Visual and Performing Arts Framework-Complete - Free Downloads (CA Dept of Education)

Chapter 4

Guidance

for Visual and

Performing Arts

Programs

Visual Arts

1

Artistic Perception

Students perceive the visual world according to their individual experiences

and the opportunities they have to develop those perceptions. Gradually, they

learn to recognize the universal structures of the natural world and the ways in

which those structures inform art and art making. Further, they recognize the

elements of art everywhere and the links between the principles of design and

natural and created environments. As they work toward becoming proficient in

each of the five component strands, they draw upon their developed perceptual

skills and become increasingly able to point out and analyze the formal qualities

of the visual arts.

Creative Expression

2

Creating original works of art involves translating thoughts, perceptions, and

ideas into visual form through a variety of media and techniques. To communi-

cate, understand, and appreciate the visual arts, students must work in expressive

modes, recognizing the originality of their own expressions and the importance

of respecting those of others. They thereby gain an understanding of the various

media and the technical proficiency used to create works of art. And they de-

velop their skills in the visual arts and improve their visual literacy as they work

in traditional and electronic media and two- and three-dimensional art. Ex-

amples here might include painting, drawing, graphic arts, printmaking, sculp-

ture, ceramics, photography, video and computer-generated art, architecture,

product design and advertising art, textiles, jewelry, fiber arts, and glass.

Students should work on forms that combine many media, such as perfor-

mance art installations, environmental art, site-specific works, and multimedia

pieces. For those activities to be a part of the visual arts curriculum, they must

help students communicate their ideas and feelings and appreciate their own and

others’ creativity. Through a carefully structured visual arts curriculum, begin-

ning at the kindergarten level, students can develop their own artistic style and

vision.

Historical and Cultural Context

3

Through the study of the visual arts from a variety of cultures, students gain

an understanding and appreciation of the creative expressions of peoples across

time and place. They understand artists and artworks in relation to their role and

social context and the significance of the visual arts within world cultures, in-

cluding the historical development of the visual arts in the United States and in

California. Able to place their own work in its historical and cultural context,

they also emphasize cross-cultural studies of common art forms and the distin-

guishing characteristics and history of works of art. They learn what art histori-

ans and aestheticians do and what role they play in society’s understanding and

appreciation of the visual arts.