Our goals are: 

• to emphasize the LCPS Middle School Art Education Philosophy as well as the Eight Studio Habits of Mind. (See SOL support programs below.)

• to place an emphasis on the Elements and Principals of Design and demonstrate their use across the curriculum.

• to demonstrate connections between the Visual Arts and Math, Science, History, Language Arts, etc. When we study color, we are scientists. When we study artists and cultures, we are historians. When measuring, dividing and dealing with volume, we are mathematicians. Art is the heart of everything in the curriculum.

Testing:

Art is an academic as well as creative subject. Students at all grade levels will have periodic quizzes and/or tests.

Curriculum
The art department of Belmont Ridge Middle School strives to provide each child with an exciting, and challenging education in the arts. Students in all three grade levels may be working in the same media however, the level of difficulty will increase for each grade. Students in the upper grades are encouraged to think beyond the basic parameters of the assignment to create more challenging designs.

Project Evaluation
The Art Department evaluates student performance using criteria aligned with LCPS Standards of Achievement (S.O.A.), and the Virginia Standards of Learning (S.O.L.). These criteria adhere to the National Standards in the Arts and fall into several categories including Creating, Presenting, Responding, Connecting. For answers to specific questions regarding evaluation, please contact your child’s Art Teacher. By evaluating several different areas of performance, all students can excel if effort and care is put into their work.

One major resource for Artists is the museum.  Here in the Washington area, we are blessed with numerous, Federally funded museums that are free!  How wonderful.  Please take a look at some of the sites listed below and tour, virtually, the Art world in your own backyard.

National Gallery of Art

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Smithsonian | Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

National Museum of the American Indian

The National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian American Art Museum 

Renwick Gallery / American Art

There are also many national and international museums worth exploring.  The links below are to some of the most famous around the world.

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: metmuseum.org