- Give students an opportunity to explore art in a way that develops and encourages creative thinking skills
Art is more than creating something that looks good on the wall. Open-ended art that is based on process encourages reflective thinking and promotes originality, imagination and creativity. When art instruction is geared towards the creation of a nice looking product, the opportunity to develop and practice creative thinking skills is diminished. When a sample is shown, whether it is pre-made by the instructor or a famous artist, the children get the message that this is good and the better they can recreate this the better their art is. They don’t learn or understand why it is good. Emulating the artwork robs the student of the chance to make creative decisions, solve problems and apply their knowledge and personal experiences to express their own unique creativity.
- Give students a solid foundation of technical skills that they can use not only when creating their own art but also when analyzing and understanding art of others.
We help students learn the technical skills and the six elements of art: line, color, value, shapes, form and texture. This gives them the necessary tools to create their own art. It provides a basis to make creative decisions and a language to analyze and appreciate art of others. The lessons build upon each other. For example, one element of art is color. In Kindergarten students are introduced to primary and secondary colors and color mixing. In first grade they learn about warm and cold colors. The 2nd grade lesson teaches them about complementary colors and their effects. 3rd graders mix tints and shades. 4th graders create paintings in 4 different color schemes.
- Introduce students to a variety of techniques and media
We designed the lesson plans based on the California state visual arts standards. We also wanted to expose each grade level to drawing, painting, collage, printmaking and construction/textiles.
