The Studio Habit of Mind that will be explored in this unit are Envision and Understand the Arts Community.
To envision as artists, we must learn to picture, in our mind's eye, an idea (an aim, purpose, or concept), message (an important point or theme), feeling (an emotion or belief), or personal meaning (an intended communication of personal importance) as a visual artwork. This imagining should include symbols and metaphors as a visual representation to convey meaning through various artistic conventions. Another way artists envision their work is by imagining all of the steps in the process to create it.
To better understand the arts community and our place as artists within it, we must learn as much as we can about the artists, artworks, methods, processes, and history of art forms that interest us throughout the ages. By learning about them and analyzing the visuals and their meanings, we can be inspired to create our own work. To better understand the arts community we must also interact with our fellow artists. We have to be open to sharing our work, looking at the work of our peers, discussing and reflecting on it, and giving and taking constructive criticism and feedback.
Just as in all of the other Studio Habits of Mind, the ability for an artist to envision an artwork and the process of creating it , as well as understand the arts community and their place within it takes repeated practice and time.