At The Agnes Irwin School, the arts are essential to how girls learn, express themselves, and lead. Our girls create, experiment, and perform, whether painting in the studio, choreographing a dance, composing music, or stepping into the spotlight for a play or musical. They develop artistic technique, creative discipline, and the confidence to take risks and share their voice.
Visual Arts students explore a wide range of artistic disciplines, including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, digital arts, photography, and textile/fabric arts.
In Lower School, students engage in a diverse range of visual arts. Kindergarteners participate in weekly art classes that reinforce classroom learning, while first graders explore skin color through a science lesson and visit to the Barnes Foundation, culminating in large self-portraits. In 2nd grade, students collaborate on a balloon-making project inspired by the book Balloons Over Broadway and create personalized rag dolls to build fine motor skills. Third graders work together on a quilt project and make keepsake pillows, fostering craftsmanship. Fourth graders maintain an art journal to study female artists, and in the spring, they focus on color and design with large-scale scenery painting for their class play.
In Middle School, students explore a wide variety of visual arts, engaging in both 2D and 3D projects that encourage creativity and technical skill. Fifth graders create tissue paper flower collages and literary character portraits, while also contributing to sets, costumes, and props for the 5th grade musical. Sixth graders dive into a Medieval Day performance, creating sets and costumes, and study illuminated letters, calligraphy, graffiti, and bookmaking. Seventh grade students explore photography, stop animation, and printmaking, while 8th grade focuses on design, painting, and sculpture.
Students engage in a dynamic visual arts curriculum that blends creative exploration with professional development. The Senior Capstone Project allows students to showcase their growth, while opportunities like Kiln Ceramics Firing and the pottery Empty Bowls Benefit connect them to community and tradition. Students participate in inter-school exhibitions and field trips to explore the arts scene in Philadelphia, culminating in “Arts Week,” a student-led initiative featuring workshops and speakers.
Courses like Media Arts (Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop), Ceramics (handbuilding, wheel throwing, slip casting, glazing), and Photography provide in-depth exploration of various mediums. Alternatively, students can develop their skills in both traditional and contemporary techniques in classes like Studio Art and Textiles & Design
Dance is a part of each Agnes Irwin girl’s journey, fostering both artistic growth and personal expression.
• May Fair, a time-honored tradition, features creative dances, the cherished maypole weaving, and serves as an early introduction to rhythm, coordination, and creative expression.
• Middle School girls are offered dance class during the winter athletic season, where they learn technique, choreography, and performance skills. The class culiminates in a performance with the Upper School in the annual Dance Motion showcase.
• Upper School Dance Motion is a high-level performance group, focused on advanced choreography, stage presence, and ensemble work that encourages artistic growth, discipline, and confidence through dance.
The dynamic Agnes Irwin theatre program gives Agnes Irwin girls opportunities to perform, produce, and grow as collaborative artists.
• Lower Schoolers take the stage in the 4th grade musical and explore performance skills in dedicated theatre classes.
• Middle School girls build confidence and creativity in the 5th/7th/8th grade musicals, the 6th grade Medieval Day performance, their original oneacts in the 8th grade, and multiple public speaking opportunities.
• Upper School students in our Repertory Company shine in our fall musical and spring play, with the option to dive deeper through electives in Theatre I & II, Musical Theatre, and Public Speaking.
Music is a foundational component of an Agnes Irwin girl’s education, deeply embedded in the academic and cultural fabric of the School.
• Lower School music classes meet twice a week, culminating in the annual Winter Concert, Spring Sing Concert, and Grandparents & Special Guests Day Assembly.
• Middle School’s Grace Notes Choir (grades 5th-8th) performs and rehearses year-round, building vocal skills and teamwork. All MS students engage in World Music Drumming, exploring global rhythms. Music units include: the 5th grade musical, a fun and educational end-of-year performance; 6th grade Medieval Day, an interdisciplinary history/art/music project; and the 7th & 8th grade Musical.
• The Upper School Bel Cantos, a select acapella group (by audition) performs in concerts and festivals around the area. Upper School Chorus (grades 9th-12th) performs in the Winter Concert and at a combined concert with The Haverford School and The Baldwin School.
• Upper School Piano Lab I includes the fundamental basics of piano for beginners, such as technique, music theory, and harmony. Piano Lab II is an intermediate course to continue piano instruction and grow knowledge and skill.
1 In the Textile and Design Studio, students explore sewing, fashion illustration, weaving, embroidery, patterns, and silk screen printing. 2 Lower Schools perform at the annual Spring Sing concert. 3 In our Black Box theater, a versatile space designed for creative expression and performance, dancers rehearse for the annual Dance Motion showcase. 4 Ceramics I and II students explore wheel throwing and hand-building and study clay, glaze, and the firing process. 5 Each year, 7th and 8th grade students stage a musical production, showcasing their talents in performances open to the entire community.
6 In the signature kindergarten art unit on self-portraits, students explore identity through observation, drawing, painting, and creative reflection. 7 Lower School students explore the science of skin color through books, videos, and paint chip matching, then mix their own custom skin tone paint. 8 Lower Schoolers create a ceramic bowl as part of the Empty Bowls project, a service learning initiative that raises awareness about hunger and reflects the School’s commitment to social responsibility. 9 The light-filled Moran Gallery is a creative space where students immerse themselves in drawing, painting, and design work. 10 Upper Schoolers take center stage in a fall musical and a spring play.
SARAH DENIGHT
Upper School Theatre
• DeSales University, BA in Theatre & Education
• British American Dramatic Academy, Certificate Program
• Cabrini University, M.ED Secondary English Certification
• Professional theatre credits in Philadelphia, New York, and regionally
• Darlington Arts Center, Delaware Theatre Company, Upper Darby Summer Stage, Ridley Performing Arts Program - Director and Teaching Artist
• Brave Space Studios, Founding Member/Teaching Artist
BIANCA DEMEO
Lower School Music, Director of Upper School Choral Programs
• M.M. Temple University Boyer College of Music & Dance
• Eastern University, Music Education K-12 Certification
• Upper Darby Summer Stage Musical Director
• Montgomery County Community College Class Piano & Music Fundamentals Instructor
KERI FARROW
Middle School Art, Upper School Set Design
• University of WI-Madison, BS Art Education
• University of San Francisco, MA International and Multicultural Education
• Young Audiences of the Bay Area, Education Director
• Moore College of Art and Design, YAW Art Instructor and Site Coordinator
• Fun2Know podcast, Executive Producer
JUSTIN GIBSON
Photography
• Millersville University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Chico Portfolio Review, with the Charcoal Book Club – Attendee
• Published work with FotoFilmic, Draft Magazine, and the Hand Magazine
TERRI SAULIN
Studio Art & Ceramics
• University of the Arts
• Moore College of Art & Design
• Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery, Member and Press Coordinator, No. 5 Butchie Alley, Owner
• Affiliations: The Clay Studio, InLiquid Art, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists
Lower School Art
• University of the Arts, BFA in Crafts and MAT in Teaching Visual Art
• University of the Arts, Fiber Programs, Lecturer. Continuing Education, Instructor
• Caterpillar Fur, Screen-Printed Textile Design
• Cape May Arts League, Member
Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair
• Lehigh University, BA
• King’s College and The Haverford School, Technical Director and Adjunct Faculty
• The Eagle Theatre, Gaslight Theatre Co., and Pig Iron Theatre, Freelance Technical Direction and Design
REBECCA TENNENBAUM
Studio Art & Graphic Design
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of the Arts
• Lecturer, Tyler School of Art, Temple University
• Lecturer, Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Drexel University
• Artist-in-Residence, Art Futures Program, Philadelphia Museum of Art
CLARE
Middle School Theatre
• NYU Tisch School of the Arts
• Columbia University
• Teaching Artist Certificate, Roundabout Theatre Company
• Teaching Artist, Classical Theatre of Harlem
• Member of Actors Equity Union, professional theatre credits in Philadelphia, New York, and regionally
ELIZABETH WEIGLE
Middle School Music
• Eastman School of Music
• The Juilliard School
• Soprano soloist: American Academy in Rome, English Concert at Carnegie Hall, Opera Boston, Chautauqua Opera, Virginia Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, Colorado Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Apollo’s Fire, American Bach Soloists, recitals at Bowdoin College, Dickinson College, Columbia University
