Overview

  • Visual Arts
    The Clayton Fine Arts Department believes that Visual Arts is an essential aspect of every child's education. Visual Arts at every grade level instructs students to think creatively and critically and exposes them to diverse cultures through all periods of history.  It accomplishes this in part by allowing students to have "hands-on" experiences in the creation of many forms of Visual Art. It is our goal to help students understand that art and design have a vital role in society and to develop an individual sense of aesthetics. Beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school, students have the opportunity to experience all forms and genres of Visual Art.

    Music
    The Clayton Fine Arts Department believes that music is an essential aspect of every child's education. Music is a uniquely human quality, inherent to all individuals regardless of society, culture, or generation. Students must have opportunities to study music in the way that serves them best. Experiencing a variety of vocal and instrumental music propels lifelong learning, develops character, engages human emotion, and promotes critical and creative thinking within the individual, the community, and the world.  Beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through high school, students have the opportunity to experience music through voice, band and/or orchestra.

    Theatre
    The Clayton Fine Arts Department believes that Theatre is an essential aspect of every child's education. Theatre is an art of synthesis.  It gives students, both individually and collaboratively, the opportunity to develop empathy and to explore varied cultural experiences and universal themes of humankind.  Using the dramatic process (creating, performing and analyzing), students learn to see the created world of theatre through the eyes of the actor, playwright, designer, and director. They develop skills to understand dramatic structure, which is fundamental to the literacy of all great world literature. Theatre provides for a student’s self-discovery, self-definition, and self-esteem. (Text is based on the Arizona Theatre Standards and Practices.)
    Listed below are the Enduring Understandings of the Fine Arts curriculum.  These are statements that summarize important ideas and core processes that are central to a discipline and have lasting value beyond the classroom.
     

    Enduring Understandings

    Creating in the arts—whether in music, theater, or visual art—emerges through a process of exposure, intuition, and experimentation, as artists refine their work through critical inquiry and exploration of new ideas. This ongoing creativity shapes how students interact with and are empowered by the world around them.

    Performing, presenting, and producing art involves making informed choices based on context, skill, and intent to effectively communicate meaning. Artists refine their work to engage audiences and celebrate culture.

    Responding to art involves reflection and evaluation influenced by individual interests, experiences, and cultural understanding. This process fosters empathy, aesthetic awareness, and appreciation, which leads to a deeper connection with oneself, others, and the world.

    Connecting personal experiences, knowledge, and cultural contexts to the creative processes, empowers artists to use their work to explore and communicate. Through reflection and inquiry, artists deepen their understanding of themselves, others, and society, making art essential to creating shared meaning and connection.