Grade by Grade
B. Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing · Responding to Art: Critical Analysis, Context and Responsible Practice

Skills That Transfer and Arts Opportunities in Your Community

B3.1 B3.3About 65 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can identify the knowledge and skills I gain in visual arts.
  • I can explain how those skills apply to other subjects, jobs and my personal life.
  • I can explore and describe visual arts opportunities in my community.
  • I can plan to take part in one opportunity safely.

Words to know

transferable skill
A skill that can be used in many areas of life and work.
spatial reasoning
The ability to imagine and work with shapes and objects in space.
makerspace
A shared space with tools and technology for making things, often in libraries or schools.
community involvement
Volunteer activities that benefit the community; 40 hours are required for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
visual communication
Sharing information and ideas through images, layout and design.

Hook: Samuel Morse, painter

Before he helped develop the telegraph and Morse code, Samuel F. B. Morse was a professional portrait painter. Leonardo da Vinci filled notebooks with drawings of machines, plants and the human body. Today, surgeons practise drawing to understand anatomy, engineers sketch prototypes, and app designers draw screens before they code.

The skills you build in visual arts don't stay in the art room. B3.1 asks you to identify the knowledge and skills you gain in visual arts and how they transfer to other areas of life and work. B3.3 asks you to explore opportunities related to visual arts in your community.

Skills you build in visual arts

  • Observation: noticing details, proportions, colours and changes.
  • Creative problem solving: generating many ideas, testing them, and revising.
  • Visual communication: organizing information so others understand it quickly.
  • Spatial reasoning: imagining objects in 3D, rotating them in your head, judging scale.
  • Fine motor control: precise hand movements.
  • Critical thinking: analysing images and media, judging with criteria.
  • Feedback and revision: giving, receiving and using critique.
  • Perseverance and time management: finishing long projects in stages.
  • Collaboration: murals, group installations and exhibitions.
  • Digital literacy: photo editing, digital drawing, design software.

These match Ontario's transferable skills: critical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship; self-directed learning; collaboration; communication; global citizenship and sustainability; and digital literacy.

Skills fromvisual artsObservation→ nursing, science, police workProblem solving→ engineering, trades, businessVisual communication→ marketing, teaching, webSpatial reasoning→ architecture, surgery, carpentryFeedback and revision→ any job, any teamFine motor control→ dentistry, hairstyling, mechanics
Visual arts skills transfer to many jobs, including some you might not expect.
Worked example

Let's connect art skills to other areas

Maya is in Grade 9. Let's identify three skills from her visual arts course and how she can use them elsewhere.

  1. Skill: planning with thumbnail sketches. Transfer: in science, she sketches her experimental set-up before building it; in history, she makes visual timelines.
  2. Skill: giving feedback with Praise, Question, Suggest. Transfer: her group project in English runs more smoothly because she gives kind, specific feedback.
  3. Skill: observational drawing. Transfer: she wants to be a veterinarian; careful observation helps her notice changes in an animal's posture or skin.
  4. Personal life: she designs birthday cards and her brother's hockey team logo, and drawing helps her relax after a stressful day.

Name the specific skill, then describe where it transfers and how it helps.

Opportunities in your community

B3.3 asks you to explore opportunities near you. Many are free or low-cost:

  • Public libraries: art clubs, makerspaces with 3D printers and design software, and free museum passes in some library systems.
  • Galleries and museums: youth programs, workshops, free admission days, volunteer roles (such as helping at events).
  • Community and cultural centres: classes, festivals, and mural projects. Friendship centres and cultural centres may offer programs led by First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists; check who each program is intended for.
  • Events: Culture Days happens across Canada each fall, with free arts activities; many cities have art walks, open studios and festivals.
  • Contests: remembrance poster contests, conservation poster contests, municipal art contests and school yearbook or logo competitions.
  • At school: art clubs, set painting for school plays, yearbook photography, and art councils.
  • Volunteering: helping with a community mural or a children's art program can count toward the 40 hours of community involvement you need to earn the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (check with your school about which activities qualify).
riverPublic libraryart club, makerspaceArt galleryyouth programs, volunteeringCommunity centreclasses, mural projectsCultural centreworkshops, festivalsPark: public art walkSchoolart councilLocal shopsA made-up town, not to scale. Where are these places in your community?
Opportunities related to visual arts are all around a community. Make your own map of real places near you.

Exploring safely

Go with a grown-up or friend when visiting new places, check that programs are run by trustworthy organizations (libraries, schools, galleries, municipalities), and talk to a parent before sharing personal information or signing up online.

Just for fun

Funny but true: Samuel Morse's huge painting Gallery of the Louvre (1831 to 1833) shows dozens of tiny copies of famous paintings in one room. He basically made a gallery of art inside a single painting, before going on to help invent a way to send messages over wires.

Hands-on activity

Map your art opportunities

You need: paper, a pencil, coloured pencils, and (with a grown-up) a computer or your town's activity guide.

  1. Make a list of 10 skills you used in art this year. Beside each, write one school subject and one job where it would help.
  2. With a grown-up, search your town's library, gallery, community centre and municipal websites. Find five real opportunities (programs, clubs, events, contests, volunteer roles).
  3. Draw a map of your community (not to scale) and mark where they are.
  4. Choose one opportunity to try this term. Write down the date, cost, how you'd get there, and one goal.
  5. Afterward, write a short reflection: What did you learn? Would you go back?

Your turn

1

Name five skills you build in visual arts.

2

How could spatial reasoning from art help in a career?

3

What did Samuel Morse do before helping develop the telegraph?

4

Name three places in a community that may offer visual arts opportunities.

5

How can volunteering in the arts help you earn your diploma?

6

Explain how giving feedback in art critiques transfers to group work in other subjects.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a transferable skill?

2

Name one of Ontario's transferable skills.

3

What is Culture Days?

4

Name a library resource for young artists.

5

True or false: art skills are only useful for artists.

More practice: on your own

1

Give an example of how observation skills from drawing could help a nurse.

2

How does planning with thumbnails relate to time management?

3

Describe how visual communication skills help in a science fair.

4

Why should you check who runs a program before signing up?

5

List two arts opportunities at a typical Ontario high school.

Challenge

1

Write a paragraph for a job application (for example, at a summer camp) explaining how your visual arts skills make you a strong candidate.

2

Some people say arts courses are "less useful" than other subjects. Respond with evidence from this lesson.

3

Plan a small community arts event (for example, a chalk-art day at a park). List the steps, the people you'd contact and how you'd keep it safe and inclusive.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is a transferable skill from visual arts?

2.

Samuel F. B. Morse was a ___ before helping develop the telegraph.

3.

Where might you find a free makerspace with design software?

4.

Ontario students need ___ hours of community involvement to earn the OSSD.

5.

Culture Days is...

6.

Which example shows a skill transferring?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: B3.1 asks students to identify the knowledge and skills gained in visual arts and how they apply in personal and professional life. B3.3 asks them to explore personal opportunities in their community in cultural or other fields related to visual arts.

How to help: Look through your library's and municipality's program guides together. Arts volunteering can count toward the 40 community involvement hours; confirm eligibility with the school.

Safety note: accompany your child to new programs at first and review any online sign-ups.

Common difficulties: naming skills too vaguely ("creativity") without examples; assuming opportunities cost money.