In Carroll High School’s Visual Art Department, we believe every student is an artist and find joy by helping our students unleash their creative spirit. Carroll’s Visual Art program is designed to fulfill all the needs and interests of our young artists by offering an array of art courses that range from Ceramics, Digital Photography, and Online Art Appreciation to Creative Drawing and Design, Studio Art, and Advanced Placement Art. No matter a student's ability level, there is an art class to enjoy.

Carroll's Core Art Program

For students who are serious about art education, Carroll offers an outstanding core program that pushes them to their highest potential. In the first part of the program, students spend many hours mastering the technical skills needed within each medium to build a strong foundation to creatively build on later in AP Art. Students learn to work with mediums like charcoal, pastel, ink, watercolor, acrylic and oil paint, digital media, and more. The Visual Art department is equipped with 28 new computers with the latest professional art software, including the newest version of Adobe Photoshop. Another wonderful feature for students to enjoy is an actual art studio space where our developing artists can set up a permanent work area with easels to paint or draw from life.

Advanced Placement Art offers students the unique opportunity to choose the direction and content of their artwork based on a cohesive theme called a concentration. Much thought is put into the concentration idea, as it will embody their work through their junior and senior years of AP Art. Students pick a visual idea and medium that they would like to explore and eventually master. This idea becomes a visual language unique to each student, allowing for much creative freedom and personal expression.

Carroll Visual Art students submit their work to a variety of art competitions and have received more than 560 art show placements and wins. The Visual Art program helps students build a strong portfolio of work that can be submitted to colleges for scholarships, as well as to the AP College Board for college credit.  

Carroll is the only Catholic high school in the area that offers National Art Honor Society.  NAHS sponsors art contests within the school, invites guest artists to speak at meetings, and donates holiday themed art projects and art supplies to the homeless shelters and youth centers. The organization provides students with a community of artists that can share their artistic gifts and ideas with the public, thus bringing even more value to art in education.

The Art Experts

Two full time-time teachers (who also happen to be husband and wife) make up Carroll's Visual Art faculty: Mrs. Renee Merland, a master level teacher with 18 years of art teaching experience, and Mr. Merland, with 3 years of art teaching experience as well as 10 years of professional experience in the field of art. Both teachers are practicing artists that commission their work to the public. You can check out Mrs. Merland’s website of artwork at reneemerland.com.

Reaping the Benefits of Visual Art Education at Carroll

It is our mission to provide students every opportunity to succeed and grow as artists. Our hope is that every student who takes a Visual Art class at Carroll develops a love and appreciation for art and discovers an artistic side they may have never known they had.  Opportunities like AP art credit, NAHS, portfolio development, college art scholarships, mastering a wide range of materials and techniques, personal expression, art competitions, using the latest art software and technology, studio space, and teachers that love and live what they teach are the many benefits of an art education at Carroll.

Additionally, seniors in AP Art are given the opportunity to showcase their work in a culminating senior art show. This is an event that gives each artist a well-deserved moment to shine and share their visual ideas with the public. Art comes from a very profound place within us and takes courage to share. When students see their friends, family, and even strangers support this event, there is a heartwarming moment within the student (and teacher) that radiates pride and achievement.  In 2020, we hope that you can share this moment with us on April 16th at the Dayton Metro Library Wilmington-Stroop Branch in Kettering from 6:30-8:00 p.m. We will celebrate our senior artists and their artwork with refreshments, music, and fun!