Art
Art allows CA students to grow and explore their artistic selves. New challenges emerge each year as learning grows with the students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Course Overview
Art allows CA students to explore, refine, and demonstrate their artistic selves. As students move through the grades, course content becomes more complex, challenging learners through different media, techniques, and projects.
Art is a mandatory course in Grades K–6, becoming an optional course afterwards.
Learning by Grade Level
Grades K–3
Visual arts is a semester-long program that integrates curriculum from both art and multimedia. During the semester-long course, students will explore several different art-making techniques, mediums and methods, while focusing primarily on exploratory play and basic skill building. Students work with media such as tempera paint, clay, pencil crayons, markers, printmaking, and digital art-making tools like Tinkercad to create 3D prints.
Grades 4–6
In Grade 4, students continue exploring art through a primarily exploratory approach while also being introduced to basic art concepts such as colour, line, texture, and shape through both 2-D and 3-D projects. Moving into Grades 5 and 6, students investigate colour theory, painting techniques, and basic composition.
Grades 7–9
The focus in Grades 7 to 9 art shifts to technique, with an emphasis on theoretical and art history departure points for studio projects. Along with continued work in clay and drawing media, students begin working with acrylic paints and a broader range of materials, such as plaster, photo-gel transfers, found objects, and more.
Students are marked on growth, effort, their use of previously acquired knowledge, and their willingness to explore.
Grades 10–12
Students explore more complex concepts and techniques in Grades 10–12.
Their first experience with a printmaking process involves an easy-to-cut lino block. Students are encouraged to learn this process through exploration of colour and will learn the appropriate amount of ink to apply.
They will also paint their first canvas as projects become increasingly complex and individualized. Students are marked on growth, effort, their use of previously acquired knowledge, and their willingness to explore.
Integrated Studies Blog
Explore stories, classroom highlights and learning experiences related to this program and Integrated Studies at Calgary Academy.