Teachers’ Notes
Creativity in the Curriculum
The aim of the MUSA Young Artist Award is to recognise and support creativity in schools, and to promote learning, inspiration and excellence in art and design. This fits closely with the strong emphasis on creativity in Scotland’s new Curriculum for Excellence, which recognises that “creativity improves the self-esteem, motivation and achievement of learners”.
Creative pupils:
- Question and challenge
- Make connections
- Envisage what might be
- Play with ideas
- Reflect critically on ideas, actions and outcomes
(Qualifications and Curriculum Authority)
The MUSA Young Artist Award is an ideal opportunity for schools to work on creative, cross-curricular projects.
This page shows how the competition fits in with different areas of the new Curriculum for Excellence at all levels.
Young Artist Award and the Curriculum for Excellence
The Four Purposes:
Successful Learners
The Young Artist Award encourages creative and independent thought by offering pupils the opportunity to engage with a varied collection and choose their favourite object and respond to it creatively.
Confident Individuals
The Young Artist Award celebrates creativity and builds pupils’ confidence in their own skills. Our collections provide exciting and inspiring links to those who have been explorers, scientists and artists in the past.
Responsible Citizens
Learning about the habitat, behaviour and conservation of animals represented in the Bell Pettigrew Museum helps pupils to evaluate evidence and form their own opinions about environmental issues.
Effective Contributors
The Young Artist Award gives pupils an opportunity to communicate visually in a new setting as well as to create and develop works of art.
Expressive Arts
Involvement in the MUSA Young Artist Award gives pupils the opportunity to:
- Experience the wonder of creating visual art
- Work with a professional cultural organisation
- Develop their creative skills and talent
- Respond to the cultures represented in the University’s collections
- Express their ideas, thoughts and feelings through visual artworks
- Respond to objects by describing their feelings about them and making a choice about what object they feel most connected to
- Learn how professional artists approach a project and use different media
- Explore and experiment with a range of media
It is anticipated that pupils will create 2-D or 3-D pieces demonstrating an understanding of the visual elements of line, colour, form, space, shape, texture and tone. For more information on the visual elements download the factsheet here (pdf)
Science
At the Bell Pettigrew Museum pupils can:
- Develop their curiosity and understanding of the environment
- Explore the amazing diversity of living things
- Observe how animals are adapted to their environment and learn about their dependence upon each other for survival
Social Studies
Involvement in the MUSA Young Artist Award gives pupils the opportunity to:
- Make personal links to the past
- Explore places and investigate artefacts
- Develop a sense of heritage and identity
- Recognise the importance of respecting the heritage and identity of others
Other curriculum links and opportunities
A visit to the Bell Pettigrew Museum for the Young Artist Award offers lots of opportunities for pupils to develop skills including observation, investigation, exploration, expression, discussion and creativity.