Art education provides opportunities for creativity, self-expression, and communication. It gives students the chance to explore, describe, analyze and interpret visual materials, and make connections to other subject areas including themselves. Art has been the foundation of world cultures since the beginning of time. To understand art is to understand our humanity.
Our sequential skills based program focuses on the appreciation and production of art, and the study of art history. I work closely with classroom teachers to integrate art throughout the curriculum.
I use the California Standards for the Visual Arts as a guideline for planning, implementing, and evaluating my instruction, curriculum, student understanding and performance.
Standard 1 – Artistic Perception – Students perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations.
Standard 2 – Creative Expression – Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
Standard 3 – Historical and Cultural Context – Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world, noting human diversity as it related to the visual arts and artists.
Standard 4 – Aesthetic Valuing – Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art (line, texture, value, space, color), the principals of design (repetition, balance, emphasis, contrast, unity) and aesthetic qualities.
Standard 5 – Connections, Relationships, Applications – Students apply what they learn in the visual arts across subject areas. They develop competencies and creative skills in problem solving, communication, and management of time and resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career skills. They also learn about careers in and related to the visual arts.
Students attend art class weekly. Art lessons are connected to grade level curriculum whenever possible. Visiting artists and art related field trips happen throughout the school year.
Themes will be based on artists, art movements, different cultures, materials, aesthetics, current museum exhibits, perception, and subject (self, nature, toys, landscape, etc). Students will express themselves with painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, sculpture, and more.
Rules in the art room: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, Do Your Best, Have Fun!
Student artwork is kept in the art room so that it can be shown in our community. At the end of the school year, students bring home a portfolio of their work (I may occasionally send work home at other times).