MYP Visual Arts

In the past I have approached teaching MYP grades 9 & 10 by keeping two things in the forefront of my mind. First, to prepare students for the Diploma Program and second, to do so in a contemporary and holistic way.

As an educator it is important to me to give students a snapshot of how the art world really is and how it came to be. Students should be immersed in the world of art in all of its forms, functions and fashions. They need to understand that art is for them and that it is worth caring about. They should feel confident and have agency when looking at, talking about and creating art. They should be given the opportunity to develop the skills to think and make both creatively and critically.

Achieving this requires an approach to teaching that is relevant and varied. My units look at artists of color, women who are artists and art from all over the globe. My approach focuses on experimentation, conceptual ideation, writing, reading, critique and art history. All of which is tailored to the student demographic.

To believe that art is for them, students need multiple avenues and opportunities to be successful; to strengthen their technical skills by exploring a variety of media, developing their writing with structured artist statements and defined vocabulary; to engage with units aligned to overlap with the major components in DP to ensure their future success. I have found that this approach to teaching is what allows students to understand and appreciate what art is and can offer them.

Strategic planning of the syllabus is necessary to allow for this contemporary approach and as an MYP teacher it is crucial to work with the DP Art teacher when planning the MYP curriculum.

It is important that the curriculum enables students to improve their technical skills, especially if growth is needed in that area as it has been with many of my students. However, what differentiates a traditional approach to teaching art from a modern approach is designing units around a statement of inquiry that allows students to develop their creative process.

A well designed statement of inquiry, use of the key concepts, related concepts, and global context to give direction and a “lens” for student learning. These are the framework that supports students' multimodal investigation into art. Whether that art is inside a classroom, in the community, in nature or in a museum.

Below I have included a brief overview of some of the units I have previously taught.

Grade 9

Manuscripts

Art History : Illuminated Manuscripts & Blackout Poetry

Statement of Inquiry: Individuals express themselves through creativity.

Key Concept: Identity

Related Concept: Creativity

Global Context: Identities and Relationships

After using VTS (visual thinking strategies) to inquire about a manuscript page students dove into the world of Medieval art.

Using the Bestiary† (medieval encyclopedia) students made connected their identity with three of the beasts, stones or plants. These visual elements were then used as inspiration for their blackout poem.

For context I devoted two days to have students explore different aspects of society in the middle ages. Some of the groups included: Crime and Punishment, Economics and Society and The Plague.

As a class we looked in depth at the Book of Kells but students used many singular manuscript pages for visual examples to aid in the visual development of each part of their manuscript page.

After understanding the interconnectedness between art and religion during the Middle Ages, students ended this unit by debating the constraints on creativity using situations that have arisen in contemporary art.

Printmaking

Ideation: Developing a Theme

Statement of Inquiry: Appropriation and printmaking allows artists to utilize sustainability in their art making process.

Key Concept: Communication

Related Concept: Development

Global Context: Globalization and Sustainability

Using contemporary artists such as Barbara Kruger, Lorna Simpson and Kehinde Wiley students learned about appropriation and identified some of the ways in which these artists use appropriation in their artwork.

As an introduction to the medium students selected a printmaking artist to explore and create a biographical page about their artist and the printmaking process they used.

Looking at the postmodern principles† students learned about some of the themes contemporary artists are interested in conveying. Then, throughout a series of activities students identify, research and develop a theme/big idea they are interested in conveying through their prints. We focused heavily on the ways that artists can communicate their theme/big idea such as narrative, symbolism, etc.

The culmination of this unit resulted in multiple linoleum prints on different recycled or repurposed materials.

Sculpture

Comparative Study: Artist Mashup

Statement of Inquiry: Aesthetic preferences are not always a conscious choice but are predetermined by your environment.

Key Concept: Aesthetics

Related Concept: Style, Visual Culture

Global Context: Orientation in Space and Time

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In this unit , which is designed to mirror the DP comparative study; students investigate the concept of aesthetics in art and create a sculpture inspired by an artist of their choosing.

After researching questions in groups such as, “How does art get categorized? Periods vs. Movements”, “How does one art movement influence the one that follows it?”, “Define the term: aesthetics in terms of art”. Students then compile a list of questions to ask an artist. These questions then become the framework for their artist research.

In a surprise twist, students are paired up and asked to compare and contrast their dissimilar artists. After sharing their artists background, geographical location, style, artistic movement, etc. each student is challenged to incorporate both their own artist and their partners artist in their sculpture.