Welcome from the Visual Arts Teachers

We are the Visual Arts teachers, Mr. Matt Appling and
Mrs. Heather Huettner. Welcome!
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We are proud to share the highlights of our year of creative work with you. As you tour our Spring Art Show, you will find artworks representing each and every Whitefield artist - from Pre-K to twelfth grade. At Whitefield, we understand that all human creativity is a reflection of our nature as God's image-bearers. Through Visual Arts, students learn about principles of art and aesthetics, practice virtue, and grow in their self-image as creators.

Upper School Visual Arts

Artists in seventh through twelfth grades have a variety of unique opportunities to explore in-depth creative work. Many students returned to the Art room for Drawing & Painting, while other students pushed their creativity through Mixed Media Sculpture, where they were tasked with working with a variety of less-traditional media to create sculptures, mobiles, and even short animations. In this gallery, you'll find fragmented self-portraits, miniature sculpture galleries, animal skulls, vintage neon signs, and much more!

Senior Spotlight: Reese Garrison
​Self-Portrait: Acrylic and Linocut Print

Senior Spotlight: Joelle Royston
Triptych: Acrylic and Ink on Wood Panels

Senior Spotlight: Natalie Cody
​Gouache on Paper

Senior Spotlight:
Andy Kazmaier
Gouache on Paper

Senior Spotlight:
Naomi McIntosh
Acrylic on Paper

​Pre-K, TK Artists

The story of Visual Arts at Whitefield begins with our Little Lions, who with Mrs. Huettner, learn lots of fun new techniques from painting and drawing to cutting and gluing, laying the foundation for years ahead!

Kindergarten Artists

Kindergarten students learned and practiced lots of foundational skills, with Mrs. Huettner, from color mixing to paper cutting. In this gallery, you'll find reflected landscapes, snowmen, texture monsters, Hans Hofmann inspired designs, hearts in the style of Jim Dine, silly self-portraits inspired by David Shannon, and much more!

First Grade Artists

First Graders got their first introduction to the formal Elements of Art while completing many complex, multi-day projects with Mr. Appling

In this gallery, you will find projects that include monochrome self-portraits, sunflowers inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, plates of fruit inspired by Paul Cezanne, scarecrows, pandas, and more!

Art Through History

Throughout their years in Lower and Upper School Visual Arts, Whitefield students observe the works of many notable artists from history. See if you can find the artwork inspired by these artists in our student galleries.

Second Grade Artists

Second Graders enjoyed building on their Art skills with Mrs. Huettner while also discussing the virtues, such as fortitude and temperance that help us become not just great artists, but great people. In the second grade gallery, you will find sculpted fish hiding out in their dioramas, messy-looking Jackson Pollock styled self-portraits, toucans in the style of Henri Rousseau, Romero Britto inspired lions, pastoral landscapes, Henri Matisse-inspired designs and more!

Third Grade Artists

Third Graders worked with Mr. Appling and enjoyed more creative freedom and choices than ever before while learning about the spiritual dimension of creative work - that people everywhere are called to creative work by virtue of being made in our Creator's image.

In this gallery, you will Cubist self-portraits, waterlillies inspired by Claude Monet, colorful castles created in the style of Mary Blair, and tributes to George Rodrigue's "Blue Dog."

Fourth Grade Artists

Fourth graders built on foundational skills with Mrs. Huettner by emphasizing more independent thought and problem solving as they worked through more complex projects with Mrs. Huettner.

Fourth grade artists created self-portraits in the style of Amadeo Modigliani, flowers in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, and Friedensrech Hunderwasser, as well as designs inspired by Wassily Kandinsky.

Fifth Grade Artists

Our fifth grade class found new confidence in their skills as they recalled their successes and skills from past years and brought new and exciting ideas to life with Mr. Appling. In this gallery, you will see Southwestern-themed Notan squares, Chinese vases, cakes inspired by artist Wayne Thiebaud, fragmented paintings of famous snack logos, Pop-Art styled self-portraits and "onomatopoeia" words.

Sixth Grade Artists

Students in our sixth grade class savored their final year together in Lower School Art with Mr. Appling. Each year, the sixth grade work serves as examples for all our younger students to admire and anticipate, while building creative thought processes to carry them into Upper School.

Sixth graders created tiny three-dimensional "Great Waves," pointillism-styled candy logos, self-portraits, African masks, and animal skulls inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe.
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Mr. Matt Appling teaches Visual Arts to Lower School grades 1, 3, 5, and 6, Upper School electives and twelfth grade Art History. This is his twelfth year at Whitefield. He has a BA in Graphic Design and a Masters of Divinity and enjoys painting, drawing, and printmaking.
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​Mrs. Heather Huettner teaches Visual Arts to Pre-K, TK and Grades 2 and 4. This is her second year at Whitefield after teaching Art in schools for more than twelve years, as well as small-group lessons from her home. She has a BA in Art and an MA in Education and enjoys creating a variety of textile and mixed media arts.