Unit 2 — Producing/Presenting
Description
Students demonstrate understanding of how and why art is created and analyze, interpret, or convey meaning to the creation of their art using skills, media, and methods during creating, performing, and/or presenting works of media and visual art. Students understand that presenting and sharing of objects, artifacts, artworks, and media influence and shape ideas, beliefs, and experiences. Students consider various techniques, methods, venues, and criteria when selecting and curating artworks for preservation and presentation. Students prepare and refine artwork for display, considering how refinement affects meaning to the viewer. Students learn that museums and exhibitions provide information and in-person experiences about concepts and topics, and that collected, preserved, or presented artworks communicate meaning and record of social, cultural, and political experiences.
Essential Questions
- How are complex media arts experiences constructed? At what point is a work considered complete?
- How do time, place, audience, and context affect presenting or performing choices for artworks?
- How are artworks cared for and by whom? What criteria and methods are used to select work for preservation or presentation?
- How does the presenting and sharing of objects, artifacts, and artworks influence and shape ideas, beliefs, and experiences?
Learning Objectives
- Define and analyze the responsibilities of a curator in preserving and presenting artifacts or artwork.
- Prepare and present artwork safely and effectively.
- Discuss how exhibits and museums provide information and in-person experiences about concepts and topics.
- Practice combining various academic arts, media forms, and content into unified media artworks.
- Demonstrate understanding of combining a variety of academic, arts, and content with emphasis on coordinating elements into comprehensive media artwork.
- Create media artworks through integration of multiple contents and forms.
- Develop and enact a variety of roles to practice foundational artistic, design, technical, organizational, and soft skills in producing media artworks.
- Identify, explain, and compare various presentation forms for distributing media artwork.
- Identify and compare experiences and benefits of presenting media artworks.
Supplemental Resources
- Rulers for planning display layout and measuring artwork spacing
- Tape and glue sticks for mounting and securing artwork for presentation
- Markers for creating labels, titles, and informational cards for displays
- Construction paper for matting and framing final artwork pieces
- Pocket folders for organizing and storing artwork portfolios throughout the year
Music - Performing
Media Arts - Presenting
Students apply mathematical thinking to visual arts and media arts projects through measurement, spatial reasoning, and data representation. Students count, measure, and analyze visual elements and compositions.
Students engage in scientific inquiry and observation when creating and analyzing artworks. Design thinking and problem-solving processes connect to engineering and technology applications of science.
Students examine how art reflects cultural traditions, historical perspectives, and community values. Students learn how artworks communicate beliefs and inform understanding of different societies and time periods.
Formative Assessments
- Question and answer discussions about curation and presentation choices.
- Project-based work on displaying and conserving final artworks.
- Discussion of how exhibits and museums communicate information and experiences.
- Observation of students during preparation and refinement of artwork for display.
- Peer feedback on presentation choices and criteria.
Summative Assessment
Media arts students demonstrate understanding of combining variety of academic, art, and content to create comprehensive media artwork, assessed using a digital rubric on a learning management system. Visual arts students develop a plan for displaying and conserving final artworks, considering specific criteria for presentation, portfolio, or collection. Students understand that curation helps preserve artifacts and cultivates appreciation of social and cultural experiences of artists.
Benchmark Assessment
A short task in which students select one artwork they created, explain one reason why it should be displayed in a museum or classroom exhibition, and describe one way they would prepare it for safe presentation. This measures understanding of curation responsibilities and presentation concepts covered in Unit 2.
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding of curation and presentation through a teacher-led discussion, photograph documentation of their artwork display, or a simplified written or drawn plan for how their artwork should be presented. Visual supports such as museum display examples or step-by-step presentation checklists may be provided.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from visual models of completed displays or curated arrangements to support understanding of how artwork is selected and organized for presentation. Oral or dictated responses can replace written planning documents when students are preparing their display plans, and step-by-step visual directions can help break the curation process into manageable stages. Teachers should check in frequently during project-based work to provide feedback and ensure students are connecting their artistic choices to meaning for a viewer.
Section 504
Extended time should be provided during the planning and refinement stages of artwork preparation and display, allowing students to make thoughtful curation decisions without feeling rushed. Preferential seating during discussions about museums and exhibitions supports student engagement, and reduced-distraction settings during project-based work help students focus on organizing and presenting their artworks effectively.
ELL / MLL
Visual cues such as images of real museum exhibitions, gallery arrangements, and curator roles can help students build context for the unit's vocabulary around curation, preservation, and presentation. Key terms like 'curator,' 'exhibit,' and 'display' should be introduced with visual support and reinforced throughout the unit, and students may express their understanding of presentation choices through drawing, gesturing, or brief oral explanation in their home language when possible.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting the concept of curation to familiar experiences — such as choosing which drawings to hang at home or how a school hallway display is arranged — can help students access the unit's big ideas from a place of prior knowledge. Offering simplified planning formats with visual prompts supports students in making and explaining their presentation choices without being overwhelmed by open-ended tasks, and focusing on one or two clear criteria for display keeps the work achievable while still building meaningful understanding.
Gifted & Talented
Students ready for deeper engagement can explore the decision-making process behind real-world curation by considering how a curator's choices reflect cultural, historical, or social perspectives, and how the same artwork might be displayed differently to communicate different meanings. Encouraging students to develop and defend their own presentation criteria — or to take on a lead role in organizing a class exhibition with a clear conceptual theme — provides an appropriately complex and creative challenge within the unit's content.