ABSTRACT
The visual arts have a powerful role in PK-12 curricula for both intellectually/academically gifted and artistically gifted or advanced learners. This chapter articulates how the visual arts may be organized to benefit the development of talent through content that is substantive and conceptually oriented, providing learner outcomes of significance. This substantive content is organized by the National Core Art standards into four processes: Creating, Producing and Presenting, Responding, and Connecting. Through transdisciplinary integration, the visual arts can connect to other content areas (e.g., math, science, language arts, social studies, or the performing arts) in meaningful ways. Given the nature of the visual arts, authentic assessment is a key component of the evaluation, feedback, and motivation of students. Finally, the visual arts engage advanced learners with higher-order reasoning and in constructing meaning around their deep understandings.
