NEW HAVEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
VISUAL ARTS VISION STATEMENT

This curriculum affirms that visual arts, as a universal language, are essential for the education of all students. As with other school subjects, visual arts education is a matter of discipline and study.

Visual arts education in New Haven emphasizes the commitment to provide a foundation of knowledge and skills to solve complex problems and to think and communicate visually. This individualized means of self-expression also helps the learner to develop the ability to make important choices and to acquire real-life knowledge drawn from his/her experiences in the artistic community.

The building of knowledge by students is comprehensive when teachers use a combination of developmental, behavioral and multiple intelligence theories in their instruction. These theories encourage students to demonstrate initiative and independence. As they use interactive and manipulative materials, they develop skills in predicting, classifying, analyzing and creating. Through collaboration and mutual respect, students engage each other in dialogue that can influence the direction of study.

National and state arts education standards are used to guide all curriculum development and practice, to evaluate student competency and to analyze each program’s effectiveness. The standards are objective and identify what students must know and be able to do. To meet the standards, students must learn vocabularies and concepts associated with various types of work in the visual arts and must exhibit their competence at appropriate levels in visual, oral and written form.

The visual arts are extremely rich. The content ranges from drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics and craft arts to architecture, design, computer graphics, film and video. They involve a wide variety of media, tools, techniques and processes. The eight content standards are structured to recognize that many elements from this broad array can be used to accomplish specific educational objectives. For example, students could create works in the medium of videotape, engage in historical and cultural investigations of the medium and take part in analyzing works of art produced on videotape.

The standards present educational goals. It is the responsibility of teachers and practitioners to choose appropriately from this rich array of content and processes to fulfill these goals in specific circumstances when developing visual arts activities and curriculum.

The standards and this curriculum initiate a pathway of engagement for each new generation, which opens to a lifetime of learning and growth through the arts.

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

These Visual Arts Standards are based upon the National Standards for Arts Education developed by the National Art Education Association , Copyright  © 1994

Students will understand and apply these with sufficient skill, confidence and sensitivity and be able to select and analyze what makes them effective in creating works of art that successfully communicate their own feelings and ideas.

1. Students will create drawings using a greater variety of tools (i.e. charcoal, craypa, conte crayon, marker, pen and ink).
2. Students will view painting compositions, identify landscapes, seascapes, portraits, interiors, still lifes and abstract styles and create their own paintings using watercolor, tempera and acrylic paints.
3. Students will select appropriate materials (i.e. paper, cardboard, wire, clay, found objects, paper mache) to make forms which represent objects in the environment.
4. Students will design jewelry, masks and wearable forms of art from a variety of art media.
5. Students will investigate and apply knowledge of texture in making art products when using mosaic, stitchery, weaving, collage and sculpture assemblage materials.
6. Students will construct and modify three dimensional space through the making of model communities, puppet stages, dioramas and interior designs.

1. Students will create designs that demonstrate a balance of color or color symmetry.
2. Students will create a contour drawing with attention to detail.
3. Students will render the illusions of depth in drawing or painting.
4. Students will group shapes in an art work in many different ways (i.e. according to size, kind, function, color or texture) and identify positive and negative space.
5. Students will create balance in a composition by using symmetry or formal balance.
6. Students will explore the visual and tactile effects of texture by making a mosaic from a variety of materials (i.e. beans, rocks, bark or sand).
7.  

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will use knowledge of these principles and their visual characteristics cohesively in each work of art and demonstrate them in different forms of art; i.e. drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and ceramics.

1. Students will discuss and explain how light is the source of all color.
2. Students will demonstrate color properties and the characteristics of color (i.e. hues, tints, complementary, primary, secondary and tertiary colors), as well as, monochromatic, analogous and complementary color schemes.
3. Students will create art that shows the way lines can be organized to depict progression, rhythm, motion and perspective.
4. Students will distinguish between positive and negative shapes.
5. Students will identify forms from viewing silhouettes or contours.
6. Students will indicate physical proportion in figure drawing and the relation of the figure to the ground and area around it.
7. Students will demonstrate textural vocabulary in describing various surfaces.

1. Students will be introduced to the psychology of color and will select appropriate colors and materials to produce desired effects.
2. Students will analyze their own and others work in terms of the interrelationships of spatial components.
3. Students will indicate detailed visual texture in drawing and paintings, as well as add textural qualities to sculptures and ceramics.

1. Students will demonstrate a control of various color media and materials to indicate depth in composition, while remaining sufficiently flexible and creative.
2. Students will design and use shapes and forms in space by constructing a mobile, either individually or as a class.
3. Students will produce calligraphy and a variety of letters that demonstrates control of line with pens and ink, markers and paint brushes.
4. Students will work in groups to create large paper mache sculptures using a wire structure (armature) for support.
5. Students will create ceramic forms using pinch pot, slab construction and hand built methods.
6.  

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will choose, evaluate and critique a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas to communicate meaning, integrating visual, spatial and temporal concepts with this content in their art work and apply the acquired skills gained to daily life.

1. Students will describe ways that advertising and packaging use form, color and shape to influence consumers.
2. Students will examine and explain visual symbols in a variety of media such as prints, paintings, drawings, and film.
3. Students will define, spell and use correctly specific art and aesthetic terms and principles.
4. Students will research artists and art work of various cultures and periods and create writings that reflect the work (i.e. poetry, essays, advertisements and stories).

1. Students will demonstrate how forms can be changed by making them larger or smaller, realistic or abstract and geometric or organic.
2. Students will indicate volume (three dimensional representation of shape and space) in drawings and paintings by using a light source, shading and shadows.
3. Students will construct and modify three dimensional space through the making of scenery for a play, display case installations or decorations for a festival or dance.

1. Students will use terminology of color, form, space and texture to describe an article of clothing, car or a building and critique their favorite book, film or food.
2. Students will keep a journal of their daily activities noting, in artistic terms, places and people they have seen.

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures and be able to identify specific works, describe their

function, explain how history and culture influenced these art works and express the contribution they make to art and

culture in the United States.

Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures and be able to identify specific works.

1. Students will choose an artist, recognize and identify their art work and how it relates to various places and periods being studied in social studies.
2. Students will be able to explain the various styles of painting in terms of use of paint, brush, color, light, compositon, etc.

1. Students will analyze the art of ancient cultures and demonstrate knowledge of periods and significant events by selecting one art form, like Egyptian sculpture, Chinese silk painting, or Incan pottery and exploring it in depth.
2. Students will make their own examples of ancient art by using renditions of the stylistic decoraitons, colors, unique materials and textures they have researched.

1. Students will examine and analyze art reproductions, as methods of historical research, and observe indications of cultural conventions, such as dress, architecture, transporation, decor, social customs and famous events.

1. Students will examine and analyze local architecture, sculptures and monuments for the influences of historical elements.
2. Students will examine fabric prints of other cultures and analyze where they have seen these designs in the art and culture of the United States.

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will reflect upon and assess the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others and, through analysis, gain insight and understanding of the meaning, purpose, content and process of the art works.

1. Students will critique their work, and the work of others, based on visual analysis using art terms and vocabulary.
2. Students will demonstrate written analysis of works of art by famous artists and give their interpretation of how and why the artists select the subject, colors, style, etc. in their painting or sculptures.

1. Students will demonstrate how clay is changed from its wet form into a piece of ceramics or sculpture.
2. Students will create a design and execute it in two different printmaking techniques, analyzing how the content and process changes with each style.

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will make connections between visual arts and all other disciplines and will be able to compare and contrast characteristics of visual arts within a particular culture, historical period or style, with ideas, issues or themes in the humanities and sciences.

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of light and color theory in both scientific and artistic terms.
2. Students will demonstrate use of mathematical measurement.
3. Students will demonstrate ability to create and transform geometric shapes and forms in two and three dimensions.
4. Students will indicate volume, space and both aerial and linear perspecive in art works and theater set designs.
5. Students will define, spell and use correctly specific art and aesthetic terms and principles to describe the visual arts relation to dance, drama and music.
6. Students will use written information regarding artists, works of art, cultures, and styles.
7. Students will describe the role of the artist in various disciplines (i.e. architects, clothing, stage, textile and graphic designers, design engineers, photographers, carpenters and landscapers).

1. Students will identify specific architectural styles in various structures and recognize their significance and meaning.
2. Students will recognize and identify specific cultural styles and influences in ceramics, paintings and mixed media.

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will use museums, galleries, the art community, libraries, architectural tours, and multi-media to expand their visual knowledge beyond the classroom and to experience activities for life-long learning and career options.

1. Students will visit museums and galleries in their community and write a summary of their visit using artistic terms.
2. Students will use libraries within their community.
3. Students will take architectural tours of their community and analyze how the architecture reflects the use and function of the buildings.
4. Students will be encouraged to attend and participate in art and cultural festivals within their community.

1. Students will identify which centers in the arts community can be used for continued creative growth.
2. Students will recognize and examine the various professions and careers available in the community arts centers and organizations.

VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS

Students will engage in planning and selecting works for installation of art exhibitions in their schools and throughout the community.

1. Students will select their own works and those of others for displays and exhibitions in their artroom and throughout the school.
2. Students will participate in exhibitions throughout the community (i.e. libraries, outdoor and special events, businesses, galleries).
3. Students will apply knowledge of proper mounting, labeling, matting and framing of works of art to installing displays.