Visual Arts Newsletter

The students are still working in committees to finalize things for the last part of the school year. It is hard to believe that it is now past the midterm point of MP3! After our next VA Student Leadership Meeting on March 11th, we will have more updates for you. With all of the snow days as well as a few other days off, February went fast.

Fundraising Committee: Cody, Isabella M, Arnica and Mia

UPCOMING "DINE OUT": Many of you have asked for additional "dine out" opportunities so save the date~~ MARCH 4th: Chick-fil-A (by the Valley Mall) from 4-9pm. A flyer will be coming soon. You MUST tell them you are ordering to support BISFA visual arts for us to get the 10% profit from your order. You can dine in, carry out, and use the drive through or APP to order. JUST REMEMBER to let them know you are with BISFA visual arts fundraiser or show them the flyer that is coming soon.

We have three new students that may be joining the fundraiser committee which is great! The first ever "Flower Gram" VA fundraiser that was held during lunch shifts the week of February 9th brought in $142 for the visual arts department! We want to thank the VA Fundraising Committee for all of their hard work making 50 pipe-cleaner bouquets over the snowstorm on their days off, as well as spending their lunch shifts selling them. The flowers and notes were delivered by the team to students throughout the school on Friday the 13th. The deliveries made lots of people smile!

• Slogan~ We Have the “FUN”ds!
• Mission~ To raise money for the visual arts department.
• Vision~ To have available funds for trips, including larger ones.

Two more VA staff appreciation things are being planned for this year. More info coming soon.

• Slogan~ Give to Others Who Care
• Mission~ Make staff feel appreciated.
• Vision~ VA staff feels appreciated.

This committee is working out a process to get more information posted and more students highlighted.

Go to Instagram and follow their page bisfavaofficial

• Slogan~ Av Arte Est Vita "From Art Comes Life"
• Mission~ To showcase our visual arts department to the community within and outside of the BISFA community.
• Vision~ To keep the community informed about BISFA visual arts.

We are hoping for a student-led/organized spring event to be planned. This would be an opportunity for those students that want to participate in a get-together outside of the school day. It would be organized by students and not "affiliated with BISFA", but rather a social time for students to do something fun together outside of school. If you have any ideas or thoughts (ex: bowling, going to the movies, hiking, etc) send them our way and we will get them to the VA students leadership team.

• Slogan~ Connecting our Community
• Mission~ To help VA students get to know each other better (outside of school)
• Vision~ To foster relationships between grade levels.

As always, feel free to reach out to us if you need anything.

Kristi Bachtell: kristib71@hotmail.com

Stacy Morris: rasberrypetal1@gmail.com

VA Parent Liaisons

VA Spring Trip to Baltimore Museums: March 12, 2026

We currently have 6 adults signed up to chaperone. We have plenty of room left on the buses. All of the information you need is linked below if you are interested. Please let us know asap by filling out the Parent Chaperone Request form listed below as soon as possible. Also, you should have received the field trip information/permission form from your student with a lot of important information on it. That form should have been returned to school by February 27th. Please ask your student for this form if you have not seen it yet, and have them turn it in ASAP!

American Visionary Arts Museum and The Walters Art Museum.

We will be departing from BISFA at 9:00am sharp! Our first visit will be the American Visionary Arts Museum and their incredible gift shop, followed with lunch at The Cross Street Market by Federal Hill. After lunch, we will visit the Baltimore Museum of Art. We will depart Baltimore at 5:00pm with an estimated 6:30pm arrival time back at BISFA, pending traffic. Please plan to make sure someone is at BISFA to pick up your student at the back of the school on time. If there is any type of delay due to traffic or if we are arriving earlier, please make sure your student has a way to contact you to make pick-up arrangements.

Just a reminder the cost of the trip for each student is NOTHING because of your support of our VA fundraisers! If you are interested in chaperoning the cost will be $12, and now is the time to make sure you have submitted the following 3 forms to BISFA this school year:

• School Volunteer Form this is only required if you have not done one THIS school year.
• Mandatory Kroll Form which requires a copy of the front of your driver's license. You will need to make a copy of this form and either bring it to the office with a copy of your license or send both things in with your student. Again, only if you have not done one THIS school year.
• The Parent Chaperone Request Form for you to complete if you are interested in chaperoning. We will notify selected chaperones as soon as possible (by the end of February for those that have all of the listed required paperwork turned into the office).

Shippensburg University Kauffman Gallery visit

Eleventh and twelfth grades will travel to Shippensburg University on Monday Feb. 23 to visit the Kauffman Gallery to view the Scholastic Art 144 Exhibition as well as take a tour of the art department and studio art making spaces. Students will travel by school bus and leave BISFA at 1:00 and return in time for end of the day dismissal. It will be a nice opportunity for students to see the Scholastic 144 art exhibition as Jordyn Rezvani received the Faculty Shout Out award for Socrates and Ben, and Stanley Stottlemyer won 3rd place. Congratulations!

Check out Jordyn's artwork above that was selected for the Bravo Concert Contest at the Maryland Theatre. Congratulations!

Be sure to save the dates for some upcoming art shows. More information will come soon.

University of Maryland High School Show

• Awards Reception/Exhibit (all entries) - Thursday, Feb 26 - 6:30-7:30pm - USMH Hospitality Center.
• Winning artworks will be on display in USMH Main Lobby March 2nd - 16th

Business of Art Symposium at the Delaplane

BISFA Senior Class Exhibition

• Exhibition and opening reception at Hagerstown Community College’s Kepler Theater Art Gallery.
• The opening reception will be March 27th from 6:00 - 8:00pm and the exhibit will run from March 27th through March 31st.

BISFA Spring Exhibition

• Opening reception - Friday, April 17th from 5:00 to 6:30 pm in the BISFA Lobby.

• The exhibit will run from April 17th to May 8th

• The musical will be: April 18th, 19th, 24th and 25th

News from Mr. Geiman:

Grade 9 - Design I :

This course is a continuation of the Foundations of Art course. Students are studying the elements of art and design. Each week or so we focus on a different element of art. This week, students are focusing on the element of color and creating a basic color wheel. They will later use the color wheel, or parts of it, to create a color themed composition of choice in their journals. Next up, the students will focus on the element of value and create a series of value bar exercises using a variety of mark making media.

Grade 9 - 3D Studio Art I

Students will be introduced to three-dimensional art forms with an emphasis on the introduction to materials, and techniques used in ceramics and sculpture processes. They will explore foundational practices in three-dimensional design tasks and have a ton of fun in doing so. Students will begin by creating a simple pinch pot and work their way up to using the potter’s wheel! Students have already completed two pinch pot projects and are currently working on an advanced pinch pot project in which they must attach at least two pots together to create an elaborate vase form.

Grade 11 - 3D Studio Art III

This class builds on the technical and conceptual foundations of the previous two courses however students will be given more freedom to explore topics and processes of personal interest. To begin, students have been given the opportunity to create works of art of choice for various contests and charitable events. Next up, students will begin focusing on sculpting facial feature to attach to various wheel or hand-build vessels.

Grade 12 - Special Topic Studio Art

This advanced level class will focus on current topics of interest to both the students and contemporary artists. As a group, students will decide the focus of their course of study throughout the semester. In the beginning, students will work collectively on preparation for their senior exhibition at HCC. In addition to matting and framing their artwork, they will create a group installation project which will be installed at HCC as part of their senior exhibition. Post exhibition, students will focus on a special topic of interest to be determined. Previous groups had created workworks and curated an art exhibition to bring awareness to special topics, brought in guest artists for thematic painting and fiber based workshops, and created murals for local nonprofits and made artwork for community events.

Grade 12 - AP 3-D Art and Design

Students are continuing to create artworks that support their personal statement of inquiry with the goal of achieving synthesis with their ideas, materials and processes that they use. Currently students are working on their sixth project which encompasses creating a type of wearable of body adornment sculpture.

News from Ms. Merchant: 2D

2D Art & Design I
Students are working on carious perspective assignments, and introduction to color theory and painting.

2D Studio II

Students are working on design, using text as an element, studying hand anatomy and drawing from direct observation.

2D AP Art & Design & 2D AP Drawing

Students are continuing to work on their sustained investigations, as well as developing concepts in various 2D mediums, both traditional and digital.

2D Honors Studio

Students are working on experimenting with mediums, as well as preparing works for dual credit courses, contests, and portfolios.

2D Studio IV

Students are working on self portraits in their individual styles and select mediums. They are also conducting research and completing a comparative study by investigating various techniques and artists while developing concepts for a surrealism composition.

2D Junior Portfolio

Students are working on art history, and developing/organizing works for their college portfolio.

2D Drawing Freshmen

Students are learning about the ruler by measuring and marking with precision. They are also studying various techniques to enlarge images with accuracy.

*REMINDER: Don't forget to purchase the Barnes and Noble book that was created in collaboration between the writing department and the visual arts department. The writing department wrote the stories and the visual arts students illustrated them. The book is for sale as a fundraiser for BISFA at this link: https://a.co/d/iefwaOv

Click the blue link button above to find out all about the upcoming art contests and student service learning hour opportunities. There are many things happening this time of year!