United States · Common Core State Standards
12th Grade Visual & Performing Arts
This course challenges seniors to integrate technical mastery with conceptual depth across visual and performing arts. Students develop a professional portfolio and a signature performance style while critiquing the role of art in contemporary global society.
Conceptual Foundations and Art Theory
Exploration of the philosophical underpinnings of aesthetics and the evolution of artistic movements from modernism to post-modernism.
Analyzing how definitions of aesthetics have shifted across different cultures and eras.
Investigating how contemporary artists challenge grand narratives through irony, parody, and appropriation.
The Human Form and Movement
Advanced study of anatomy, gesture, and choreography to express the complexities of the human experience.
Mastering the skeletal and muscular structures to create realistic and expressive figure drawings.
Developing original movement sequences that communicate specific emotional or narrative arcs.
Examining performance art and body modification as valid forms of contemporary artistic expression.
Sonic Landscapes and Composition
Advanced music theory and composition focusing on the intersection of sound, technology, and emotion.
Analyzing 20th and 21st-century musical compositions that utilize non-traditional tonal structures.
Utilizing digital audio workstations to create immersive environments and cinematic scores.
Studying the cultural significance of music in non-Western societies and its impact on global pop culture.
Theatrical Directing and Dramaturgy
Focusing on the creative vision of the director and the historical research required to bring a script to life.
Learning to interpret a script and coordinate technical elements to achieve a unified artistic goal.
Researching the historical, social, and political background of plays to ensure authentic production design.
Exploring immersive and site-specific theater that breaks the 'fourth wall' and engages the audience directly.
Visual Storytelling and Media Arts
Integrating traditional art skills with digital media to create compelling visual narratives and social commentary.
Analyzing how camera angles, lighting, and framing communicate subtext in film and photography.
Critiquing graphic design and advertising to understand how visual elements manipulate consumer behavior.
Exploring how video games, VR, and interactive installations create new forms of artistic engagement.
Professional Portfolio and Exhibition
Preparing students for post-secondary success through the curation of a professional portfolio and the execution of a capstone project.
Selecting and organizing works that demonstrate technical proficiency and a unique artistic voice.
Understanding the economic side of the arts, including grants, commissions, and intellectual property law.
Planning and executing a public showcase of student work, including logistics, marketing, and presentation.