Theatre, visual art, dance — woven into the school day, not set apart from it. Students find their creative voice through our Performing and Visual Arts programs, building the kind of confidence that comes from making something and putting it in front of people.
Performing Arts
The performing arts come alive during Project Period, where choices rotate through play productions, video creation, musical theater, and music and recording arts. High School students can also compete in the Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) Large Group and Individual competitions — three-level competitions that run from the District level through State, with a shot at the Critics’ Choice award along the way.
Maharishi School has competed in the IHSSA Large Group Competition since 1988 and earned 18 Critics’ Choice awards across Musical Theater, One Act Play, Choral Reading, Group Mime, Solo Mime, Reader’s Theater, and Radio Broadcasting — plus the sweepstakes trophy for the most entries honored at All-State in both 1998 and 2003.
Visual Arts
Students build a working understanding of the principles of art and design, learning to analyze and talk about artwork as readily as they make it. Through Project Period, students have pursued watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting, Japanese woodworking, textile art, photography, ceramics, and architectural design — developing their own reactions and ideas along the way, not just technique.
The purpose of art is to elevate the viewer, to raise his level of consciousness.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder
Dance
Our ongoing partnership with the Iowa Dance Collective brings professional-level dance instruction to High School students, who can enroll in a range of dance courses taught by working artists. The year builds toward a full annual performance that showcases what students have learned — and how far a semester of real practice can take them.