Fine Arts Standards

All students should have the opportunity to experience the fine arts as part of a well-rounded education. The study of drama, dance, music, media arts, and the visual arts helps students explore realities, relationships, and ideas that cannot be expressed simply in words or numbers.

Learning in the fine arts is valuable on its own, but it also engages students in learning in other subjects. Research has shown visual arts instruction to improve reading readiness. Performing and creating facilitates the acquisition of problem-solving skills and teamwork. Those skills then can be applied to other academic areas. All fine arts have academic content. Thus, the arts can help students learn essential skills in new and exciting ways.

In the global economy, creativity is essential. Creativity in students must be nurtured and allowed to have a place in the education of the whole child in order to prepare that child for the future. The study of visual arts, dance, drama, and music, as outlined in the Utah State Core Standards, provides a venue for creativity to flourish. The fine arts provide a place for students to explore new ideas, for appropriate risk-taking, for creative problem solving, for working together with others, for developing aesthetic awareness, for exploring and expressing the world, and for cultural awareness and representation, in addition to the benefits of study in the discipline of fine arts. The study of fine arts is a critical element of a well-rounded education for every student.