Fine Arts

Visual & Performing Arts
                              

• Performing, presenting or producing, as artistically literate individuals, by expressing and realizing creative ideas and implementing essential technical skills and cognitive abilities significant to many aspects of life and work in the 21st century;
• Responding to artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and cognizance of the ability of the arts to address universal themes, including climate change;
• Creating new artistic work reflective of a variety of perspectives; and
• Connecting and evaluating how the arts convey meaning through all arts and non-arts disciplines and contexts of a global society.

The vision of all students having equitable access to a quality arts education is only achieved when the five arts disciplines are offered continuously throughout the K–12 spectrum.
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
  
The NJSLS-VPA reflect the National Core Arts Standards and emphasize the process-oriented nature of the arts and arts learning by:

• Defining artistic literacy through a set of overarching philosophical foundations and lifelong goals that clarify long-term expectations for arts learning;
• Placing artistic processes and anchor standards at the forefront of the work;
• Identifying creative artistic practices as the bridge for the application of the artistic processes and anchor standards across all learning; and
• Specifying enduring understandings and essential questions that provide conceptual through lines and articulate value and meaning within and across the arts discipline.

The development of artistic literacy is dependent on creating an environment in which students are encouraged to independently and collaboratively imagine, investigate, construct, and reflect.  

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS PURPOSE AND GOALS
  
The purpose of the Visual & Performing Arts Diocesan Curriculum Guidelines is to teach Fine Arts literacy in accordance with Catholic values and to promote intellectual, moral and aesthetic growth and development of students. The foundation of this curriculum is to stimulate creativity, imagination and originality. That is met by developing students’ knowledge, skills and techniques that are essential for quality work in dance, music, theatre and visual arts.
  
The goals are designed to help educators develop curriculum and instruction in the arts so that all students will meet or exceed the outcome standards in Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts.  Students are expected to accomplish the following goals:

• create, participate, and perform in the arts
• explore the arts through history, world cultures and religion
• recognize beauty and meaning throughout the arts
• critique arts of self and others
• apply elements and principles throughout the arts