The Arts

US boys love to create and perform. Our students are singers, dancers, musicians, actors, painters, filmmakers and photographers. There is a certain freedom at an all-boys’ school that allows students to feel comfortable exploring their creative and artistic sides. 

 

With the visual, musical and dramatic arts playing such a prominent role in our students' lives, the programs at US go well beyond the usual and are recognized as among the best in Northeast Ohio. Today, no boy graduates from US without a two-year exposure to the fine arts. Many students continue this commitment, acting in school plays, participating in the glee club and orchestra, and taking arts electives.

Visual arts are embedded in the primary curriculum as boys create art relating to themes they study in the classroom. Working in a spacious studio, students create two- and three-dimensional projects with a variety of media.

The Upper School's Visual Arts program begins with an Introduction to the Arts course that offers experience in various artistic disciplines. Within the Visual Arts, students continue with specialized courses in a medium of their choosing including: Applied Engineering, Architecture, Digital Art, Digital Fabrication, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Technical Design, and Woodworking. These subjects may be continued with advanced courses and students may explore multiple mediums. Within these classes, students will develop both their understanding of the theory and the technical skills within the discipline. Students learn and use advanced programs and machinery in a number of art classes including CNC fabrication, laser cutting, 3D computer modeling, and design software. Juniors and seniors can apply for Strnad Fellowships in Creativity to complete individual projects to advance their personal learning.

The drama program offers a wonderful venue for boys to explore their social and emotional depths, focusing on theatre as a global hub, character development, public speaking, and self-expression. Boys in grades 5-8 explore their creativity and delve deeply into their imaginations in drama class. The program believes in giving students a wide range of experience and instruction in which to develop their skills through scene work, monologues, improvisation, and much more. After school, the department stages two major, co-educational productions each year, a fall play and a spring musical. 

The Upper School drama program provides students with many opportunities to develop as actors and to build greater self- and perfoming- confidence in a classroom or full-scale production setting.   Students may study technical theater aspects in an elective course and also work in sound and lighting, scene building, and other behind-the-scenes aspects of our theater productions. Each year, the drama program creates three extracurricular productions: a fall and a winter play, and a spring musical. Productions are open to all students and rehearse in the late afternoon/early evening to accommodate students who participate in athletics and other extracurricular activities. Students interested in drama courses start with an Introduction to the Arts course that offers exposure to a variety of artistic disciplines. We proudly count numerous Broadway and Hollywood actors among our alumni.