Art Appreciation thoroughly investigates how quality is determined and created by artists in order to evaluate and appreciate art on a deeper level. This course emphasizes why each topic contributes to valuing a piece of art and provides the necessary knowledge to do so. Students are first introduced to the elements and principles of art and the importance of artists’ context and perspective. The course then covers different periods in art history, different techniques in art, and how to research and evaluate art.

This resource is a modification of the Washington Models for the Evaluation of Bias Content in Instructional Materials (2009) that is made available through OER Commons under a public domain license. This resource attempts to both update the content with more contemporary vocabulary and also to narrow the scope to evaluating still images as they are found online. It was developed as a secondary project while working on a BranchED OER grant during summer 2020. It includes an attached rubric adapted from the Washington Model (2009).