The Studio Habits of Mind that will be explored in this unit are Reflect and Understand the Arts Community.

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. 

To reflect on an artwork, whether it is our own, the work of our peers, or professional work, we must learn to think and talk about art using specific vocabulary to that particular art form. It is also important as we reflect, to think and talk about the art making process and the conventions artists use to create work. Reflecting also means deciphering the meaning of the piece intended by the artist through visual symbolism and finding connections to it on a personal level.   

Just as in all of the Studio Habits of Mind, the ability for an artist to better understand the arts community and reflect on the work they create and the work of their peers, takes repeated practice.

This convention refers to the artist's ability to use a variety of different images, objects, or even experiences to create something new from. Artists pull out what inspires them or what they find interesting from these different sources and combine them in a new way that makes something "original."