The Oxbow School is a unique,
interdisciplinary semester program for high-school juniors and seniors, located in Napa, California. Our
mission is to strengthen students' abilities in creative and critical inquiry
by combining rigorous studio art practice with innovative academics. Our vision
is for Oxbow students to develop a stronger sense of identity, self-worth, and
the confidence to embrace the responsibility for their own learning and lives.
Since 1999, more than 880
students from all over the country have found their way to Oxbow. Half of them
have come from public schools, and half from private schools; they have been
divided equally between students from California and students from other states
and countries. Some have experienced living away from home, and for others,
this is the first time. Some students are already accomplished artists, and
some have never before made a painting or sculpture. Some of them want to
pursue art or design, and others are looking towards medicine, education or
public policy; many are still open and searching.
What unites them—and makes them
perfect for Oxbow—is a willingness to take risks, explore the unknown, do the
unconventional, and make their own path toward college and beyond. At Oxbow,
young people from a wide array of social, economic, religious, political and
ethnic backgrounds come together as a community. They immerse themselves in a
rigorous curriculum that unites thinking about and making art through the
intellectual pursuits of science, history, writing and reading, critical
thinking, and self-reflection. Many Oxbow alumni comment that they have never
worked so hard or learned so much as they did at Oxbow—and loved every minute
of it.
