The Visual Arts Cluster provides an intense education in the studio arts: drawing, design, painting, printmaking, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and jewelry. Special Advanced Placement art courses enhance the curriculum and prepare students for professional schools and future career options.

Showcasing student art in the Bridge Gallery is an opportunity not unlike that of the professional art world. Seniors are required to present a qualifying exhibition complete with preparation, installation, formal openings and critique by faculty. These shows take place every two weeks in the fall.

Spring shows are competetive exhibitions and often include the work of local professional artists as well as work from each studio area. Additionally, students have been invited to exhibit work at the Dallas Museum of Art, the African

American Museum, Dallas City Hall, and the Texas Education Agency offices. Student Ryan Dunn designed the ceramic mural that is a permanent fixture on the facade of the Adam's Mark Hotel Conference Center in downtown Dallas.

Nancy Miller, AP Drawing, was the principal author of the Texas Essential Knowledges and Skills, the standards for visual arts mandated by the Texas Education Agency.

Instructors Nancy Miller and Charlotte Chambliss teach AP Drawing, AP Studio, and AP Art History. High scores on national AP Exams are testimony to the professional level of instruction provided by these teachers. Charlotte Chambliss has been named to the AP Board and participates in reviewing secondary AP Art Portfolios on a national level. Both Miller and Chambliss conduct AP Art workshops regionally and nationally.