The Arts > Visual Arts > NH Standards
The Arts
Visual Arts Standards
Curriculum Standard 1
Apply appropriate media, techniques, and processes.

Curriculum Standard 2
Identify and apply the elements of visual art and principles of design.

Curriculum Standard 3
Select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.

Curriculum Standard 4
Analyze the visual arts in relation to history and culture.
Curriculum Standard 5
Analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and others' artwork.

Curriculum Standard 6
Students will make connections among the visual arts, other disciplines, and daily life.

Curriculum Standard 7

Understand the range of careers in the field of visual arts and identify careers associated with this field.

Purpose

Since the beginning of civilization, people have created visual artifacts to enhance their surroundings and communicate ideas. People of all cultures have used the visual arts to record, reflect and expand upon life. Historical events, such as battles, plagues and celebrations are depicted in paintings and memorials. The intangibles of life, such as dreams, religion, and aesthetics, are captured through the visual arts as well. Consequently, any visual art work, when examined in the context in which it was created, provides the perspective viewer with a lens into another time, place or mind.

The visual arts range from drawing, painting, sculpture, and print making, to landscaping, film, video, and folk arts. Aspects of the visual arts are part of our daily life and are evident in architecture, advertisement, product design, and city planning. Design elements appear in what we drive, wear, see and use. The world is filled with visual stimuli that the mind is required to process and interpret regularly; knowledge of the visual arts is necessary to understand the design-oriented environment of the twenty-first century. Therefore, the framework in visual arts provides for sequential learning in creating art and a broad understanding of the influence of design within the environment.

Studies in the visual arts enable students to experience distinct ways of thinking, communicating, reasoning and investigating. The visual arts, as with all the arts disciplines, have a unique symbol system. Additionally, participation in making visual art allows students to learn spatially and kinesthetically. Howard Gardner, educational researcher, has defined these different ways of knowing as distinct and separate intelligences. Much research is devoted to validating the theory that learning in these modes will increase students' ability to develop life skills, use varied approaches to problem solving, collaborate with others and synthesize ideas.

The framework in visual arts includes seven curriculum standards to guide educators and provide New Hampshire students with visual art experiences in investigating, making art, and critiquing their own works and the works of others. It is designed sequentially and provides cognitive links with other disciplines throughout. The framework begins with enthusiastic exploration of materials and processes. It progresses through developing imagination and individual expression, and culminates with sophisticated inquiry into the aesthetic qualities of both historical works and student created pieces. Achievement of these standards will prepare students for adult lives that are enriched by an increased capacity for interpreting human experience.

Curriculum Standard 1

Apply appropriate media, techniques, and processes.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Differentiate between materials, techniques, and processes of making art.

Describe how different techniques, media, and processes produce different effects and personal responses.

Use various materials, techniques, and processes to communicate and express ideas, experiences, and stories.

Use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner.

Communicate and express ideas symbolically.

Select media and analyze how it effectively communicates and expresses ideas.

Use the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas.

Express and communicate ideas symbolically and realistically.

Use increasingly complex art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner.

 

Apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity in ways that reflect their intentions.

Create works of visual art that demonstrate a connection between personal expression and the intentional use of art materials, techniques, and processes.

Use complex art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12:
In addition to the above, students will be able to:

Communicate ideas regularly at a high level of effectiveness in at least one visual arts medium.

Initiate, define, and solve challenging visual arts problems independently, using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Return to Standards

Curriculum Standard 2

Identify and apply the elements of visual art and principles of design.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Recognize the visual elements including color, shape, form, space, line, value, and texture.

Describe the principles of design including balance, unity and rhythm.

Describe how different expressive features, and ways of organizing them, cause different responses.

Create works of art that use the elements of art and principles of design to communicate and express ideas.

 

Recognize and reflect on the effects of arranging visual characteristics in works of art.

Select and use the elements of art and principles of design to improve communication and expression of ideas.

Describe and analyze visual characteristics of works of art using visual arts terminology.

Demonstrate a more complex understanding of the elements of art and principles of design to accomplish commercial, personal, communal or other purposes of art.

Create works that use the elements of art and principles of design to solve specific visual arts problems.

Compare two or more perspectives about the use of organizational principles and functions in artwork and defend personal evaluations of these perspectives.

Design to generate multiple solutions to a variety of visual art problems.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12
In addition to the above, students will be able to:

Describe the elements of art and principles of design found in origins of specific images and ideas.

Curriculum Standard 3

Select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Explore and understand prospective content for works of art.

Create art, selecting and using appropriate subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

 

Use subjects, themes, and symbols that communicate and express intended meaning in their artwork.

Consider and compare the sources for subject matter, symbols, and ideas in their own and others' work.

Reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, and functionally.

Use subject matter, symbols, ideas, and themes that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12
In addition to the above, students will be able to:

Describe the origins of specific images and ideas and explain their significance.

Evaluate the validity of sources for content and the manner in which subject matter, symbols, and images are used in the students' work and the work of others.

Curriculum Standard 4

Analyze the visual arts in relation to history and culture.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Know that the visual arts have both a history and a specific relationship to various cultures.

Identify specific works of art in particular cultures, times, and places.

Describe how history, culture, and visual arts influence each other.

Identify a variety of art objects, artists, and resources specific to New Hampshire.

Create a work of art that reflects an understanding of how history or culture can influence visual art.

Compare the characteristics of works of art representing various cultures, historical periods, and artists.

Describe and place a variety of art objects by style and artist, and by historical and cultural contexts.

Describe how a given work of art can be interpreted differently in various cultures and time.

Analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and place influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art.

Identify artists who have used New Hampshire and New England as their subject and know where such works may be viewed.

Create a work of art that reflects historical and/or cultural context.

Differentiate among a variety of historical and cultural contexts in terms of characteristics and purposes of works of art.

Analyze relationships among works of art in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, using their observations to inform their own art making.

Identify and visit New Hampshire arts exhibitions and report their findings.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12
In addition to the above, students will be able to:

Understand various critical models of interpreting works from several historical periods and cultures.

Analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among cultural/ethnic groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of meaning.

Return to Standards

Curriculum Standard 5

Analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and others' artwork.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Identify various purposes for creating works of art.

Describe how people's experiences influence the development of specific art works.

Understand that people may respond in different and equally valid ways to specific art works.

Describe their personal responses to specific works of art using visual art terminology.

Identify possible improvements in the process of creating their own work.

Compare multiple purposes for creating works of art.

Analyze the meanings of contemporary and historic artworks.

Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their own and others' work by using specific criteria.

Compare a variety of individual responses to their own art works.

Describe their own responses to, and interpretation of, specific works of art.

Describe their own artistic growth over time in relation to specific criteria.

Research and analyze historic meaning and purpose in various works of art;

Defend personal interpretations to better understand specific works of art.

Apply critical and aesthetic criteria in order to improve their own works of art.

Reflect critically on various interpretations to better understand specific works of art.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12
In addition to the above, students will be able to:

Analyze and interpret art works identifying relationships among form, context and purposes.

Curriculum Standard 6

Make connections between dance and healthful living. Students will make connections among the visual arts, other disciplines, and daily life.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Identify connections among the visual arts and other arts disciplines.

Understand that similarities exist between the visual arts and other disciplines.

Describe how the visual arts are used in the world around us and how they are part of our everyday life.

Describe how the visual art design principles are expressed in multi-media presentations and daily life.

Compare characteristics of works of art and other art forms that share similar subject matter, themes and purposes.

Create art work that reflects the connections among visual arts and other disciplines.

Apply the principles of design in solving a visual arts problem.

Compare the materials, technologies, media, and processes of the visual arts with those of other disciplines.

Compare the creative processes used in the visual arts with the creative processes used in the other arts and non-arts disciplines.

Create and solve interdisciplinary problems through multimedia solutions, using advancements in technology and principles of design when applicable.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12
In addition to the above, students will be able to:

Use knowledge of other subject matter to enhance their art work.

Evaluate how other disciplines influence an individual's work, style and process.

Curriculum Standard 7

Understand the range of careers in the field of visual arts and identify careers associated with this field.

End of Grade 4
End of Grade 8
End of Grade 12

Identify a variety of professions in the visual arts.

Describe various kinds of artists and fields of art particular to New Hampshire.

 

Identify visual artists who are recognized locally, nationally, and internationally.

Describe occupations in which knowledge of design principles is important, such as fashion, manufacturing, advertising and web design.

Recognize that a portfolio is a tool for professional artists and personal documentation, as well as a requirement for college admission.

Prepare a portfolio for use in application to institutions of higher education or for the workplace.

Prepare an exhibition, demonstrating an understanding of presentation.

Additional Proficiency Standards Grades 9-12
In addition to the above, students will be able to :

Investigate career opportunities and professional options related to one's own strengths.