Visual Art GOALS and OBJECTIVES

National Visual Arts Standards – Standard 6
Making Connections Between the Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

The National Standards for the Visual Arts are now GOALS that are clear, measurable, observable, and understandable to the students, parents, and community. The use of goals is to keep the mind open to the idea of learning and focused on the act of learning, By combining both declarative (mind) and procedural (application) knowledge the intentional actions are focused on the combination of art theory and art making and art critiquing as well as the reflection on the close relationships.

This final objective, standard, is the one that I find easiest to see how it relates to the outside world but, when in the classroom, I find it hardest to put up as a daily goal for the kids to reflect upon. I am REALLY looking for your input and thoughts on this one so… if you have a career that you can help me relate the ideas to – please chime in.

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Standard #6: Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

As an art student you will demonstrate the ability to:

• 6.1 compare aspects of the visual arts with aspects of other disciplines

Where can we, the artists, relate to the outside the artist world? This is a question that kids (and parents alike) ask frequently. “You can draw, GREAT! But where is it going to get you in life?” I would guess, and an educated one at that, that there are no major corporations that do not invest a portion of their yearly budget to creativity. “How can we look at our product from a different point of view?” “What can we do to make the design of the (insert product here) so that it is flashier, sharper, more appealing, better overall to the consumer?” Technology, virtual reality, the machines we rely on day in and day out, the lifestyle we all lead, the fashion we wear, drive, live in and with, require the mind of a creative person. How can we advance with only the academics at the front of education? The answer is, has been (all the way back to the days of Socrates and more recently Leonardo da Vinci – of the 1400’s are more recent), and always will be… we can’t.

• 6.2 compare characteristics of the visual arts and other disciplines from history or movements

I find the characteristics of art movements easy to speak about, but as someone who is not a history buff or particularly well versed in world history, I struggle to find those connections between what the visual arts have done and what the world was going through. This is, however, a great place to make those connections. We recently wrapped up a Fauvist Project in my Drawing 1 class where we looked at the works of the French Fauvists (1905) and saw how they abandon the Romantic Tradition of the portrait and landscape on favor of the color explosion of the “Wild Beasts.” We also looked at the current culture most of the kids in class (all but one had taken some sore of goofy cell phone photograph of themselves sticking out their tongue or looking cross-eyed at the camera and they created soft pastel portraits based on art history and their own current cultures and social behaviors. This was a great way for them to relate to the arts of the past and to get a bit of knowledge about the history of the time… more about French social time of the era but… next time.

• 6.3 use the principles and techniques of art with those from other discipline

How can we use the ideas and practices that artists use and mix them with those from other disciplines? Math, Science, History, World Languages, Engineering, Design, Architecture, Dance, Theater… and the list goes on. One of the more important lessons I work to teach is that the visual arts the students learn in our classroom are NOT limited to the walls of that classroom. This seems silly, but when I often see collages and paintings done in classes outside of the arts, some of my very students forget the lessons in color theory, perspective, facial proportions, and even good composition and design and fall back to the days of the elementary artist. If it were intentionally, I could appreciate the effort to forget all the training that was done to make them stronger and more successful artists. That said, not a one of them has the deliberateness behind their marks as Pablo Picasso did as he said “When I was the age of these children, I could draw like Raphael: it took me many years to learn how to draw like these children.” Nope, they just made poor and rushed attempts. For a student to know that they can and should use all of the lessons about the elements and principles of design and art and put them to use in the academics and the rest of their life – truly lifelong learners they will be.

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Lastly, once you open the door to learning  you also need to close it.  During the last couple of minutes of my classes, we take time to reflect, to GENERALIZE the relationship to the goals and the day’s work / lessons onto what the students know or think they know about the world / practice of the arts. This is the CLOSING THE FOLDER that allows the brain to settle down and pack away the learning, the experiences, until the following day.

You can find these ideas (and more of my thoughts and other individuals thoughts) in my Visual Arts Handbook HERE.

Thanks –

Frank

Visual Art GOALS and OBJECTIVES

National Visual Arts Standards – Standard 4
Understanding the visual arts in relation to art history and cultures

This is the fourth in the series and the topic is how the visual arts relate to the history it took place in and the culture that surrounded it. Again, using the national standards in visual arts as the beginning, I “unpack” them so the standards know about (declarative knowledge) them and are able to demonstrate (procedural knowledge) their understanding of them. It is important to note that, when the goals are given to the students, they are restructured (a smidgen) so that they are meaningful and pertinent to the day’s activity AND make sense to the kids. This has been, and continues to be, something that is developed and worked on so that they are stronger and more meaningful to the kids.

The National Standards for the Visual Arts are now GOALS that are clear, measurable, observable, and understandable to the students, parents, and community. The use of goals is to keep the mind open to the idea of learning and focused on the act of learning, By combining both declarative (mind) and procedural (application) knowledge the intentionality is focused on the combination of art theory and art making as well as the investigating the close relationship between the two.

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Standard #4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to art history and cultures

As an art student you will demonstrate the ability to:

• 4.1 recognize differences in historical and cultural contexts of art

Art does not happen in a bubble. Art does not come from a vacuum. The arts are born out of the historical events and societal contexts that are around them at the time. Impressionism was a reaction to Romanticism. Dada, to be overly simplified,  art that was so because the artist deemed it to be and to test the tastes of what was and was not acceptable in the world of art. None of the movements in art history were all by themselves. All things happen because of where the artists are in the world and how they are able to respond and work with what they had. Rauschenberg studied at the Black Mountain College and would never have been able to make what he did (as he essentially discovered concrete in some of his earlier works created under the stairs between his classes) had he not been where he was in the world.

• 4.2 describe the purpose and meaning of art objects within different cultures, times, and places

It is certainly one thing to make art in a classroom because the great and mighty art teacher told you to. Why, then, did so many artists make things that nobody told them to make? What was it that drove them to create and invent the things that they did? What was the reason, the rationale that drove Picasso, Braque, and Gris to invent Cubism? What was it that the ancient Greeks were hoping to accomplish as they defined and formed the perfect specimen of human kind in their sculptures? What did the Native Americans, the artists of Asia, Russia, New Zealand  the ancients in the Caves at Lascaux  France… what were they all hoping to accomplish in the works they made?>

• 4.3 compare relationships in visual art in terms of
  • 4.3.1 history
  • 4.3.2 aesthetics
  • 4.3.3 and culture as it relates to your own art

There is SO much more to the art than how it matches the couch and curtains in the room it is displayed. That is, for the artist, the least of their concerns. What is the relationship of the art to the history it was born from? How was “beauty” defined in 500 B.C., 400 A.D., 1500 A.D. and today? What is happening in today’s world that affects the works of art that we are able to make and stand behind? Would we have camouflage if the Cubists hadn’t broken up the picture place and displaced the flat edge of a table? Would we have the abstract architecture of Frank Ghery if the recognizable surfaces of the canvas was not broken up and changed by Wassily Kandinsky? What about the art of today? Could we look at and appreciate the work of Bill Viola if the invention of the television and the idea of performance art had not been married? What about the kids? What does the art they make have to do with them at all? How can they begin tomake art that matters to them and not art that matters to someone that is NOT them?

• 4.4 evaluate and interpret art for relationships in
  • 4.4.1 form
  • 4.4.2 context
  • 4.4.3 meanings showing understanding of the work of various art professionals*

The fundamentals of art – Principles and Elements – Form, Balance, Repetition, Line, Color, Shape and From… all of this matters, and matters a great deal. Why is it that I have 64 crayons in my box, but I should only use the colors that have red in them? If I am creating a work of art based on the news of poverty in inner city America… why should I not use magazine pages of starving children on Africa? How are the Clement Greenberg’s, the Frida Kahlo’s, the Kasmir Malevich’s of the 21st century talking about and making works that I can relate to and find deeper meaning in?

• 4.5 look at the qualities of art from various times and cultures to (Critique – Prezi Presentation)
  • 4.5.1 describe
  • 4.5.2 analyze
  • 4.5.3 interpret
  • 4.5.4 and judge works of art

These four aspects behind taking a word of art apart and critiquing it are essential in the development of a young (and old) artist as they are learning the ropes and deciding for themselves what they like, understand, care about, do about in the world of the arts. If we do not SLOW ourselves down enough to smell the flowers, all the tulips in all of Holland do not matter. To really get at the ideas of what art is, why art is, and if it even matters, the audience needs to approach the work of art with an open mind and a lot of questions.

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Lastly, once you open the door to learning  you also need to close it.  During the last couple of minutes of my classes, we take time to reflect, to GENERALIZE the relationship to the goals and the day’s work / lessons onto what the students know or think they know about the world / practice of the arts.. This is the CLOSING THE FOLDER that allows the brain to settle down and pack away the learning, the experiences, until the following day.

You can find these (and more) in my Visual Arts Handbook HERE.

Thanks –

Frank

Visual Art GOALS and OBJECTIVES

National Visual Arts Standards – Standard 3
Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

This is the third in the series and the topic is choosing subject matter, symbols and ideas to create artwork about. We “unpack” so the standards are known about (declarative knowledge). It is important to note that, when the goals are given to the students, they are restructured (a smidgen) so that they are meaningful and pertinent to the day’s activity. Notice, they are not agenda items but rather bigger thinking topics.

The National Standards for the Visual Arts are now GOALS that are clear, measurable, observable, and understandable to the students, parents, and community. The use of goals is to keep the mind open to the idea of learning and focused on the act of learning, By combining both declarative (mind) and procedural (application) knowledge the intentionality is focused on the combination of art theory and art making as well as the investigating the close relationship between the two.

~~~

Standard #3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

As an art student you will demonstrate the ability to:

• 3.1 reflect on how art differs and describe how it relates to history and cultures

Throughout the course, I work to relate the ideas that the kids are being exposed to and how they can tie it into their own culture. In addition to the work they are creating, it is important that they are able to see how art was created in different cultures and times and how that art related to the times it was from. What was happening in 1905 France that caused Henri Matisse and Andre Derain to throw away the natural colors of the subject and use arbitrary colors and thus become “Wild Beasts  or “the Fauves?” How can this all relate to what the kids might be experiencing today and how can they use their own times to reflect that feeling?

• 3.2 apply subjects, symbols, and ideas in art and use skill to solve visual challenges

How can we use these ideas to help develop the necessary skills to become stronger artists, more dedicated artists, better thinkers? When we look at art in the classroom, specific elements and principles are looked at and focused on to help them push and challenge the basic ideas the kids oftgen have in their head. It is always nice to challenge them with “how can I figure this “proportion” issue out?” “How can I use this idea / trick / technique in another field / class?”

• 3.3 describe the creation of images and ideas and explain why they are of value

Process versus product. Who is the one concerned with the process and who is the one concerned with the product. We are the artists and we are the ones who’s job it should be to be concerned with the process… not the product. In the past many kids would ask me “Can I be done?” they were more concerned with the product. Nowadays, the act of making art is the focus and the kids are looking more to HOW we get things done, how the colors work together, how the paper is handled, how the problems are resolved. That is the learning… the artwork is the byproduct of them learning how to make art (and lots of it).

• 3.4 evaluate and defend the validity of sources for ideas

It is always easy to copy something from the National Geographic, but how does one come up with their own idea for an artwork? What makes it a strong idea or a weak one? Where artists come up with the ideas is a long time concern for us all. Only we, the artist, really care about how we came up with the idea and how we got the work done. More often than not the audience is more concerned with the “final product.” So, what is it that makes for quality subject matter? What was the artist trying to say? Was it successful? Does it really matter? (Thanks Ted Orland and David Bayles of Art and Fear for that one… buy your copy today!)

• 3.5 evaluate and defend how
  •      3.5.1 subject matter
  •      3.5.2 symbols are used in art

Oh the critique. The world of art is SO MUCH MORE than just the art hanging on the wall. Writing about, thinking about, conversing about, talking, having coffee over, mumbling, grumbling, complaining, and being frustrated about the art. Standing in front of their peers and discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly and how / why / why not things happened. Writing about the process the challenged the struggles… it all goes into the process. From the critiques and reflection is where the real learning happens. Check out my classroom RUBRIC to see what I am talking about and using for collaborative feedback and grading… I love this.

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Keep in mind that once you open the door, you also need to close it.  During the last couple of minutes of my classes, we take time to reflect, to GENERALIZE the relationship to the goals and the day’s work. This is the CLOSING THE FOLDER that allows the neurons to settle down and pack away the learning, the experiences, until the following day.

You can find these (and more) in my Visual Arts Handbook HERE.

Thanks –

Frank