At Orange Hunt, art education is a core discipline, essential to the growth and development of the creative and expressive mind of all students. Through instruction in all four of the disciplines of artistic study: art production, art history, art criticism and aesthetics, students are provided with the opportunities to: recognize the role and importance of art and artists in society, culture and history; critically assess works of art from many aesthetic and cultural perspectives; express their own ideas and feelings; think visually and creatively; and enhance their self-image. It is assumed that each student has a natural creative ability that can be nurtured. In the art program, we work within the broad conceptual framework of the Enduring Idea of "A Sense of Place.". The goal is to give insight and understanding to what it means to be human, to live alongside others, and to live in the natural world. The Enduring Idea is the lens through which each lesson is filtered. Each grade level has a big idea that spirals out from "Me" in kindergarten, "Family" in first grade, "Community" in second grade, "Culture" in third grade, "Time" in fourth grade, "Globalization" in fifth grade to "Identity" in sixth grade. These are aligned with the other curricular areas of study at each grade level. Through this approach, our hope is that our students will leave elementary school with more than a handful of art projects. The goal is to bring greater meaning to the students’ lives, giving them a greater understanding of themselves and their sense of place in the world. Students will:

• learn about safety in the art room and how to use safe procedures when handling art materials and tools
• learn to use a variety of artists materials and tools
• learn to think creatively and critically when talking about art, looking at art and creating art
• see how art is integrated with other curricular areas of study
• have the opportunity to make connections among concepts, processes and content learned in art and other subject areas
• learn about the history of art including the cultural, social and historic context of art
• learn about and learn to recognize great works of art
• learn to create personally meaningful works of art
• learn to form and express opinions about their art and the art of others, using art vocabulary.