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Mrs. Clair, Art Teacher
May, 2025
Measuring Academic Excellence in Art
Academic excellence in the visual arts is measured by the personal growth that emerges through ongoing effort, creative exploration, and the continual pursuit of the beauty, design, and intentionality in what God declared as very good. (Genesis 1:21)
From day one, God set the standard of excellence to absolute perfection. He set the stage as he spoke the world into existence and laid out the very foundations of visual design, from the rough texture of the tree bark to the warm colors of the sunset that can evoke the feeling of protection. He brings to light the shadows that are cast on the world around us as the sun rises and sets, revealing the subtle changes in color. He created the vibrant colors of the flowers from the softness of their petals to the texture of their thorny stems. His wide color palette starts with the colorful rainbow and expands to the sweet and subtle pastel egg of the goldfinch.
Art education begins with wonder, observation and a response to beauty. Perfect, balanced, harmonious, and with intention is his creation.
From our Master artist’s example, we can reflect upon his wondrous works and attempt to emulate what he has already done by experimenting with various mediums with absolute freedom knowing that we are all uniquely gifted and the outcome of our own creative works should look different for everyone.
We should also be wise enough to discern that not all children may be able to replicate that early morning sunrise, or their own realistic self-portrait, or a vast mountain landscape that mysteriously has the ability to evoke emotion in us just as not all can understand the complexities of the algorithm. But what we can do is direct children's hearts and minds to the appreciation of God’s wondrous works as we guide them in the study of what God has designed and give them the tools and time to take their work one step closer to their individual next best.
Excellence is the pursuit, the practice and the ongoing effort that is the learning experience of the art room. The sharing of ideas, the noisy chatter fill the air and the day's paint brushes fill the sink. It’s wild and imaginative.
Excellence is in the trial and the error, the problem solving, the frustration and the resilience as we learn to see as an artist and start to see the artist in ourselves. We reach success when children can look at the growth they have made with a smile on their face and look at their artwork and declare that it is, indeed, very good.