School Programs :: Art :: Overview
Our names are Jennifer Shepherd and Ginger Thom. We are the art teachers at Lafayette Elementary! It is with great pride that we guide our students towards a future filled with art and adventure. As students progress through their primary years they will be exposed to an intense arts program that is tied to our state standards. Students will be introduced to all materials and tools associated with art including, painting (watercolor, acrylics, tempera), printmaking, ceramics, drawing, graphic arts, collage, textiles, oil pastels, etc. As they make their way through the program students will experience a great deal of Art History and get to know a diverse group of artists ranging from Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Maria Martinez, Paul Klee, Mondrian, Frank Stella, Andrew Wyeth, Hokusai, Georgia O'Keefe, Louise Nevelson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, George Rodrigue, Marc Chagall, Mary Cassatt, Diego Rivera, and many others! Students will learn about color, shapes, textures, line, space, form, and value. Students will understand all of these elements and the principles of art as well as the many ways in which to use them! Students will also look at many cultures through art, including African, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, Greek, Mexican, Native American, Aboriginal, and more. Students are also introduced to critical thinking and evaluation of their own and other students' artwork. We look forward to meeting each new student and helping them to reach their artistic potential!
Award winning art from students at Lafayette Elementary
The Value of Visual Arts in Education
Here at Lafayette Elementary School, we believe art is a valuable and necessary part of a student's education. Art education:
- Provides an environment for creativity and self-expression
- Develops the aesthetic potential in each student
- Provides each student with a life-long appreciation of the arts
- Encourages students to observe and analyze content to construct meaning across the curriculum
- Nurtures the development of cognitive, social, and personal competencies enhancing overall learning
- Improves the understanding of one's relationship with one's environment
- Passes global cultural appreciation to future generations
- Provides for individual differences by giving new challenges to those with strong artistic abilities
- Provides for individual differences in artistic talent on a non-discriminatory basis regardless of socio-economic level
Ms. Shepherd's and Ms. Thom's classroom
Colorado Visual Art Standards
- Students recognize and use the visual arts as a form of communication.
- Students know and apply elements of art*, principles of design*, and sensory* and expressive* features of visual arts.
- Students know and apply visual arts materials*, tools*, techniques*, and processes*.
- Students relate the visual arts to various historical* and cultural* traditions.
- Students analyze and evaluate the characteristics, merits, and meaning of works of art.