Arts & Performance
Visual Arts
- Category:
- Arts & Performance
- Season:
- Year-round
Visual arts at GCPS is studio work — drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, printmaking, jewelry and digital design — plus exhibitions and juried competitions. It is the one arts program GCPS offers in every school, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
What Visual Arts is
- Art class at every level. GCPS says visual arts courses are offered in all 81 elementary schools, 31 middle schools and 27 high schools.
- High school electives can include Ceramics, Digital Design, Drawing & Painting, Graphics, Jewelry & Metalcrafts, Photography, Printmaking and Sculpture. Comprehensive I and II are the prerequisites for most advanced courses.
- Exhibitions: GCPS says its art students took part in 796 exhibitions in one school year. The district's Tapestry exhibit fills the lobby of the GCPS central office in Suwanee every winter, with work rotating by cluster.
- Juried competitions such as the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, where GCPS students earn Gold and Silver Keys every year.
What Visual Arts is not
- Not a performing ensemble — no concerts, no auditions to be in class.
- Not the same everywhere. The course list depends on the school's teachers and kilns, so not every high school offers every elective.
- An art club is not the same as the class, and not every school has one.
- Not a portfolio by default. A strong portfolio is selected and built on purpose.
Who runs it
The art teacher at the school. The GCPS Fine Arts office runs Tapestry and district exhibitions. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are run by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, and the Georgia art region is administered by SCAD. Teachers usually choose and submit work for shows.
Who runs this at your child's school is a school question. Ask the front office or the director who runs the program. GCPS Insider does not keep a live director list and cannot tell you who the director is. Please do not email us to find a director, rehearsal time, fee, audition date, or roster.
Year at a glance
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Fall | Classes start and portfolio and competition work begins. Ask the art teacher for this year's Scholastic deadline. |
| Winter | SOTA Art & Design portfolios for incoming students are due in person the first Friday after Thanksgiving break. |
| February–March | Tapestry at the GCPS central office (past example: Feb. 19–March 24, 2026; confirm the 2027 dates with the art teacher). March is Youth Art Month. |
| Spring | School art shows, AP portfolio submissions where offered, and senior capstones for students pursuing the Fine Arts Diploma Seal. |
By grade
- Elementary: Every GCPS elementary school has a visual arts teacher. Some schools add an art club.
- Middle: Visual arts is a connections class, and 8th Grade Advanced Visual Arts is on the GCPS course list.
- High: Comprehensive I and II, then electives by medium. SOTA at Central Gwinnett has an Art & Design conservatory that admits by portfolio.
Time and logistics
Mostly a school-day class. Shows, competitions and club meetings add some evenings, and advanced students work on portfolios outside class. Ask when the school's art show is and whether families are invited to Tapestry when your child's work is on display — the art teacher sends that notice.
Money
There is no single GCPS visual arts price, and we will not quote one. Ask about any course or materials fee, sketchbooks and supplies, competition entry costs, and framing for shows. Ask about help for families who cannot pay.
How Georgia scores it
Visual arts is judged on the work. Scholastic Art & Writing gives regional Gold Keys, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions, and Gold Key work advances to national judging. Georgia's Fine Arts Diploma Seal goes to graduates who complete a fine arts pathway (three credits in one art form plus a fourth fine arts or approved creative-industry credit), 20 hours of arts-related community service in their senior year, two or more arts-related extracurriculars and a capstone project. GCPS graduates earned 1,767 seals in May 2024. A named award, a juried show, an AP score or the seal counts later. “Took art” on its own does not.
Who it tends to fit
- Good fit: a kid who makes things on their own time and will keep a sketchbook.
- Think twice: if the child wants a performing group or a team schedule — chorus, band or theater may fit better.
How kids get on Visual Arts
- Every student takes art in elementary school. In middle and high school, choose it as an elective.
- Ask the counselor which art electives your high school offers and in what order.
- Ask the art teacher whether there is an art club or National Art Honor Society chapter.
- Ask how work is chosen for Tapestry, Scholastic and other shows.
Not every elective, club or exhibition exists at every GCPS school, and offerings change year to year. Confirm at your child's school before you plan around it.
Questions to ask the director
- Which art electives does the school offer, and in what order?
- Is there an art club, and when does it meet?
- How is work chosen for Tapestry and Scholastic?
- Do you offer AP Art and Design?
- What supplies or fees do families cover?
- How does a student work toward the Fine Arts Diploma Seal here?
- When is the school art show?
Specialized option (not the neighborhood default)
This list is incomplete on purpose. We only list arts programs we have verified on official GCPS pages.
- School of the Arts (SOTA) at Central Gwinnett High School is the district's arts-centric high school program. The Conservatory is audition- or portfolio-based and mostly takes incoming 9th graders. SOTA Fellows is application-only with no audition. Students from outside the Central Gwinnett zone must qualify for a permissive transfer and provide their own transportation, and both programs list an academic standing requirement. Applications for 2027–28 are due Nov. 30, 2026. Details Art & Design is one of the SOTA conservatories, with a portfolio review and then a live demonstration round.
Still verifying. We have not published a school-by-school list for this program and we will not invent one. Browse the schools directory and check a school's own fine arts page, and tell us what your school offers — that link is for adding a school, not for asking who the director is.
Who runs this at your child's school is a school question. Ask the front office or the director who runs the program. GCPS Insider does not keep a live director list and cannot tell you who the director is. Please do not email us to find a director, rehearsal time, fee, audition date, or roster.
What to do this week
Ask the art teacher which electives come next and how work is picked for shows. If your child is serious, start a portfolio folder now.