Grade by Grade
B. Drama / D. Visual Arts · Drama and Visual Arts

Visual Arts: Art in Our Communities, Across Times and Places

D2.1 D2.4 D3.1 D3.2About 50 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe how art forms and styles reflect the beliefs and traditions of different communities, times and places.
  • I can describe key contributions and functions of visual and media arts in my local community and in Canada.
  • I can interpret the feelings, issues, themes and social concerns in an art work using the critical analysis process.
  • I can explain my strengths, interests and areas for improvement as an artist, interpreter and viewer of art.

Words to know

art form
A type of art, like painting, sculpture, printmaking, beadwork, photography or film.
function
The job an art work does, such as decorating, remembering, teaching or persuading.
media arts
Art made with technology, such as photography, film, animation, digital art and advertising.
public art
Art made for everyone to see in shared spaces, like murals, monuments and sculptures in parks.
commemorate
To honour and remember a person or an event.
critical analysis process
A set of steps for looking at and thinking about art: first reaction, description, analysis and interpretation, informed point of view, and cultural context.
artist statement
A short piece of writing in which an artist explains their art work and choices.

Remember from Grade 5

You interpreted art works with a message, looked at how visual and media arts send messages in the past and present, and explored First Nations, Métis and Inuit art traditions that are living today. You wrote an artist statement.

In Grade 6 you will look at why art looks the way it does in different communities, and what jobs art does in your town and across Canada.

Art is everywhere in your town

On your way to school you might pass a mural painted on the side of a store, a war memorial in the park, a poster for the library's book sale, and a logo on the bus. At home, the coins in your pocket have art on them!

None of these are hanging in a gallery, but they are all visual and media arts, and each one is doing a job for the community.

A large colourful mural of birds, flowers and a lake on the side of a brick building.
Murals like this one bring art out of the gallery and into the street, where everyone in the community can see it. AI-generated image
visual artsdecoratesshows identitytells storiesremembersraises awarenesscreates jobs
A web of six jobs visual arts do in a community: decorates, shows identity, tells stories, remembers, raises awareness and creates jobs.

Art reflects beliefs and traditions

Art forms and styles grow out of what a community believes, values and does. A few examples:

  • Ancient Egypt: tomb paintings were made to help people in the afterlife, a key belief. Figures were shown in a set style, with the head in profile but the eye and shoulders shown from the front, following rules that lasted for many centuries.
  • Métis beadwork: Métis artists are known for bright floral beadwork on clothing, bags and moccasins. The Métis have been called the "Flower Beadwork People." The art reflects Métis culture and history, which has roots in both First Nations and European traditions. Métis artists continue this work today.
  • Woodland style: Norval Morrisseau, an Anishinaabe artist from northwestern Ontario, developed a style with bold black outlines, bright colours, and lines that show the inside of animals and people. His paintings drew on Anishinaabe stories and teachings, and many artists continue to work in the Woodland style today.
  • The Group of Seven: this group of painters, formed in Toronto in 1920, painted the Canadian landscape, especially northern Ontario, with bold colour and simplified shapes. They wanted a style that felt Canadian. Today, many people also point out that their paintings often showed the land as empty, even though First Nations people lived there, and still do.
  • Inuit prints from Kinngait (Lesson 12) often show animals, the land and stories, reflecting a deep connection to the North.
Function (job)Local exampleNational example
remembers (commemorates)the war memorial in your town's parkthe National War Memorial in Ottawa
shows identityyour school's logo or a team crestthe flag of Canada; the loon on the one-dollar coin (the loonie)
tells stories / records historya mural about your town's historythe National Film Board of Canada's documentaries and animations
raises awarenessa poster about a food drivea public service ad on TV about safety
shares art with everyonea community art centre or library displaythe National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto
creates jobs and brings visitorslocal artists selling work at a craft fairgalleries and festivals that draw tourists
Contributions and functions of visual and media arts, locally and nationally

Looking closely: the critical analysis process

When you study an art work, use these steps:

  1. First reaction: What do you notice first? How does it make you feel?
  2. Description: What do you see? List the subject, colours, lines, shapes and materials.
  3. Analysis and interpretation: How are the elements and principles of design used? What feelings, issues, themes or social concerns does the work show?
  4. Informed point of view: What do you think of it now, with reasons from the art work?
  5. Cultural context: Who made it, when and where? What beliefs, traditions or events might have shaped it?

Reflecting on yourself as an artist

Growing as an artist means knowing your strengths, your interests and your areas for improvement in three roles:

  • Creator: "I'm good at shading forms. I want to improve my colour mixing."
  • Interpreter: "I'm good at noticing colour feelings. I want to learn more about cultural context."
  • Viewer: "I enjoy prints and murals most. I want to visit a real gallery."
The critical analysis process1. Firstreactionnotice + feel2. Descriptionwhat you see3. Analysis +interpretationhow + why4. Informedpoint of viewyour opinion5. Culturalcontextwho, when, where
The five steps of the critical analysis process, from your first reaction to the art work's cultural context.
Worked example

Example: Interpreting a community mural

Imagine a mural on the wall of a community centre. It shows people of many ages and backgrounds planting a garden together, under a huge yellow-orange sun. A river winds from the bottom left to the garden in the centre.

  1. First reaction: "It feels warm and hopeful."
  2. Description: people kneeling and planting, children carrying watering cans, an older man showing a girl how to plant seeds; a winding blue river; a large sun; warm colours.
  3. Analysis: the winding river is a leading line to the garden (the focal point). Warm colours make it feel cheerful. The figures are spread across the wall in a balanced way.
  4. Interpretation: the theme is community and working together; the social concern might be food, belonging or caring for the environment.
  5. Informed point of view: "I think it's effective because the colours and the river pull you in, and everyone has a job."
  6. Cultural context: a mural like this is public art, painted for everyone. It contributes by brightening the neighbourhood and showing the community's values.

Following the steps moves you from "I like it" to a thoughtful interpretation backed by evidence and context.

Worked example

Example: Writing a reflection on yourself as an artist

At the end of the unit, look back through your drawings, prints and paintings.

  1. Strength as a creator: "My one-point perspective hallway really looks deep. I used my ruler for every orthogonal."
  2. Area for improvement as a creator: "My colour mixing still gets muddy. Next time I'll clean my brush between colours."
  3. Interest: "I loved printmaking the most, especially making textures."
  4. As an interpreter: "I'm getting better at explaining how lines lead the eye, but I need to think more about who made a work and why."
  5. As a viewer: "I want to look at more Woodland art and Inuit prints."
  6. Goal: "I'll make a foam print series of animals using different textures."

A good reflection names specific strengths, interests and areas for improvement in all three roles, and sets a goal.

Just for fun

Your pocket can be a tiny art gallery! The loonie got its nickname from the loon on it, and when the two-dollar coin arrived, people combined "two" and "loonie" and called it the toonie. 🪙

Learning about art from other cultures with respect

  • Use the artist's name and the community or Nation they belong to.
  • Talk about First Nations, Métis and Inuit art as living traditions, made by artists today.
  • Look for art and information shared by the artists and communities themselves, by galleries and museums, and by books by Indigenous authors.
  • Don't copy sacred designs. Learn from them, then make your own art.
Hands-on activity

Art detectives in your community

You need: paper, a pencil, and (with a grown-up) a walk in your neighbourhood or a visit to a library, community centre, gallery or museum website. A camera or tablet is optional.

  1. Art hunt: find five examples of visual or media art in your community: murals, monuments, signs, posters, logos, sculptures, decorated buildings, coins.
  2. Jobs: for each one, write its function (decorates, remembers, shows identity, tells a story, raises awareness, creates jobs).
  3. National look: look at a Canadian coin or bill, or visit the website of a national gallery. What job does the art do for the whole country?
  4. Critical analysis: choose one art work (from your hunt or from a gallery website) and go through all five steps of the critical analysis process. Write a few sentences for each step.
  5. Portfolio reflection: spread out the art you made in this unit. Write about your strengths, interests and areas for improvement as a creator, interpreter and viewer, and set one goal.

Your turn

1

Name three functions (jobs) that visual art can do in a community.

2

Give one local and one national example of art that commemorates.

3

How did ancient Egyptian beliefs shape their tomb paintings?

4

Name two features of the Woodland style.

5

What are the five steps of the critical analysis process?

6

What is public art?

7

Give an example of a media art form.

More practice: warm-up

1

In which city is the National Gallery of Canada?

2

What bird appears on the one-dollar coin?

3

What does commemorate mean?

4

Name the three roles you reflect on as an artist.

5

What kind of beadwork are Métis artists well known for?

More practice: on your own

1

Explain how the Group of Seven's paintings reflect the beliefs of their time, and what people point out about them today.

2

A town is deciding whether to pay an artist to paint a mural on an old wall. Give two contributions the mural could make.

3

Use the critical analysis process to describe the first reaction and description for a photograph of a polluted beach.

4

Why is cultural context important when interpreting art?

5

Write one strength, one interest and one area for improvement for yourself as a creator of art.

Challenge

1

Compare how two different art traditions from this lesson reflect their communities' beliefs or values.

2

Choose a social concern in your community (for example, loneliness among seniors, litter or bullying). Describe a piece of public or media art that could raise awareness, and explain how it would contribute.

3

Why do countries put art on coins, stamps and banknotes? Give an example.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is an example of art that commemorates?

2.

The Woodland style was developed by ___.

3.

Which step comes first in the critical analysis process?

4.

The National Gallery of Canada is in ___.

5.

Which is a media art form?

6.

Which reflection is most useful?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 6 students interpret a variety of art works and identify the feelings, issues, themes and social concerns they convey (D2.1); identify and explain their strengths, interests and areas for improvement as creators, interpreters and viewers of art (D2.4); identify and describe some of the ways in which art forms and styles reflect the beliefs and traditions of a variety of communities, times and places (D3.1); and demonstrate an understanding of key contributions and functions of visual and media arts in various contexts at both the local and the national levels (D3.2).

How to help:

  • Go on an art walk together and talk about what each piece of public art does for your community.
  • Explore gallery websites (the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg) with your child.
  • Look at your coins and bills: "Why do you think they chose this image?"
  • Celebrate your child's portfolio: ask them to choose their best piece and explain why.

Common difficulties:

  • Interpretations without evidence. Ask, "What in the art work makes you think that?"
  • Thinking art is only in galleries. Point out signs, logos, murals and coins.
  • Talking about Indigenous art only in the past. Emphasize living artists and communities.