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    Elementary art

    All of our elementary schools offer visual art instruction to our students. Students explore the basic principles and elements of design, experiment with media, and explore famous artists and their works.

    Elementary enriched art

    Is your child talented in art? Some elementary schools offer an enriched art program for gifted students:

    Learn more on our Gifted & Talented page and the Classical Magnet page.

    Middle school art

    Students at the middle school level are offered full-year art courses. Students are introduced in-depth to design, methods and materials. Students work in several mediums including painting, sculpture, drawing, ceramics and printmaking.

    Middle school enriched art

    Austin Academy for Excellence offers an enriched art program for gifted students through the Academy for Excellence magnet program.

    High school art

    Students begin with two introductory art classes. The first class focuses on 2-dimensional design including perspective, drawing, color theory, painting, and printmaking. The second class continues to 3-dimensional design including ceramics, sculpture, and textiles. Students also explore the historical and cultural contexts in which many artworks are created.

    From there, interested students can choose to specialize in:

    • ceramics
    • drawing
    • electronic media
    • fibers
    • painting
    • printmaking
    • sculpture

    Explore Fine Arts course guides for more information about specific courses.

    Naaman Forest student building a coil pot

      Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) art

      Students who wish to earn college credit have the opportunity to take AP and IB art courses.

       We have the following college-level AP courses available:

      • History of Art
      • Art Drawing Portfolio
      • Art 2D Design Portfolio
      • Art 3D Design Portfolio

      AP art courses are available at all campuses, while IB art programs are at Garland High School only. Find out more about the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVAPA).

      Competitions

      Students from all the district art programs compete in many events throughout the year such as:

      • Celebrating Art
      • State Fair of Texas Art Show
      • Big Art Day
      • TASA/TASB Show
      • Wheels of Hope Car Art Show
      • Dia de los Muertos
      • M.L.K. Art Show
      • GISD District Art Show
      • PTA Reflections
      • Scholastic Art and Writing
      • Faculty Art Show
      • Regional High School VASE
      • State High School VASE
      • Junior VASE
      • Texas Visual Arts Association Exhibition

      Contact us

      For more information, contact: