Across our two campuses, Seven Hills has several stimulating arts facilities to inspire the imaginations of our visual artists, singers, musicians, and performers of all ages. We know ingenuity flourishes in inspiring spaces. That’s why our Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School students have the room they need to explore their individual visions.
Our Lower School Arts Facilities
Lower School students on our Hillsdale and Doherty Campuses have their own dedicated art and music areas, designated classrooms, and performance stages that enable children to explore many facets of art and get in touch with their unique points of view, so they may begin to express themselves confidently and imaginatively.
On the Hillsdale Campus, the Red Barn has been an iconic presence for generations. Students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade attend drama classes in the building, learning the basics and developing acting, improvisation, directing, and puppetry skills. In fifth-grade, students stage a musical in Founders Hall, which features professional lights and a theater tech booth.
Lower School students attend music and art classes. In music, the classroom is filled with instruments of all kinds. The art room has supplies that aid students in exploring all mediums. The Hillsdale Campus also has four kilns, which are used for Lower School projects.
Our littlest students have their own stage in the Early Childhood Center. Students use the stage for performances for parents and friends.
At the Doherty Campus, rich spaces bring out the artists in all of our students.
Doherty has two music classrooms — one dedicated to traditional musical instruction and another specifically for Orff instruments, or melodic keyboards. Third- and fourth-graders learn to play the instruments, honing their skills in reading rhythms and music notation and playing in a small ensemble.
In pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade, students transform into actors and actresses, learning the craft. The fifth-grade musical is performed in Faran Hall on a state-of-the-art stage. Doherty Lower School students’ drama education culminates at the end of fifth-grade, when they perform a musical.
The Lower School visual art classroom is a large, stimulating space. Clay, paints, mosaic tiles — these are just some of the tools children will use to create their next masterpieces. The classroom is also equipped with a kiln for sculpture projects.
our middle school arts facilities
Arts instruction in the Middle School takes place in arts spaces in two buildings — The Schiff Center and the Donovan Arts Center.
In the Donovan Arts Center, students study visual art and drama in vibrant classrooms. The visual art room introduces students to a variety of concepts and periods in art history. Students have the tools to work in many mediums, including clay, fired in one of the Hillsdale Campus’ four kilns, glass fusing, and painting.
The Middle School Black Box is a fully functioning theater where students transform into thespians. The students’ plays and musicals are staged in The Schiff Center. Students interested in theater tech work the shows, adjusting lighting and mics, from the space’s theater tech booth.
Choral and instrumental students study in The Schiff Center. The classrooms, located on the building’s second level, are filled with the sounds of students practicing music.
our upper school arts facilities
The Donovan Arts Center is the central hub for visual art, while the Schiff Center plays host to our performing arts classes. Both give students access to professional-quality spaces equipped with state-of-the art equipment, including kilns, a cyclorama, and software for digital arts. The building also functions as a gallery space. As students walk the halls, they will see the work of their peers around every corner.
The Schiff Center houses our performing arts classes, and is equipped with dedicated rehearsal spaces, three large classrooms for theater, choral, and instrumental ensembles, a fully equipped scene shop, and stage. The new, 500-seat auditorium regularly comes alive with musicals, plays, and student-directed pieces. Students in tech theater construct elaborate sets and design lighting while actors stage a range of works. Choral and instrumental students perform in winter and spring concerts, showcasing their talents and hours of practice. The Schiff Center has also played host to guest artists from the Cincinnati community.