ART 101 - Art Appreciation

• Evaluate and critique works using the elements and principles of design by employing a vocabulary specific to the visual arts.
• Distinguish similarities and differences between diverse cultures by evaluating the physical, cultural, and psychological conditions in which it was created.
• Identify visual arts by media and technique.

Course Objectives

• Intro: Become familiar with the concepts of what art is and who makes it. Gain awareness of how value is placed upon art, and distinguish between the different types of value assigned to art. Identify censorship’s relationship with art. Understand why art is studied.
• Unit 1: Learn the elements and principles of art, which will become students’ visual vocabulary. Learn how to use this vocabulary and apply knowledge of the elements and principles in a visual analysis. Learn how to utilize the concepts of style and content when analyzing a work of art.
• Unit 2: Become familiar with the media and processes artists use to communicate ideas. Comprehend how most art we encounter has been made, and be able to analyze the reasons artists choose to work with the materials and methods that they do. Understand the history and practical properties of artistic media and processes.
• Unit 3: Understand how art is influenced by the time and place in which it was created. Learn how knowledge of the context of an artwork can inform understanding of the work itself. Through a chronological exploration of art, from prehistory to the twenty-first century, discover how history has influenced art, and how art reflects history.
• Unit 4: Identify issues and themes that can be seen in artworks from around the world and throughout time. Understand how art deals with belief systems, survival, the natural world, and technology; and with issues related to status, power, identity, and creative expression. By comparing and contrasting these works, gain an understanding of shared concerns, and also of the uniqueness of different cultures and artists.