Eighth Grade Art

 

Instructor: Kim Lysne

 

Curriculum Map, Class Page

 

How did we get here? Students answer this question in a variety of ways and on multiple levels using art as a tool to communicate meaning, ideas, attitudes, views and intentions.

 

On a personal level, students examine where they are right now in their lives, the experiences they have had, and the lessons they have learned along the way that define who they are. They create a series of artworks that reveal their personal identity.

 

On a local level, students make connections with and learn about America's past from the senior citizens of our community through collected stories, photography, and mixed media pieces as part of their service learning focus.

 

On a national level, they look at specific time periods in history that help them analyze how we got to where we are today as a nation. We begin with early American landscape painters in our study of American art. We compare and contrast their work with contemporary landscape artwork, recognizing change over time. This leads us to examine the health of our environment and how it affects our quality of life. Students broaden their understanding of American identity as they discuss the topics of Native Americans, civil rights, immigration, and bicultural perspectives.  Students recognize changes in styles of American art and in our social structure from past to present, using images from TV, print media, radio and music. A variety of art forms are used to introduce the tough issues we face today such as discrimination, racism, disease, war and America’s role in the world.

 

Trips to local museums and galleries provied students the opportunity to analyze and interpret a variety of contemporary artworks. They apply subjects, symbols, and ideas in their own artwork and use the skills gained to convey their ideas and solve problems. They select the media, techniques and processes, analyze what makes them effective or not in communicating ideas, and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices.

 

Guiding questions:

• How do people’s experiences influence the development of specific artworks?
• How may artwork influence the experiences of people?
• Where do we go from here?

 

Focus areas:

• Experiment with nontraditional forms of art.
• Critical analysis of their work and the work of others.

 

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