For two years now, the art program at Sutton Middle School has been led by Erin Ray. The energy Ray has engendered among her students has now transferred to North Atlanta in the form of advanced and energized freshman art students. Many of these building newcomers are grade students are entering the art room excited and ready to learn. “There is a new breed of art students coming here,” said North Atlanta art instructor Kim Landers.

The intro class that is available to all students at North Atlanta is a suitable class for building not only art skills, but life skills as well. This includes things like hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills are movements mainly produced by the body’s small muscle groups. They are necessary in tasks such as playing an instrument or even writing. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination are being taught through the assignment of a line chart, a simple task that teaches the students how to draw in certain styles, such as bubbles and lines.

Once the students have learned these basic skills they then go on to learn about how our minds have preconceived images of things. “Students must draw what they see not what they think they see,” said Landers, who takes a very studied and scientific approach toward the craft of drawing.

“It’s not like we just come here and use crayons and colored pencils, art is an extension of ourselves and our imagination not just some joke,” said Kaleb Vega, a sophomore. “This is a real class and we’re learning some very important skills.”

In the art room, there is something for everyone. Classes range from Drawing and Painting, Ceramics and even Applied Design, which is a class that students create products on the computer, as well as use it as a template to create art in real life.

The art room is for all kinds. That holds true if you’re a modern-day Picasso or whether you’ve never picked up a paintbrush. Creativity is under construction and on full-display at North Atlanta.