8th Grade Visual Arts

What on EARTH Will 8th Graders Learn About?


Middle school students at LLCA utilize two curricula that work very well together. These are the NC Standard Course of Study and The Core Knowledge curriculum. The CK curriculum states “through attaining a basic knowledge of the arts, children are not only better prepared to understand and appreciate works of art, but also to communicate their ideas, feelings, and judgments to others. A good understanding of the arts grows out of at least three modes of knowledge—creative (directly making artworks), historical, and analytical. Early study of the arts should embrace all three modes with special emphasis on creativity and active participation.”



Art class will be composed of four components, which integrate the Core Knowledge curriculum with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study:

  • Art Production- The actual creation of making work which involves the use of imagination and critical thinking processes. Artwork will include drawing, painting, sculpting, printmaking and photography

  • Art History- In the Core Knowledge sequence, Art and Music correlate with the Social Studies and English/Language Arts subject areas. The lives and cultures of many artists and their works of art will be examined, as well as the artists’ and artworks’ significance in a historical context. Through art history, one is able to travel through time!

  • Art Criticism- By learning the elements of art and principles of design, students will learn how to respond to, interpret, and critically judge works of art. This process will utilize the Socratic Method, which will result in many fun, interesting, and exciting discussions regarding this aspect of art education.

  • Aesthetics- Aesthetics is how a person reacts emotionally to a work of art; how it makes a person feel. Critical thinking skills are also used with aesthetics. Discussions may include questions which will include "Explain why you feel that way," or "How did you come to that conclusion?”



8th Grade Art History Content: Periods, Schools and Artists


A. Painting Since World War II

Abstract Expressionism:

  • Jackson Pollock

  • Willem de Kooning

  • Mark Rothko

  • Helen Frankenthaler

Pop Art:

  • Andy Warhol

  • Roy Lichtenstein

African-American Modern Storytelling:

  • Romare Bearden

  • Jacob Lawrence

  • Faith Ringgold


B. Photography

  • Edward Steichen

  • Alfred Stieglitz

  • Dorothea Lange

  • Margaret Bourke-White

  • Ansel Adams

  • Henri Cartier-Bresson


C. 20th-Century Sculpture

  • Auguste Rodin

  • Constantin Brancusi

  • Pablo Picasso

  • Henry Moore

  • Alexander Calder

  • Louise Nevelson

  • Claes Oldenburg

  • Maya Lin


II. Architecture Since the Industrial Revolution

Demonstrations of metal structure:

  • Crystal Palace, Eiffel Tower

First skyscrapers: “Form follows function”

  • Louis Sullivan's Wainwright Building

Famous skyscrapers

  • Chrysler Building, Empire State Building

Arts & Crafts Style

  • Frank Lloyd Wright

The International Style

  • Walter Gropius

  • Le Corbusier

  • Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson's Seagram Building



Please click here for the 8th Grade NC Essential Standards and Clarifying Objectives and click here for a copy of the 8th grade syllabus.