Visual Arts Education Belief Statements

Visual Arts and the Individual

• The growing complexity of our contemporary culture requires of every individual a capacity for visual discrimination and judgment. In the production and in the contemplation of artworks, we are helped to understand ourselves and the world around us.
• One of the traditional and unique functions of the arts has been to emphasize individual interpretation and expression. Today the visual arts continue to be a means through which we give form to our ideas and feelings, developing a unique sense of being through individual accomplishment.
• Learning through the visual arts develops creative problem-solving skills as students face problems which often have multiple solutions. Attributes such as self-discipline, perseverance and cooperation are developed through artistic production.

Visual Arts and the Society

• Art brings individuals together. Through paintings, graphics, murals and sculpture; through the design of clothing, furnishings and equipment; through the use of technology as an artistic tool; through the forms of architecture and the entire community—we share feelings, beliefs and values.
• We use the visual arts to build and enrich both private and communal environments. Decisions about conserving, adapting and inventing are particularly important during periods of rapid technological and social change. These are social decisions.
• Art education programs that develop the ability to make qualitative judgments are needed to help each person to assume a personal responsibility for the improvement of the aesthetic dimension of personal and community living.

Visual Arts and Culture

• The visual arts record the achievement of humankind, since the values and beliefs of a people are uniquely manifested in the art forms they produce. A critical examination of these forms leads to a better understanding of past and present cultures, as well as the contributions of ethnic and cultural groups in today’s pluralistic society.

THE STATE REQUIREMENTS ARE (1) CREDIT OF VISUAL ARTS, MUSIC, THEATER, DANCE OR MEDIA ARTS; DISTRICT 196 REQUIRES NO ARTS COURSES FOR GRADUATION.