TVS Arts Program
Trinity Valley School provides a strong, well-grounded training in the arts. Our program offers an experience beneficial to all students, while at the same time providing engaging and challenging opportunities for those planning to pursue arts after graduation from TVS.
The role of fine arts in a student’s education at Trinity Valley School is multifaceted. Creative thinking and problem-solving are taught at all grade levels in the visual arts, music, theatre, and dance programs.
It is through the arts curricula that the TVS student is presented with problems and tools to create new, inventive and individual solutions. The real value comes from elucidating any “correct” answer from all of the possible answers, at which point the learner is compelled to internalize the results of that decision-making process. This is creativity. It is a tremendous asset in any endeavor, from the sciences and mathematics to law and back again to the arts.
The Trinity Valley School Fine Arts program is designed to foster the growth and success of each individual student. The studio experience is enriched by a series of visiting artists and cultural opportunities throughout the year including visits to museums, symphonies, dance performances, and plays. Students also attend curricula-course-driven fieldtrips, workshops, and various conferences. Many TVS students are invited on an annual basis to attend the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest Fine Arts Festival.
The creative team at TVS employs both traditional and non-traditional methods to expand and enrich each student’s creative capabilities. It is important for all students to understand the fundamental aspects of these disciplines and recognize that these experiences build intellectual curiosity and academic growth.
QUALITY OF OUR FACULTY
The Fine Arts faculty at TVS brings a multitude of credentials, talents, and abilities. Each faculty member is professionally active in his or her discipline and remains current in that field by attending workshops and presentations nationally and abroad.
The Upper School visual art instructors are practicing artists who have participated in local and regional art exhibits consistently over the past 20 years. They have master's degrees in each of their disciplines.
TVS has four full-time art faculty members who have previously taught college courses in addition to teaching a wide range of age levels. These colleges include TCU, UTA, UNT, Texas Wesleyan, Ohio State University, and Columbus College of Art & Design. They have also taught various extended-education classes and museum programs.
The drama department consists of two faculty members who have worked in professional theatre and acted in plays locally and across the country. Both have international teaching experience.
Our Shakespeare program directors performed scenes from Much Ado About Nothing on stage at the Globe in London, England.
Alumni
Students are fully prepared for the academic rigor of college coursework after their fine arts experience at TVS. By graduation, they have developed a variety of constructive skills, critical thinking skills, and intellectual curiosity.
Students go on to some of the finest schools in the country to study architecture, design, industrial design, graphic arts, the visual arts, music, theatre, and more.
Some of the colleges that have accepted TVS graduates are the following:
- Cornell University College of Architecture & Planning, NY
- Rhode Island School of Design, RI
- The Julliard School, NY
- The Cooper Union, NY
- Virginia Commonwealth, VA
- Southern Methodist University, TX
- Pratt Institute, NY
- Maryland Art Institute, MD
- Savannah College of Art & Design, GA
- Washington University, St Louis, MO
- Cincinnati Conservatory, OH
- Northwestern University, IL
- New York University, NY
- Carnegie Mellon, PA
- Rutgers University, NJ
- Rice School of Architecture, TX
- Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Faculty Awards & Honors
- Jo-Ann Mulroy (Fine Arts Chair) received a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction Award for excellence in teaching and for the encouragement of and dedication to the academic success of students at TVS, 2011.
- Gene Sessa (US Theatre) received The Barry H. Friedman Hero Award from the Score-A-Goal in the Classroom organization for Outstanding Theatre Teacher in North Texas, 2011.
Faculty Research
- Hilmsen, Germany – 2010 – Janet Chaffee – Painting & drawing residency – Once Upon a Time… Grant
- Anderson Ranch – 2010 – Jo-Ann Mulroy & Marcy Roten – Photography workshop – Once Upon a Time… Grant
- Santa Fe Clay – 2011 – Jo-Ann Mulroy – Ceramic workshop – Professional Development
- Cliff House Studio 2012 – Entire visual arts department ceramic workshop – Professional Development
- Santa Fe Clay – 2012 – Entire visual arts department ceramic workshop – Once Upon a Time Grant
- Association of Texas Photography Instructors – 2015 – Marcy Roten – UTA, Arlington, TX
- Bullseye Glass – 2016 – Jo-Ann Mulroy – Karl Harron workshop international master class in fusing
- Anderson Ranch 2016 – Janet Chaffee – Painterly Prints workshop – Professional Development
- EE Ford Summer Teachers’ Colloquium for Acting – 2016 – Gene Sessa – Santa Fe, NM
- Independent Schools Experiential Network Conference – 2016 Bill Buck – Science, Math, Art, Santa Fe Prep, NM
- United States Institute for Theatre Technologies Convention – 2017 – Nate Davis – St. Louis, MO