It's the place where we can be ourself without anyone impeding us. The art room environment is an extremely unique and special. The freedom we have allows us to test limits and take chances allowing us to create incredible art pieces. 

To me art class is the best class of the day. It's the rest from the crazy school day, a break from the tests and the chaos where numbers and grades matter. Milo promotes trying the crazy and impossible things in our art. He pushes us to take risks without worrying about what letter or number will define us. Milo teaches us that it doesn't matter what grade we get, none of that matters as long as you try something new and don't always play it safe.

The Belmont High AP art class have received The Advanced Placement in Studio Art highest state and national honors in the Scholastic Art competition, winning more gold awards in the area of painting than any other art program in the state for the last 12 years.

We have won the American Vision Award (best in state) 10 times in the last 15 years that’s more than any other program in the area of painting in the state ever.

In 2009 a student was honored with a Senatorial citation for excellence in art presented by the Massachusetts Senators.

Our students have received the highest scholarships totaling approximately 60 million dollars from the most prestigious schools both art schools and universities over the last 18 years.Previous students have gone off to work at some of the most prestigious companies; Pixar, Google, Microsoft, ABC Studio’s, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Under Armor, 20th Century Studio’s, and New York and Company.

This class is also the only possible way for any of us to be accepted into an Art School or an Art Program. Out of the 16 seniors in the class of 2015, 10 of us are pursuing art as a major. and 16 out of 16 are pursuing art in some capacity. Without this art class it will be nearly impossible to attend art school and definitely will be impossible to get scholarship money. We've received 60 million dollars in scholarship money. All of that will be gone if this class is cut. 

Our class is not normal. I don't want normal, and honestly, I'm dreading the time at the end of the year in a few short months when we all must return to normalcy. This class is the first and last class I'm ever going participate in thats ever like this. It is truly an incredible and legendary class and it would be devastating for this class to be cut and deny students from experiencing the magic. 

Architecture Assignment AP1: "Bridges"

50-something Assignment AP1: "Insomniac"

Linear Motion assignment AP2: "Silks"