Visual Arts Standards

Below is a set off six standards that students will be exposed to throughout their experience in Art Classes from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade.  Listed under each standard are what the expectations of the students will be; by Eighth Grade all of the standards will have been presented.

 

1.     Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

  1. Students know the differences between materials, techniques, and processes
  2. Students describe how different materials, techniques, and processes cause different responses
  3. Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories
  4. Students use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner
  5. Students select media, techniques, and processes; analyze what makes them effective or not effective in communicating ideas; and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices
  6. Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas

2.    Using knowledge of structures and functions 

  1.  Students know the differences among visual characteristics and purposes of art in order to convey ideas
  2. Students describe how different expressive features and organizational principles cause different responses
  3. Students use visual structures and functions of art to communicate ideas
  4. Students generalize about the effects of visual structures and functions and reflect upon these effects in their own work
  5. Students employ organizational structures and analyze what makes them effective or not effective in the communication of ideas
  6. Students select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of

3.     Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

  1. Students explore and understand prospective content for works of art
  2. Students select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning
  3. Students integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks
  4. Students use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks

4.     Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

  1. Students know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures
  2. Students identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places
  3. Students demonstrate how history, culture, and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art
  4. Students know and compare the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures
  5. Students describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts
  6. Students analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and place (such as climate, resources, ideas, and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art

5.     Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

  1. Students understand there are various purposes for creating works of visual art
  2. Students describe how people’s experiences influence the development of specific artworks
  3. Students understand there are different responses to specific artworks
  4. Students compare multiple purposes for creating works of art
  5. Students analyze contemporary and historic meanings in specific artworks through cultural and aesthetic inquiry
  6. Students describe and compare a variety of individual responses to their own artworks and to artworks from various eras and cultures

6.     Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

  1. Students understand and use similarities and differences between characteristics of the visual arts and other arts disciplines
  2. Students identify connections between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum
  3. Students compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that share similar subject matter, historical periods, or cultural context
  4. Students describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated with the visual arts