At MSC, all students participate in studio art classes. In addition, art activities are integrated into the daily study of the academic disciplines. Children in all grades learn about the many genres of art and the formal aspects of art including color, line and composition through the use of art materials in many media. The creative process is designed to reproduce that of a real working artist, from ideas suggested in a sketchbook, through execution, to review by their peers and display for the public. As part of the art program, children visit museums and take advantage of the many art resources in New York City.

At MSC, we believe that art is both a process and a product: children learn to approach a problem creatively and expressively while they also create works of art. Studio work is primary and central, a way to think critically and problem solve in the various media. The studio experience follows one pattern at all developmental levels. Students are introduced to materials, techniques and concepts, and then have the opportunity to explore or practice, and finally use their knowledge to solve a particular problem or complete a specific project. Each student has a sketchbook that is used for planning, contemplation and response. What shifts over the years is the balance between process and product. In the early grades, process has greater or equal importance to product; after age 10, when children's thinking becomes more conceptual and more focused on representation, the focus may be on a specific product from the start.

We encourage students to develop a vocabulary to talk about art and visual expression and to feel comfortable expressing their aesthetic responses to their own and others' work. We encourage the children to explore the relationship between art and other disciplines. And we link their art experience to the curriculum in each classroom, including language arts, math and especially social studies. MSC has a full-time art teacher and a dedicated art room.