Welcome to the NMS Art Department
“Art is a universal language and through it each nation makes its own unique contribution to the culture of mankind.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The subject Art has a special significance at the Nelson Mandela School in all grades, since the curricularly anchored use of the Visual Journal from grade 1 to grade 13 continuously teaches interdisciplinary skills not only in the practical arts, but also in the linguistic-reflective and aesthetic-investigative area. Artistic learning processes are illustrated and verbally documented and reflected in the Visual Journal, work results are analyzed and evaluated in a cultural context.
Therefore, classes are held two hours per week from grade 1 to 10 (with the exception of one hour in grade 7), basic and elective compulsory courses are offered in the Orientation Level (Y11), basic and advanced courses in the Upper School Levels (Y12/Y13 Abitur stream), IB Visual Arts in Standard and Higher Level. An early artistic-aesthetic additional support can be received from grade 5 on in the Workshop/Art Club and from grade 7 on in the Elective Art Course. The Excellency Program has been installed to support and challenge gifted students. The Open Art Studio takes place on about six to eight weekends a year. Mainly students of the upper grades participate in the Open Art Studio, which provides them with additional creative work opportunities over a continuous period of about five hours. Regular field trips to out-of-school cultural learning sites enrich our students' experiences and open up opportunities for productive interaction with museum education and art reception, as students create materials for on-site aesthetic research and hands-on work and work as live speakers in exhibitions. In year levels 9 and 10, pairs of students teach a self-planned double lesson of art in elementary school, adapted to the appropriate learning group. High school students are sent to other schools in the region as Visual Journalists to implement the format of aesthetic research with the Visual Journal.
The practical work in art plays a major role at the Nelson Mandela School, as art is a universal language beyond all linguistic barriers. Painting, drawing, design, sculpture and digital work in different social settings opens up a rapid integration of all students. Independent and self-organized work finds its fulfillment especially in the student-friendly design of the art rooms and in the Open Door Concept.
The art department works continuously with a cultural agent and maintains various partnerships - for example, a cultural partnership with the Bauhaus Archive and the Art Center of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (JKS). Collaborations with AEDES (Architecture Forum), Humboldt Forum and the Fashion Department of the UdK are being sought.
The art department has been headed by Florentine Baumann since 2009.