The purpose of the Fine Arts Program at IMSA is to enable each student to develop a fundamental knowledge of the aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, cultural, and social aspects of artistic perception, valuing, creation, interpretation, and evaluation. Students are challenged to explore the content and meaning of the arts beyond facts, symbolic representation, and technical proficiency. Through study of the natural and expressive elements of the arts, students understand feelings at a deeper level and connect the emotive and cognitive aspects of learning.

Through the fine arts students encounter relationships to the other great disciplines of thought (mathematics, science, and the humanities). The fine arts are woven into the fabric of human existence and remain an enriching part of students' lives. The Fine Arts Program at IMSA enables each IMSA student to gain knowledge and experience in the fine arts that serves as a resource to the greater Academy community and contributes to arts education throughout Illinois and the nation.