Visual Arts

Explore Your Creative Side

What is there to learn?

Traditional design principles are emphasized while teachers work to build each student's practical skill set and sensitivity to the world around them. Woodberry is unique in that all of our visual arts faculty are professional artists. This ensures a strong visual arts education for boys.

Disciplines include painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, photography, and filmmaking. View all available visual art courses here.

Display Your Work and Admire Someone Else's

Students have the unique opportunity to display their work in the Baker Gallery as well as Woodberry's award winning student publication, The Talon. Our in person classes take several field trips to world-class collections including the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Museum of Art and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Become an Artist at Woodberry

Woodberry has a growing number of alumni continuing their studies at some of the best art schools around the country and moving on to become professional, teaching and working artists. Whether you have previously taken art classes or are interested in studying the subject for the first time, Woodberry’s Visual Art Program will help you reach your full potential.

Visual Arts Featured Faculty

Our diverse group of arts instructors offer students at our all-boys all-boarding school a wide range of experience in the visual arts having exhibited their work both in the US and Internationally.

James Erickson

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Education

University of Virginia - BA

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - MFA
Biography

After growing up in Michigan, James earned his BA at The University of Virginia while running track and cross country. He was a Lawn Resident at UVA and received the Sullivan Award and Aunspaugh Art Fellowship upon graduation. In 2011, James earned his MFA at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He served as the Art Director at The Heights School in Maryland from 2011-2016. James began teaching and coaching at Woodberry Forest School in 2016, serves as Chairman of the Visual Arts Department, and holds the Virginia B. and Joseph M. Mercer 1924 Mastership of Art. He teaches painting and drawing courses and coaches indoor track. He lives on campus with his wife and six children. His paintings are represented by Cavallo Gallery in Gordonsville, VA, and Steven Francis Fine Arts in Lynchburg, VA. A portfolio of his work can be found at www.jamesdeanerickson.com

Shari Jacobs

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Education

Swarthmore College - BA
Hood College - MFA
Biography
- Shari Jacobs makes wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware ceramics. Originally from the Midwest, she has called Woodberry home for over 24 years. In 2022, she earned an MFA in ceramics from Hood College, in Frederick MD, where she was awarded the Joyce Michaud Endowed Scholarship and the Ceramic Arts Program Outstanding Student Award. Shari has taught all levels of ceramics, from children’s workshops at community art centers to collegiate courses at Mary Baldwin University. Currently, along with teaching ceramics at Woodberry, she teaches at The Arts Center in Orange and Charlottesville’s City Clay, and she serves as director of the Charlottesville-area Artisans Studio Tour. A portfolio of her work can be seen here.

John Francis Murray

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Education

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA)
John Michael Angel Studio in Florence, Italy
Biography

John Murray worked for 16 years at the Bureau of Engraving, where he was one of only four banknote designers who created and worked on presidential portraits and currency designs. He then decided to focus full-time on his art career and he now has work in both private and public collections across the US and in Europe. Currently, he teaches painting and sculpture classes at Woodberry. View his portfolio at https://www.johnfrancismurray.com.

Richard Robinson

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Education

MFA in Film and Photography at Virginia Commonwealth University
Biography

Richard Robinson received his MFA in 2008 from Virginia Commonwealth University, in Film and Photography. His CV can be viewed here and samples of his work are shown at https://www.robinsonphoto.com

Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.

Woodberry Forest, VA 22989
Phone: 540-672-3900

Explore & Resources

Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.