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About Our Art Program

Art at Mann is a place for students to imagine, investigate, make, reflect, and share. Students learn how artists use materials and visual choices to communicate ideas, experiences, identities, and stories.

What Students Explore

Across kindergarten through fifth grade, students work with a wide range of artistic processes. These may include:

  • Drawing and illustration
  • Painting and color
  • Collage and mixed media
  • Printmaking
  • Sculpture and construction
  • Ceramics and clay
  • Fibers and textiles
  • Digital art and design

Projects change as students grow. Skills and concepts become more complex from year to year, while students gain increasing independence and more opportunities to make meaningful artistic choices.

District 97 Visual Arts Curriculum

Art is an essential part of the District 97 core curriculum. Through hands-on artmaking, students explore materials and artistic processes, learn about diverse artists and cultures, strengthen observation and concentration, take creative risks, and develop problem-solving skills.

Learn more about the District 97 Visual Arts program.

Grade-Level Curriculum

Select a grade level to learn more about what students explore in visual art:

Individual projects and artists may vary while supporting District 97 grade-level learning goals.

How We Learn

Students look closely at art, ask questions, discuss what they notice, learn how artists work, practice new techniques, develop their own ideas, and reflect on what they create. We study artists and art forms representing different cultures, places, time periods, identities, materials, and ways of thinking.

Students are not expected to begin with the same experience or make identical work. Growth can look different for every artist. The art room values curiosity, effort, experimentation, craftsmanship, reflection, and the willingness to keep working when an idea changes or a material presents a challenge.

About Mr. Schmidt

I am the K–5 art teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School and a National Board Certified Teacher in Art. I began teaching in District 97 in 2009 as a traveling art teacher serving Mann, Lincoln, Longfellow, and Holmes. I have been part of the Mann community since that first year and am beginning my 18th year of teaching.

My goal is for students to leave elementary school with artistic skills, confidence in their ideas, appreciation for many forms of art, and the understanding that art is a meaningful way to explore and communicate.

Questions?

Please email [email protected].