Art Curriculum Overview

Karli Brinson
The art curriculums for Kindergarten to Grade 12 have learner expectations that
overlap and connect. Though the degree of skill development for each of them is
slightly different, they all share the same basic ideas. Throughout the art curriculum,
the focus is on guiding students to learn how to organize physical material, express
themselves artistically, and think critically. The curriculum for K-6 focuses on seven
main experiences. Although the documents for Junior High and Senior High do not
specifically outline these experiences, the expectations are still present and become
deeper or more complex over time. The experiences are as follows:
1.

Individual Experience:
Each student learns about how they are individual and special.
Teachers focus on helping students in their self-realization process.
There is a focus on personal growth, pride, and the realization of inner
emotions.

Example Activity: Have students complete a Picasso self-portrait using abstract

drawings and whatever colours they prefer to use to portray themselves.
2.

Visual Experience:
Students develop perceptual skills like seeing and interpreting.
Teachers facilitate an increased perceptual awareness of personal artwork and
the artwork of others.

Example Activity: Bring students to an art museum to look at and reflect on the
pieces created by a variety of artists.
3.
-

Learning Experience:
Focuses on skill development over time in drawing, painting, sculpture,
printmaking, etc.
Students learn how to express themselves effectively through art.
Each student learns about basic art vocabulary.
Teachers teach about expressive art and how to apply it in personal lives.

Example Activity: Teach students how to use paint, pencils, charcoal, plasticine,
etc. and then have them complete one big art piece with all of the learned
mediums.
4.
-

Communication Experience:
Students will learn about how to communicate with each other visually.
Each student will learn about visual reading and how to interpret other
peoples art.
Teachers may use this kind of art experience in tandem with the language arts
curriculum.

Example Activity: Create an art piece and then write a summary about what they
created and why. Have students go around and do a gallery walk to look at their
classmates art and summaries, and reflect on how they interpret the pieces.

5.
-

Creative Experience:
Teachers focus on the importance of exploring imagination and using it to
make art.
Students make art with curiosity and intuitiveness as a focus.

Example Activity: Give students a mystery box of supplies and materials and
have them create a temporary art piece using only what is in their box.
6.
-

Cultural Experience:
Teachers focus on how art is cross-cultural and historical.
Students learn about the art of different cultures and how to use it as a tool for
learning.
Teachers may choose to use this kind of art in connection with social studies.

Example Activity: Have students create an art piece based on another culture
such as something from their own heritage or something they have learned in
school.
7.
-

Environmental Experience:
Students learn how to make informed choices about their art and how it
affects the environment.
Teachers integrate art into every day life, and demonstrate how it is not just
something done in school.
Students could use environmental art with the science curriculum.

Example Activity: Go outside, collect pieces of nature on a nature walk, and

create art from those pieces.
In addition to the seven learning experiences covered within the Alberta Program of
Study for Art, there are also several other focuses throughout Kindergarten to Grade
12:
1.
2.

Art should be focused on learning about other people.

Art should focus on the human condition expressed in many different
mediums.
3.
Art should not just be created; it should be valued.
4.
Art is just as equally valid when it comes from a beginner as someone
experienced.
5.
Art should be accessible to all students.
6.
Art should be used for students to learn how to make sense of visual stimuli.
7.
Art should focus on self-reflection and expression in a functional way.
8.
Art is about learning how to organize thoughts in a creative way.
9.
Art should be experienced in all dimensions, including 1D, 2D and 3D.
10.
Art should help individuals make connections to visual images and literacies.