Visual Arts Education Program

The Los Altos Art Docent program is designed to provide a comprehensive visual arts education to the students of the Los Altos Elementary School District.

Visual arts stimulate the imagination, enhance observation skills and self-expression, encourage creative problem-solving and underscore the innate relationships between history, culture, science, math and the humanities.

We provide a combination of art appreciation and hands on lessons designed to build on each other from year to year. The art elements are woven throughout the curriculum, so that by the end of sixth grade students have gained an appreciation for fine art, learned a basic art vocabulary and participated in the process of creating their own individual works of art.

Our lessons meet or exceed California State Content Standards for the Visual Arts and complement the academic curriculum.

Art Appreciation Lessons

Students are taken on an adventure of learning about a selection of visual art from the United States and the world by traveling throughout different cultures and time periods as seen through artists’ eyes. Students are encouraged to relate their own life experiences to times past.

Looking at various media and using the vocabulary of the art elements, students learn to describe, analyze and interpret the form and content of art reproductions. Emphasis is placed on individual critical visual thinking skills and the verbal expression of ideas. Students will be able to build on what they learn in elementary school throughout their travels and further study of art and history.

Hands-On Lessons

Lessons in a variety of media, including watercolor, clay, cut paper, printmaking, and drawing are offered in sequence. Our hands-on lessons are technique based and focus on the process of creating art. Every student is successful in that he/she learns a process or technique, rather than focusing primarily on the end result. Each year new techniques, including composition and design, are added to create more sophisticated artwork. By the end of sixth grade, students will have created a diverse portfolio of their own works of art.