IBDP Visual Arts

Group 6 | Visual Arts

What will I learn?

This course invites students to engage with the creation and appreciation of the visual arts in all its diversity. Students have the opportunity to build on prior experience while developing technical proficiency, to become confident art practitioners. Analytical thinking,  problem-solving, experimentation and initiative are cultivated. The course is designed for students who want to go on to study visual arts in higher education as well as for those who are seeking lifelong enrichment through visual arts.

While it is possible to take the Visual Arts course without previous experience, it is helpful to have completed some art units in previous years. 

The aims of the Visual Arts are to enable students to: 

• Enjoy lifelong engagement with the arts 
• Become informed, reflective and critical practitioners in the arts 
• Explore and value the diversity of the arts across time, place and culture 
• Develop perceptual and analytical skills
•  Develop skills, techniques and processes in order to communicate concepts and ideas 
• Evaluate how their ongoing work communicates meaning and purpose
• Explain the ways in which the works are connected and discuss how artistic judgements impact overall presentation
• Make artwork that is influenced by personal and cultural contexts 
• Select and present resolved works for exhibition 

Students studying SL and HL and required to investigate the core syllabus areas through exploration of the following practices: 

Theoretical Practice 

• Examine and compare the work of artists from different cultural contexts 
• Consider the contexts influencing their own work and the work of others 
• Investigate and compare how and why different techniques have evolved and the processes involved
• Explore ways of communicating through visual and written means 

Art-making Practice 

• Make art through a process of investigation, thinking critically and experimenting with techniques 
• Develop concepts through processes that are informed by skills, techniques and media. 
• Produce a body of artwork through a process of reflection and evaluation, showing a synthesis of skill, media and concept

Curatorial Practice 

• Develop an informed response to work and exhibitions they have seen and experienced. 

Why should I consider this course?

• You enjoy art and want to develop your art practice
• Foster self-expression and creativity and build confidence and a sense of personal identity
• Develop critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around you
• Cultivate innovative thinking
• Build an understanding of what it is to be human and gain insights into culture
• Nurture creativity that can also help with wellbeing and improving health and happiness 

Assessment

What Skills does this course provide?

• Become informed, reflective and critical practitioners in the arts
• Develop skills, techniques and processes in a variety of media in order to communicate concepts and ideas
• Explore and value the diversity and ever changing nature of the arts across time, place and cultures
• Express ideas with confidence and competence
• Develop perceptual and analytical skills
• Become informed and critical observers and thinkers

What Pathway Options does this course provide?

• Studying visual art will prepare you for further study in visual arts and creative industries
• Art will enrich your personal life by fostering awareness, empathy and appreciation of difference and diversity and the views of others
• Leaders in any profession are those who are innovative and can think creatively. Studying art contributes to the development of these skills. These are qualities that all employers value.
• Studying the arts teaches determination and resilience – qualities useful in life and any career