Private Middle School Art Education

Visual Arts

In keeping with the integrated approach to learning in all divisions at Brimmer, art projects are often interdisciplinary in nature, with attention paid to the cultural significance and historical context of the material. Students learn about the artistic process, experiment with a variety of art forms, and expand their critical vocabulary.

Music

The Middle School music program strikes a balance between performing ensembles and academic music classes that introduce students to world music and classical orchestral styles. May Chorale, the Middle School chorus, performs a variety of musical styles and participates in the spring musical. The Instrumental Band performs jazz and classical repertoires and plays in smaller ensembles.

Drama

Middle School students present a fall play and a spring musical each year, both open to any interested student by audition. In order to gain a full experience of theater arts, students learn the basics of lighting and staging as well as acting. Classes and productions make use of the Ruth Corkin Theatre, with seating for 300 and a professional computerized light and sound room.

Meet the Staff

List of 6 members.

Bill Jacob

Creative Arts Department Chair, Middle & Upper School Drama Teacher

617-278-2330

BIO
As a teacher, Bill believes in progressive education that emphasizes a student-centered, constructivist approach to active learning that stresses teacher facilitation, cooperative problem solving, and individual reflection. He is convinced by Carol Dweck’s research that classroom environment and teacher attitudes toward intelligence and learning influence the classroom experience and learning outcomes, and subscribes to Gardner’s theories about multiple intelligences and the need to adapt teaching approaches to support individual learning styles. Bill believes that good teaching begins with personal connection, understanding, and care, and that an understanding of the cognitive and developmental sciences, as well as current best practices, provides the tools necessary for a growth-minded approach to education.

Bill has taught theatre, public speaking, and creative writing at Brimmer for over 20 years. He is also a cooperating practitioner with Emerson College and an adjunct professor in Lesley University’s Creative Arts and Learning program. Bill grew up in Italy and Venezuela and worked in New York City as a professional actor for several years before moving to Boston to work as a theatre artist and educator in Boston and Provincetown. His plays have been produced by the Speakeasy Theatre Company, Stage One of Providence, Harwich Junior Theatre, and Emerson College, and he has received numerous grants to write plays collaboratively with students in area schools, among others. For the last few summers, Bill has worked for Johns Hopkins University as a site director for the Centers for Talented Youth program in Monterrey, Mexico, Great Barrington, Mass., and Princeton University. He has enjoyed associations with Joe Papp’s Public Theatre, Soho Rep, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Delaware Rep, among others. He has toured nationally with Los Titeres de Chaciporra, a Lorca farce, and internationally with the Royal Theatre of Spain’s production of Life Is a Dream, and was a founding member of the street theatre group, Commedia 'del I.R.T.

Bill holds a Massachusetts Certification in Drama (K-12) and English (5-12) and is a member of the American Association of Theatre Educators (AATE), the National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP), and the Actors Equity Association (AEA). On behalf of Brimmer’s CAP Program in collaboration with the Charles Sumner School of Roslindale, Bill has accepted the ARTS | LEARNING (2017) Outstanding Community Arts Education Collaborative Award and an Outstanding Community Service Award from Parents in Independent Schools Network (PIN) in 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2015. Bill has also received a Boston City Council Resolution (2009) Recognition for Sustained Community Service in the Arts, and an Outstanding Arts Educator in Drama award by the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education (1998).
Kathryn Lee

Director of Innovation and Design, MS/US Arts Teacher

617-278-2368

BIO
As a visual arts teacher, Kathryn aims to promote creative problem solving and foster creative confidence in her students. She works to create an environment where students are not afraid to take risks and are able to create things they never thought imaginable.

Before joining the Brimmer team in 2010, Kathryn served as an art faculty member at St. George’s School in Newport, R.I., and Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn., focusing primarily on photography, drawing, and jewelry making. Kathryn also spent several summers serving as art director for the American School in Switzerland’s Summer Language Program.

Kathryn is passionate about the fine arts and loves nothing more than sharing her enthusiasm with her students and challenging them to instill creativity in their lives, both in the classroom and beyond. It gives Kathryn a tremendous sense of pride to encourage Brimmer students to see the world around them through a creative lens by using art history, cultural significance, and contemporary practices as inspiration.

Outside of the classroom, Kathryn continues to express and develop her own ideas as a photographer and textile designer. She has found the work she does with her students at Brimmer inspirational to her own creative process and practices.
Brent Ridge

Middle & Upper School Art Teacher

BIO
Brent is a teaching artist at Brimmer, teaching Art, Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture, and Ceramics. He believes in using the arts to communicate between cultures and his teaching builds on his experiences of creating art and getting his students to understand the process of making. Brent’s arts philosophy is rooted in observation: the key to understanding and practicing art. For him, seeing the world around us enables us to create and imagine; a framework that will help students tap into their innate abilities of observation and imagination to expand their visual horizons.

Brent’s arts experience ranges from working for museums, galleries, and design firms as an attendant, designer, archivist, art handler, restorer, and photographer. Originally from Flint, Mich., Brent spent a decade working in New York City as an artist before moving to Glasgow, Scotland, to pursue his master’s degree. Before joining the Brimmer community in 2015, Brent taught a variety of visual arts in the Boston area, including painting and drawing at the Minuteman Summer Program in Lexington. As a teaching artist, he continues to explore and exhibit his work of painting and a variety of artistic media and approaches.

Brimmer’s global focus offers Brent a chance to approach programming through exploration—connecting culture, history, and artistic thinking to prepare the student to visually interact with the contemporary world. He appreciates the opportunities Brimmer provides to teach a vibrant arts education using all media: drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, and photography.

Brent holds a Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure certification, is a member of the Massachusetts Art Educator Association, and serves as a painting faculty member for the New Art Center in Newton. He has received a number of awards and recognitions, including a Merit Award Scholarship from the Vermont Studio Center and arts awards from the Michigan State University Arts Department.

When Brent is not in his studio honing his own skills in painting, drawing, and photography, he visits local art museums and galleries and maintains a website for his work. When he travels and there is an art show in the area, chances are he has stopped in to see it. He also enjoys skiing, golfing, and fishing with his family.
Luca Antonucci

After School Music Program Director, MS/US Music Teacher
Max Holman

Middle & Upper School Music Teacher
Andrea Underhill-Curtin

Middle School Drama & English Teacher
BIO
As an Arts educator, Andrea is inspired by the power of a good story. Whether you are studying or making, it is a gift to examine the people, places, and cultures that transport us from one place to another. Andrea encourages the use of the imagination, creativity and supports her students by asking questions to coach them in their learning. Her goal is to ignite critical thinking that results in their discovery of how they want to impact the world around them.

The most effective teachers Andrea had while growing up were the ones who gave her opportunities to explore her strengths and growing edges because both can be helpful guides in life. She holds a Masters in Theater Education from Emerson College, and is looking forward to continuing her learning with the Brimmer community.

Andrea was born and raised in New England, predominantly NH, and has a strong affinity to Vermont- she chooses to abstain from the maple syrup argument. Outside of work, Andrea enjoys a good work out, baking, and of course attending live performances.

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