Why do we learn Art and Design?
Art is a rich and dynamic subject area. It is steeped in history and yet very much alive, buzzing with energy and vitality. Through Art we can connect with all sorts of fascinating times, places and cultures, but we can also shape our environment and make our voices heard in the present. Artists are proud to see the world differently and their playful approach makes them an exciting and highly valued member of any professional team. Art is a practical subject with a focus on making beautiful work, but will also make you look deeply and think differently about the world.
Where could Art take me in the future?
Great artists live forever! The most famous artists may be an elite group, but just as with Hollywood actors or Premiership footballers, they are only one part of something much bigger. A vast network of highly creative roles revolve around artworks and the people that make them. There is also a wide range of lucrative and exciting arts-driven sectors such as publishing, design, advertising, fashion, film, games and TV, that continue to hoover up arts graduates, supporting an estimated £48bn of turnover annually.
Head of Department
Joseph Critchley
Assessment Details
Year 7, 8 and 9 students are assessed twice a term. Assessments and feedback are primarily designed to guide each student’s development as an artist. They also prepare students to meet the GCSE Assessment Objectives in Year 10. The majority of assessed tasks are either practical, analytical or more open-ended. In the last term of the year students complete a multiple-choice exam that represents a small portion of their final grade.
At Ark Pioneer we use the AQA exam board for GCSE. In art the ‘exam’ is an intense but fun 8-week coursework project that culminates in a two-day (ten-hour) period of sustained activity under exam conditions. You will choose from 12 questions or ‘briefs’ devised by the exam board. Students will receive checklist style feedback on their Feast project which they must act upon. In Art students’ work is assessed by staff, who are in turn moderated externally.
Your exam project will represent 40% of your final grade and will be submitted with your coursework projects, which represent the other 60%. Your work will be assessed by your teachers who are moderated by the exam board. They use a system of four Assessment Objectives to grade your work.
Year 7 - Art
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| How does Formalism as a critical position underpin abstract practise? | How can ideas emerge through a process of experimentation? |
| Observational drawing and experimental mark-making The formal elements in Art Klimt, symbolism and pattern Analysis with a descriptive focus |
Using music to understand and access abstraction Colour theory and gradients Matisse, shape, and collage Milhazes and composition |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists’ ideas evolve gradually through daily practise? | How can materials and processes affect the direction of a project? |
| Dreher, Morandi, Richter, Carnegie – working in series Working from observation Siskind and abstract photography |
Mondrian and Picasso - visual distillation Achieving abstraction and observing its effects Scaling up and evolving work through experimentation |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How have artists interpreted the figure within and beyond the Western tradition? | What impact do materials have on figurative sculpture? |
| Easter Island Moai and Cycladic Figurines Demoiselles D’Avignon - research and discussion Self-portraiture Subtractive sculpture – soap and floristry foam |
Additive sculpture - plasticine and clay |
Year 8 - Art
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists infuse their work with autobiographical meaning? | How do materials and processes affect the evolution of an image? |
| Kahlo - artist diary, analysis of symbolism and context Sherman – artist as material, character creation Monoprinting after Sin Wai Kin Perry and cultural and historical references |
Self-portraits Die Brucke – The social context of Expressionism Drawing in preparation for lino-printing Carving and printing from lino |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists describe three dimensional space on a flat surface? | How do artists experiment with volume and weight to create space? |
| Drawing after Gehry One and two-point perspective drawing The Serpentine Pavilion commission – an overview Maquette making with household materials |
Digital design with SketchUp Brutalism, Blobism and Bowellism - architecture research Experimental casting after Whiteread and Goldfinger Wrapping experiments after Christo and Jeanne-Claude |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists use tone and colour to create striking and balanced compositions? | How has still life evolved and survived as a genre and discipline? |
| Vanitas and Memento Mori – still life research Observational drawing with a focus on tone Collaborative drawing from observation Using scale and composition to suggest 3D space |
Holbein vs Craig-Martin analysis |
Year 9 - Art
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists respond to briefs and work within limitations? | How do artists fuse different approaches and disciplines to create new ideas? |
| Die Zauberflote – research David Hockney, flats and Trompe L’Oeil Kentridge and projection |
Carrington – Surreal, fantastical and ambiguous imagery Stella – sculptural ‘pop-up’ paintings Construction techniques with cardboard and hot glue guns |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| How have artists of the past defined our present by imagining their future? | How can we use Art to ask questions about our own futures? |
| Paolozzi and Epstein – dysfunctional figures Lee Bul – androids and cyborgs, collages and drawing Afro-futurism - research and discussion |
Sci-fi cinema and literature – Research and drawing Self portraits Intaglio printing from rhenalon engravings |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How has landscape evolved as a genre? | How do artists build paintings up gradually? |
| Drawing from observation, en plein air The Impressionists – a shift in attitude, research Contemporary landscape artists The Ark Pioneer site, a history |
Gathering imagery photographically |
Year 10 - Art
At GCSE, the course is divided into three main projects. The first two are coursework projects entitled ‘Feast’ and ‘Wearable Sculpture’. Both courses are broad and varied with a careful balance of many different skills and materials. The coursework projects are about developing skills and knowledge, learning to work with ideas, and building a body of work that has depth and sophistication. As part of the course students will attend weekly after-school sessions. These provide extra one-on-one support and foster independence. The third and final project is the exam project and is set by AQA.
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists use sketchbooks? | How do artists experiment with techniques and materials? |
| Bratby, Tillmans & the YBA’s. Sketchbook presentation and basic photography skills. Annotation & analysis. Collage after Gordon, Letinsky and Lassry. |
Drypoint and intaglio after Thiebaud. Short experiments after Creed, Ruscha and Self. Painterly studies after Soutine, Rembrandt and Bacon. Remixing art history through collage. |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists translate work between sculptural and 2D media? | How do artists develop and refine their own ideas? |
| Timelapse after Taylor-Johnson. Using mixed-media to ‘distress’ images. Sculpture in clay and casting after Roth. Soft sculpture with textiles after Oldenburg. |
Investigation of branding and ‘serving vessels’. Lino printing after Warhol. Packaging brief after Rosenquist and Lichtenstein. ‘Installation’ outcome using sculptural work. |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| How do artists resolve a cycle with climactic or summative work? | How can established disciplines intersect or overlap? |
| Project review and evaluation. Independent research phase. Photography and performance after Ritson, Hamilton & Parr. Meal brief after Chicago. Mock Exam. |
Introduction to Wearable Sculpture. |
Year 11
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Wearable Sculpture |
Wearable Sculpture |
|
Gallery visits Friday 22nd September Developing ideas inspired by gallery visits. Maquette making and construction with cardboard after Deacon. |
Photoshoot design and preparation inspired by Yevonde Mock Exam Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th November Wearable Sculpture deadline Friday 1st December tbc Coursework review |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|---|---|
|
Exam Project |
Exam Project |
|
Research Experimentation |
Coursework deadline Friday 22nd March Developing ideas Sustained work Final exam |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
| Revision | |
|
Revising for other exams |
|