University Park’s Art program provides a spiraling curriculum that builds on concepts as children move through the elementary grades. Art is a special part of our learner-centered curriculum and supports our school mission of ensuring the development of cultured, life long-learners. Kindergarten visits the art studio once a week for forty-five minutes. First grade through fourth grade come to art once a week for an hour. The products of our young artists’ imagination color the halls of UP creating an ever-changing museum of children’s expression through art.
Art education at University Park is a comprehensive approach that includes art production, art history, art aesthetics, and art criticism. Through engaging, interactive lessons, students study principles and elements of design that include: line, color, shape, texture, value, form, and space through drawing, weaving, painting, printmaking, constructing, and sculpting three-dimensional forms. Art students learn to investigate and discuss works of art from different cultures and time periods. Students develop an understanding of art history and culture as records of human achievement. The art curriculum also integrates the general classroom topics of study and our character development units.
Through experiences in the art studio, we honor the creative genius in every child, nurture imagination, and develop visual thinking skills. Our program focuses on higher-level inquiry when looking at art, creative problem solving, understanding what constitutes a good performance, and understanding how to evaluate their work in relationship to a standard.