Snapshot
Project Title 1: Time Travelers
The project plan is to have Visual Arts II-IV classes (40 students at present) create individual dioramas of an art history period that is of interest to them. The diorama will be one of two culminating assignments that pull together all that they have researched and learned about a particular time period. In the diorama, students will include a number of artifacts that they have personally made based on real art from the period. They will include relevant information and characteristics about the time period such, as important artist, media and art styles during the period. They will then teach to the class or classes what they have learned using their diorama as a visual teaching tool. The second culminating assignment will be for the students to individually create a piece of art from one of the art periods that was shared with them, and not necessarily the one they researched. The artwork must be an original work created in a style of the period. The student will then teach the class or classes in an art jury format to demonstrate authenticity. The class will evaluate finished products through oral and written critiques. Dioramas and individual artworks will be displayed at school, and students will present at an open house.
Project Title 2: “In the Beginning, there is ART”
Many students arrive in a Visual Arts I course having very little, if any education in the visual arts. As a result, students do not have a good foundation in the visual arts (Elements of Design). The Elements of Design are the basic components of visual communication. Students have an awareness of them, but do not know the language and/or lack the knowledge to put them together to create successful finished artworks.