FIS Upper School Visual Arts Department

Here you can learn more about the facilities we use for the Upper School visual arts classes, find out about the equipment we have in our studios and view the plans and photos of the new art studios being constructed at the FIS Main Campus.

Art Studios for the Future: How FIS Designed the ideal Visual Arts teaching arena for 21st century students

Above left: The old art rooms for the Upper School at FIS (in red) totalling 235 qm. Above right: The plan for the new facilities, with three purpose-built studios exceeding 310 qm in the new Arts & Sciences center. Click below for a slide show of the plans and construction and completed structure photos of the art studios in the new building.

The newly completed art studios at FIS are the result of years of planning. Designs for these studios began with rough skeetches made by the art teachers in consultation with Clive Fenner (the project manager) and the architects at H2L2, who ultimately designed the facilities. Care was taken to ensure that the new studios were the ideal teaching environs for students pursuing the International Baccalaureate program in art, from grade 6 to 12. The new facilities were designed as replacements for the aging and painfully cramped art studios which we had used for the past 18 years. Though adequate, these old studios lacked light, storage space and sufficient plumbing for our increased needs.

Our old Upper School art studios were well-equipped, however. In fact, they were so ful that they had begun to outgrow their usefulness. All of the equipment in the old studios was transferred to the new facilties with us when we moved in October 2006 where we enjoy a greater amount of both storage and studio space.

Each of our new studios include 9 qm skylights (with blackout-screens) in each of the art rooms for superb lighting throughout the school day. There are seperate offices/storage facilties for each of the faculty and a distinct, fire-proofed kiln-room and clay storage area. Each art studio is in excess of 104 qm and has its own fume hood/spray booth, multiple purpose-designed sinks, seperated trash bins, over 36 qm of cabinet/shelving space and specially designed moveable wall-panels which travel in grooves along the ceiling and can be positioned virtually anywhere along the main axis of the studio. Each studio is outifitted with projection screens and a digital beamer fixed to the ceiling. All three studios face northwest across the Taunus mountain range and have floor to ceiling windows and doors along the west and north walls which will open onto a massive continuous balcony overlooking the forest and the new artificial-turf football pitch. A distinct, skylit exhibition area of 36 qm has also been designed into the new extension which allows for regular rotating art exhibits.

Views into the new Art Studios and exhibition gallery at FIS - click on the various slide show links below to see the development of this remarkable space for art education.

Slide Shows of the new Arts & Sciences Center's progress: Click below for a time-lapse tour of the planning, construction and move into the new art facilities at FIS

Click here for a December 2005 slide show of images of the site taken at the beginning of construction as well as original plans and designs of the new FIS Arts & Sciences Center as it was being conceived.

Click here for a May 2006 slide show of the Richtfest celebration, which features interior images of the FIS art studios as they were being built!

Click here for a September 2006 slide show of images showing the interior of the new art studios as they near completion, as well as exterior shots of the building.

Click here for an October 2006 slide show of images taken of the packing and move into the new facilities as well as shots of the dedictaion ceremony and interior and exterior views of the finished studios.