The students who are working on Higher Level Option, which is 60% studio work and 40% investigation workbooks, will begin work in their junior year, but must complete another two semesters during their senior year to satisfy the 240 hours necessary.

The Aldine district offers students a variety of visual art class choices. Art 1, a survey course of history and media production, is a prerequisite to all other art courses. Due to the opportunity that Art may be taken previous to entering the diploma years, the junior level course for an IB student may be a level 2 or 3 course for that student.

The IB Visual Art course is designed to provide students an opportunity to develop and present a personal visual art statement reflecting their voice and vision presented in artworks in a portfolio, exhibition and their investigation workbook. Each student will be expected to incorporate the new techniques, a variety of media and methods, critical thinking, increased awareness of the global environment and its multiculturalism, imagination and creativity. The Discipline-based art methodology utilizing the four areas of studio work, aesthetics, art history and art criticism will be an integral part of the curriculum. The investigation workbook will complement the studio work as a source of experimentation and inspiration at the Higher Level and Standard Level A. The investigation workbook will be the major component at the Standard level B and the studio work will be a supporting source of personal vision and media experimentation.

The Visual Art program will provide opportunities for development of a portfolio and research workbook, which will demonstrate an understanding of:
(1) Developing and organizing ideas from the environment through different observational strategies.

(2) Expressing ideas through original artworks, using a variety of media with appropriate skill in both studio work and their research workbooks.

(3) Demonstrating an understanding of art history, multiculturalism and internationalism as records of human achievement and culture.

(4) Making informed judgments about personal artworks and the artworks of others through Feldman’s art criticism and reflection.

(5) Pursuing quality in craftsmanship, seek new ways to solve creative problems, and strive to be innovators in studio work and research workbook processes.

• Illustrate ideas for artworks from direct observation, experiences, and imagination.
• Compare and contrast the use of art elements (color, texture, form, line, space, value) and art principles (emphasis, pattern, rhythm, balance, proportion, unity) in personal artworks and those of others, using vocabulary accurately.
• Create visual solutions by elaborating on direct observation, experiences, and imagination.
• Create designs for practical applications.
• Demonstrate effective use of art media and tools in design, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture.
• Compare and contrast historical and contemporary styles, identifying general themes and trends.
• Describe general characteristics in artworks from a variety of cultures.
• Compare and contrast career and vocational opportunities in art.
• Interpret, evaluate, and justify artistic decisions in personal artworks; and
• Select and analyze original artworks, portfolios, and exhibitions by peers and others to form precise conclusions about formal qualities, historical and cultural contexts, intents, and meanings.

• Demonstrate clearly in verbal and graphic terms how personal research has led to an understanding of the topics or concepts under consideration.
• Analyze critically the formal structures of art, technical and aesthetic qualities of the art forms studied and/or of personal interest or relevance.
• Relate the material to its cultural, historical, international influences or origins, multicultural influences and interpretations, and/or social context.