Southwest High School

Instructor Contact Information: Cecily Spano  room #14
E-mail:cspano@mpls.k12.mn.us

IB learners strive to be:

Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced, Reflective.

The aim of all IB programs is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. 

Course Description:

This studio-based course emphasizes both students' creative process and their final artistic product in 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional arts forms.  As students develop their craft they will conduct thoughtful inquiry into their own thinking and art making processes, recording this learning in written and visual formats.  All stages of the creative process must be thoroughly documented and evidence of in-depth research into chosen areas of interest and ideas for work must be shown and explained in detail.  Students are expected to be independently motivated as they research the history and practice of a chosen art form and “big idea”/thesis across cultures, time periods and disciplines.  They will learn how to connect their research to their own work, creating art that expresses personal meaning within a cultural, historical and discipline-based context.  In addition to learning how to appreciate and evaluate their own work and that of others, students will be encouraged to stretch and explore their own work and share it with an audience through mandatory weekly Peer Critical Review sessions, exhibitions and presentations of research in class.

IB offers two levels in the arts:

1. Standard Level (150 hours): Students should, over the course of the year, try out many different media, techniques, processes and styles to see what interests them. Gradually, they will identify themes in their own work and determine their area of focus.  They will learn how to use multiple sources to conduct independant research and to cite sources properly in the content area of the Visual Arts.  Through various teacher-driven assignments, students will gain practice in taking ideas and ways of knowing, from other disciplines, as inspiration for artistic expression.  For example, the use of metaphor and analogy will be deeply explored as not only a way of talking about and understanding Visual Art, but also as a source of inspiration for it’s creation.

IB Art students may choose to take the IB Art exam in Studio Work (an individual art show of 10 to 15 works) or in Art Research (Investigation Workbook) and may earn college credit. Students are expected to participate in all educational field experiences, and in gallery exhibitions, especially in their senior year.

Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:

• Students will gain skill and develop the ability to document and explain their thinking, their creative processes, their research, and their developing understandings of how all of these areas work together towards their own personal and artistic growth.

• Students will further develop their artistic voices and their ability to explain what has influenced and changed it.

• Students will better understand the creative process /creative cycle, enabling them to create a body of original artwork that shows evidence of reflection, revision and refinement.

• Students will understand the social and historical context of visual art in any culture.

• Students will understand, aquire and gain practice with the  “Artist's Habits of Mind”

Essential Questions:

How does an artist develop his or her own vision? 
How is an idea born?
Is it possible to have an original idea?
Is the artist's intention relevant to the viewer?
Is taste absolute?
What does quality look like in a given visual art form?
What is art? 
What is “bad” art? What is “good” art?
Is it possible to define beauty / ugliness?  

Concepts:

• role of creative process (brainstorm/sketch, rough draft, revise/reflect, final product) and experimentation in realizing a complex idea in one's own art form through the creative cycle
• elements and principles of chosen visual art form in theory and in practice
• selected periods, movements, individuals, cultures and ideologies in art history
• relationship between form and meaning in visual arts
• conventions and vocabulary of chosen visual art form

Skills:

• select and use tools and techniques of chosen visual art form to create original 2-D and 3-D works
• develop strategies to investigate one's own ideas and practice
• integrate independent research into daily studio work
• develop complex approaches to one's own art form
• make cross cultural comparisons and connections in chosen art form
• critique one's own and others' work and processes in relation to the standards of the visual art field
• practice good studio habits
• work independently
• create an artist's statement

Assessments:

• Mandatory weekly Peer Critical Review 

• artwork in all stages of creative process must be displayed and full participation in activity

• IB Investigation Workbook

• IB final exam: record booklet, studio work, interviews (depending on IB level)

• Daily attendance: active participation /presence /effort in all activities / work  ******* Good daily attendance is a MUST!  Also, being present in all ways, not just in body, is also required.  No work from other classes will be done in Art  class.

Standards:

Under Analysis and Interpretation: benchmarks 1-8
Under Create and Perform: benchmarks 1-7

Grading Policies:

Grading Criteria: Grade is based on a “point-based” system.  Students will be given opportunities to score the highest points possible by meeting all criteria presented in class.   For purposes of class grade points may earned by:

• Investigation Workbook:   For purposes of class grade (whether testing IB or not, workbooks will be graded on a 20 point scale using the IB assessment rubric and will be collected every 2 weeks to assess student progress.  

• Studio work: (classwork and final artwork) : Points are based on the following criteria:

• expression and communication of artistic intentions / authentic voice
• skill and technique / craftmanship / control of materials
• artistic process : create/ present / evaluate / refine
• art historical, cultural and/or personal influences evident in work
• effort / completeness / on time    Class Policies/Expectations