Art and Collaboration Unit

Big Idea: The big idea for this unit is collaboration. Artists will be focused on teamwork and how young artists can collaborate to make something they never expected through working together with another artist.

Thematic Summary: The theme of this unit is communication. Artists will include thought about communication in each piece. Through working with a partner or a group they will consider how collaborating and discussing with people effectively can change the art or how the art can communicate with the world around them in a different way than merely writing or speaking. They will discover the power of images to communicate meanings that are hard to say out loud or to even write.

Essential Questions:
1.    How do images tell a story?
2.    How do artists collaborate?
3.    How can effective communication make art different?

General Objectives:
Students will:

• Combine concepts collaboratively to generate innovative ideas for creating art and furthering their teamwork and communication skills while crating. VA:Cr1.1.6a

• Collaboratively develop a visual plan for displaying works of art, analyzing exhibit space, the needs of the viewer, and the layout of the exhibit to best display works created as a group. VA:Pr5.1.6a

• Compare one’s own interpretation of a work of art with the interpretation of others they are working with to understand what their partners are thinking while creating art. VA:Re7.1.5a

Development Stage: Most students will be in the dawning realism stage of their artistic development. They are beginning to understand more about color and should focus on their experience with colors more than the color wheel. When arranging images on the paper they begin to have a relationship with each other.  They will also begin overlapping and creating the illusion of space. They may begin to learn drawing perspective. They are more aware of their environment and how it relates to themselves.