Australian Curriculum: Visual Arts
This section provides direct access to the complete Australian Curriculum: Visual Arts.
Understand how Visual Arts works
Rationale
This rationale complements and extends the rationale for The Arts learning area.
Visual arts includes the fields of art, craft and design. Learning in and through these fields, students create visual representations that communicate, challenge and express their own and others’ ideas as artist and audience.
Aims
In addition to the overarching aims of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, visual arts knowledge, understanding and skills ensure that, individually and collaboratively, students develop:
- conceptual and perceptual ideas and representations through design and inquiry processes
Structure
Learning in Visual Arts involves students making and responding to artworks, drawing on the world as a source of ideas. Students engage with the knowledge of visual arts, develop skills, techniques and processes, and use materials as they explore a range of forms, styles and contexts.
Example of knowledge and skills
Filters
Year levels:
Curriculum elements
Foundation to Year 2
Foundation to Year 2 Band Description
In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.
In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.
They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others' art making.
As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.
As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.
Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.
They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.
In Visual Arts, students:
- become aware of visual conventions and learn to notice visual detail
- explore how and why artworks are created and ways to use and apply visual conventions, such as line, shape, colour and texture
- learn how their ideas or subject matter can be developed through different forms, styles, techniques, materials and technologies
- learn about how and why artists, craftspeople and designers present their ideas through different visual representations, practices, processes and viewpoints.
Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptions
Content Descriptions
Foundation to Year 2 Achievement Standards
Learning Area Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 2, students describe artworks they make and those to which they respond. They consider where and why people make artworks.
Students use the elements and processes of arts subjects to make and share artworks that represent ideas.
Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 2, students describe artworks they make and view and where and why artworks are made and presented.
Students make artworks in different forms to express their ideas, observations and imagination, using different techniques and processes.
Foundation to Year 2 Work Sample Portfolios
Years 3 and 4
Years 3 and 4 Band Description
In Years 3 and 4, learning in The Arts builds on the experience of the previous band. It involves students making and responding to artworks independently and collaboratively with their classmates and teachers.
As they experience The Arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.
As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, elements and forms, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make personal evaluations of their own and others' artworks, making connections between their own artistic intentions and those of other artists.
Students continue to learn about safe practices in the arts and in their interactions with other artists. Their understanding of the role of the artist and the audience builds on their experience from the previous band. As an audience, students focus their attention on the artwork and respond to it. They consider why and how audiences respond to artworks.
In Years 3 and 4, students' awareness of themselves and others as audiences is extended beyond the classroom to the broader school context.
In Visual Arts, students:
- extend their awareness of visual conventions, and observe closely visual detail as they use materials, techniques and technologies and processes in visual arts forms
- explore and experiment with visual conventions such as line, shape, colour and texture to develop an individual approach to a theme or subject matter
- explore, observe and identify ideas and symbols used and adapted by artists in their artworks as they make and respond to visual arts
- consider how and why artists, craftspeople and designers realise their ideas through different visual representations, practices, processes and viewpoints.
Years 3 and 4 Content Descriptions
Content Descriptions
Years 3 and 4 Achievement Standards
Learning Area Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 4, students describe and discuss similarities and differences between artworks they make and those to which they respond. They discuss how they and others organise the elements and processes in artworks.
Students collaborate to plan and make artworks that communicate ideas.
Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 4, students describe and discuss similarities and differences between artworks they make, present and view. They discuss how they and others use visual conventions in artworks.
Students collaborate to plan and make artworks that are inspired by artworks they experience. They use visual conventions, techniques and processes to communicate their ideas.
Years 3 and 4 Work Sample Portfolios
Years 5 and 6
Years 5 and 6 Band Description
In Years 5 and 6, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.
As they make and respond to the arts, students explore meaning and interpretation, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They evaluate the use of forms and elements in artworks they make and observe.
Students extend their understanding of safety in the arts. In Years 5 and 6, their understanding of the roles of artists and audiences builds on previous bands. They develop their understanding and use of performance or technical skills to communicate intention for different audiences. They identify a variety of audiences for different arts experiences as they engage with more diverse artworks as artists and audiences.
In Visual Arts, students:
- develop understanding of use and application of visual conventions as they develop conceptual and representational skills
- test and innovate with properties and qualities of available materials, techniques, technologies and processes, combining two or more visual arts forms to test the boundaries of representation.
- explore a diversity of ideas, concepts and viewpoints as they make and respond to visual artworks as artists and audiences
- draw ideas from other artists, artworks, symbol systems, and visual arts practices in other cultures, societies and times
- extend their understanding of how and why artists, craftspeople and designers realise their ideas through different visual representations, practices, processes and viewpoints.
Years 5 and 6 Content Descriptions
Content Descriptions
Years 5 and 6 Achievement Standards
Learning Area Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 6, students explain how ideas are communicated in artworks they make and to which they respond. They describe characteristics of artworks from different social, historical and cultural contexts that influence their art making.
Students structure elements and processes of arts subjects to make artworks that communicate meaning. They work collaboratively to share artworks for audiences, demonstrating skills and techniques.
Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 6, students explain how ideas are represented in artworks they make and view. They describe the influences of artworks and practices from different cultures, times and places on their art making.
Students use visual conventions and visual arts practices to express a personal view in their artworks. They demonstrate different techniques and processes in planning and making artworks. They describe how the display of artworks enhances meaning for an audience.
Years 5 and 6 Work Sample Portfolios
Years 7 and 8
Years 7 and 8 Band Description
In Visual Arts, students:
- build on their awareness of how and why artists, craftspeople and designers realise their ideas through different visual representations, practices, processes and viewpoints
- extend their thinking, understanding and use of perceptual and conceptual skills
- continue to use and apply appropriate visual language and visual conventions with increasing complexity
- consider the qualities and sustainable properties of materials, techniques, technologies and processes and combine these to create and produce solutions to their artworks
- consider society and ethics, and economic, environmental and social factors
- exhibit their artworks individually or collaboratively, basing the selection on a concept or theme
- document the evolution of selected art styles and associated theories and/or ideologies
- reflect on the 'cause and effect' of time periods, artists and art styles influencing later artists and their artworks
- draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience visual arts
- explore the influences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those of the Asia region
- learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have converted oral records to other technologies
- learn that over time there has been further development of techniques used in traditional and contemporary styles as they explore different forms in visual arts
- identify social relationships that have developed between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other cultures in Australia, and explore how these are reflected in developments in visual arts
- design, create and evaluate visual solutions to selected themes and/or concepts through a variety of visual arts forms, styles, techniques and/or processes as they make and respond to visual artworks
- develop an informed opinion about artworks based on their research of current and past artists
- examine their own culture and develop a deeper understanding of their practices as an artist who holds individual views about the world and global issues
- acknowledge that artists and audiences hold different views about selected artworks, given contexts of time and place, and established ideologies
- extend their understanding of safe visual arts practices and choose to use sustainable materials, techniques and technologies
- build on their experience from the previous band to develop their understanding of the roles of artists and audiences.
Years 7 and 8 Content Descriptions
Content Descriptions
Years 7 and 8 Achievement Standards
Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 8, students identify and analyse how other artists use visual conventions and viewpoints to communicate ideas and apply this knowledge in their art making. They explain how an artwork is displayed to enhance its meaning. They evaluate how they and others are influenced by artworks from different cultures, times and places.
Students plan their art making in response to exploration of techniques and processes used in their own and others' artworks. They demonstrate use of visual conventions, techniques and processes to communicate meaning in their artworks.
Years 7 and 8 Work Sample Portfolios
Years 9 and 10
Years 9 and 10 Band Description
In Visual Arts, students:
- build on their awareness of how and why artists, craftspeople and designers realise their ideas through different visual representations, practices, processes and viewpoints
- refine their personal aesthetic through working and responding perceptively and conceptually as an artist, craftsperson, designer or audience
- identify and explain, using appropriate visual language, how artists and audiences interpret artworks through explorations of different viewpoints
- research and analyse the characteristics, qualities, properties and constraints of materials, technologies and processes across a range of forms, styles, practices and viewpoints
- adapt, manipulate, deconstruct and reinvent techniques, styles and processes to make visual artworks that are cross-media or cross-form
- draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience visual arts
- explore the influences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those of the Asia region
- learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have converted oral records to other technologies
- reflect on the development of different traditional and contemporary styles and how artists can be identified through the style of their artworks as they explore different forms in visual arts
- identify the social relationships that have developed between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other cultures in Australia, and explore how these are reflected in developments of forms and styles in visual arts
- use historical and conceptual explanations to critically reflect on the contribution of visual arts practitioners as they make and respond to visual artworks
- adapt ideas, representations and practices from selected artists and use them to inform their own personal aesthetic when producing a series of artworks that are conceptually linked, and present their series to an audience
- extend their understanding of safe visual arts practices and choose to use sustainable materials, techniques and technologies
- build on their experience from the previous band to develop their understanding of the roles of artists and audiences.
Years 9 and 10 Content Descriptions
Content Descriptions
Years 9 and 10 Achievement Standards
Achievement Standard
By the end of Year 10, students evaluate how representations communicate artistic intentions in artworks they make and view. They evaluate artworks and displays from different cultures, times and places. They analyse connections between visual conventions, practices and viewpoints that represent their own and others' ideas. They identify influences of other artists on their own artworks.
Students manipulate materials, techniques and processes to develop and refine techniques and processes to represent ideas and subject matter in their artworks.
Years 9 and 10 Work Sample Portfolios
Last updated 8 August 2019
Australian Curriculum Version 8.4 in Queensland
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