Visual art

Course length: 18-weeks

Course number: 500712

Course description:  This course introduces students to the foundations of visual art through exploration, creativity, and hands-on learning. Students experiment with a variety of materials and techniques while learning how artists use line, shape, color, texture, and form to communicate ideas.

Emphasis is placed on the creative process—planning, creating, revising, and reflecting—while encouraging risk-taking and personal expression. This course builds confidence, artistic vocabulary, and an appreciation for visual art as both a form of expression and communication.

Students will:

• Combine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for creating art.
• Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art or design.
• Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design.
• Explain environmental implications of conservation, care, and clean-up of art materials, tools, and equipment.
• Design or redesign objects, places, or systems that meet the identified needs of diverse users.
• Reflect on whether personal artwork conveys the intended meaning and revise accordingly.
• Analyze similarities and differences associated with preserving and presenting two-dimensional, three dimensional, and digital artwork.
• Individually or collaboratively, develop a visual plan for displaying works of art, analyzing exhibit space, the needs of the viewer, and the layout of the exhibit.
• Assess, explain, and provide evidence of how museums or other venues reflect history and values of a community.
• Identify and interpret works of art or design that reveal how people live around the world and what they value.
• Analyze ways that visual components and cultural associations suggested by images influence ideas, emotions, and actions.
• Interpret art by distinguishing between relevant and nonrelevant contextual information and analyzing subject matter, characteristics of form and structure, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.
• Develop and apply relevant criteria to evaluate a work of art.
• Generate a collection of ideas reflecting current interests and concerns that could be investigated in artmaking.
• Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses.

Course length: 18 weeks

Course number: 500712

Course description:  This course expands students’ artistic skills and introduces more intentional design and creative problem-solving. Students apply art elements and principles with greater purpose while exploring a wider range of techniques, materials, and artistic styles.

Students begin analyzing artwork through historical, cultural, and contemporary lenses while strengthening their ability to communicate artistic ideas. Emphasis is placed on refining techniques, developing personal style, and understanding how visual art connects to real-world and career applications.

Students will:

• Apply methods to overcome creative blocks.
• Develop criteria to guide making a work of art or design to meet an identified goal.
• Demonstrate persistence in developing skills with various materials, methods, and approaches in creating works of art or design.
• Demonstrate awareness of ethical responsibility to oneself and others when posting and sharing images and other materials through the Internet, social media, and other communication formats.
• Apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce a work of art, design, or media that clearly communicates information or ideas.
• Reflect on and explain important information about personal artwork in an artist statement or another format.
• Compare and contrast how technologies have changed the way artwork is preserved, presented, and experienced.
• Based on criteria, analyze and evaluate methods for preparing and presenting art.
• Compare and contrast viewing and experiencing collections and exhibitions in different venues.
• Explain how the method of display, the location, and the experience of an artwork influence how it is perceived and valued.
• Analyze multiple ways that images influence specific audiences.
• Interpret art by analyzing artmaking approaches, the characteristics of form and structure, relevant contextual information, subject matter, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.
• Compare and explain the difference between an evaluation of an artwork based on personal criteria and an evaluation of an artwork based on a set of established criteria.
• Individually or collaboratively create visual documentation of places and times in which people gather to make and experience art or design in the community.
• Analyze how response to art is influenced by understanding the time and place in which it was created, the available resources, and cultural uses.

Course length: Full year

Course number: 500712

Course description:  This course prepares students for high school visual arts coursework, including Art I (high school credit). Students refine technical skills while developing a stronger artistic voice and understanding of artistic intent.

Students engage in more advanced projects that emphasize composition, technique, and creative decision-making. The course focuses on professionalism, critique, and portfolio-style work, allowing students to reflect on growth and prepare for future opportunities in visual arts and design.

Students will:

• Document early stages of the creative process visually and/or verbally in traditional or new media.
• Collaboratively shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art and design.
• Demonstrate willingness to experiment, innovate, and take risks to pursue ideas, forms, and meanings that emerge in the process of artmaking or designing.
• Demonstrate awareness of practices, issues, and ethics of appropriation, fair use, copyright, open source, and creative commons as they apply to creating works of art and design.
• Select, organize, and design images and words to make visually clear and compelling presentations.
• Apply relevant criteria to examine, reflect on, and plan revisions for a work of art or design in progress.
• Develop and apply criteria for evaluating a collection of artwork for presentation.
• Collaboratively prepare and present selected theme based artwork for display, and formulate exhibition narratives for the viewer.
• Analyze why and how an exhibition or collection may influence ideas, beliefs, and experiences.
• Explain how a person’s aesthetic choices are influenced by culture and environment and impact the visual image that one conveys to others.
• Compare and contrast contexts and media in which viewers encounter images that influence ideas, emotions, and actions.
• Interpret art by analyzing how the interaction of subject matter, characteristics of form and structure, use of media, art-making approaches, and relevant contextual information contributes to understanding messages or ideas and mood conveyed.
• Create a convincing and logical argument to support an evaluation of art.
• Make art collaboratively to reflect on and reinforce positive aspects of group identity
• Distinguish different ways art is used to represent, establish, reinforce, and reflect group identity.

Course length: Full year

Course number: 500711

Course description: This is a foundational visual arts course that invites students to explore artistic expression, develop technical skills, and deepen their understanding of art as a form of communication. Rooted in Kentucky’s Visual and Performing Arts academic standards, this course emphasizes creativity, inquiry, problem-solving, and personal expression through a variety of mediums and techniques.

Through hands-on experiences, students investigate the artistic process—from generating ideas and planning work to producing, reflecting on, and presenting finished pieces. Students build confidence and competence in drawing, painting, design, and mixed media while learning to analyze and interpret visual artwork within cultural, historical, and personal contexts.

Art I is designed to prepare students for advanced visual arts coursework, foster artistic literacy, and support creative thinking that connects to college, career, and lifelong learning opportunities in the arts.

Students will:

• Explore and apply the four artistic processes—Creating, Presenting, Responding, and Connecting—through meaningful projects.

• Demonstrate technical skill and craftsmanship in various media, including drawing, painting, and design.

• Generate, plan, and develop original artwork that reflects personal expression and artistic intent.

• Use observation, critical thinking, and visual problem-solving to refine and complete artistic work.

• Analyze and interpret artworks, making connections to historical, cultural, and contemporary influences.

• Present and discuss artwork using appropriate artistic vocabulary and reflection strategies.

• Demonstrate respect for artistic processes and ethical practices in creating and sharing visual art.

• Art club

• This pathway aligns to all FCPS high school's art requirements