The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released new K-12 art course standards in July 2024. Notable changes include more connections between the four forms of dance, theater, music and visual art, as well as creating more courses to encourage diverse student interests. As opposed to the old standards that involved individualized projects and assignments that gradually increased in difficulty throughout the semester, the new curriculum is much more unit-based. Now, artworks and projects are interconnected with each other and an aspect of the real world.

Full implementation of these standards will begin in 2026, and Dawn Valentino, the visual art teacher at Wakefield, has planned out her courses this year as a test run. As explained by the DPI, the new standards are connect, create, respond and present. Valentino has incorporated this in her art classes by assigning a multi-step project that requires the use of multiple mediums and techniques.

“I’m having [my students] do a 2D design project, then a drawing project and then a sculpture, but they’re all related to an object [with] symbolism,” Valentino said. “It’s been pretty cool to see the progression of how they grow from one medium to another and connect it to their ideas.”

Eva Le, a senior who’s currently taking Visual Arts 3, has been working on her own project for nearly a month now. The three parts of it — painting, drawing and sculpture — all revolve around one main subject that connects to a larger idea. Students can choose from a range of topics as long as they’re able to explain their significance. 

“[The new standards] allow you to think more creatively,” Le said. “You’re trying to put symbolic meaning and thought into this project, but in different forms of art. It’s all centered around one topic — life. You can do animals or objects, so right now I’m doing an octopus.”

Senior Soula Jones, who’s in Independent Studies and Intermediate Art this semester, is presently completing the sculpture aspect of her project, which focuses on fungi and mushrooms. She’ll be constructing it out of cardboard and air-dry clay, a freedom that wasn’t regularly available in previous years. 

“Before [the new standards], [projects] were usually just the basics of painting and still life — which is just using pen or pencil,” Jones said. “But now there’s more to it; being able to actually make sculptures and being allowed to use anything that’s in the art room.”

Gillian Bryan, another senior taking Visual Arts 3, finds that the new curriculum and techniques help students with their focus and overall dedication to the class. Especially for the younger students, the standards allow them to experience what it might be like to take the higher-level courses without the same pressures or expectations that come with them.

“[The new curriculum] kind of mimics a miniature AP course,” Bryan said. “It helps you get the feel for it. For the younger students, it helps them prepare for future AP Art courses.”

Among most of Wakefield’s art community, the responses to the new standards have been, overall, positive. Teachers get to see the progression of their classes as they grow from one medium to another, and students get to express themselves, testing the limits of their creativity without restrictions. Through these changes, the DPI has proven that the arts in the school systems are not just beneficial, but deeply valued. 

“I think the new standards are showing the worth of art [in] education, and that art classes are really essential, not just a fluff class,” Valentino said. “They’re more important than a lot of people realize.”