1. UNIT TITLE –Finding Beauty in the Mundane 2. ENDURING IDEAS - Throughout time and across cultures artists have considered beauty and what beauty is. They have continuously taken objects and made them more beautiful in an attempt to beautify the world around them. They believe that beauty can be found in the mundane, in the things that most people walk by every day but do not tend to stop and take notice of. 3. COURSE – Advanced Placement Art 4. ELO – -Analyze the way in which artists interpret ideas, solve problems, reflect and lend relevancy to their times. - Expressively manipulate the art elements and principles to create compositions that exhibit a compelling division of space. -Develop personal responses to art problems exhibiting the ability to generate multiple and rich ideas that inform content rich work. -Demonstrate fluency using multiple processes to show the exploration of a variety of two dimensional media, techniques and tools. -Show the ability to integrate conceptual and technical approaches in choosing appropriate media and techniques. -Demonstrate creative problem solving through the production of art that investigates formal and conceptual art problems. -Compose an artist statement that reflects aesthetic choices and personal direction developed over a period of time. 5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS – - What makes people interested in something? -What is considered beautiful? -What is considered “mundane?” -Why is it important to find beauty in the mundane? -How do we relate differently to something that is beautiful? -How can the beautification of the mundane be used in society? Is this important or not? 6. EXEMPLAR ARTISTS - -Peter de Lory: Photographer: http://www.peterdelory.com/# -Steven Van: Painter: http://www.an-mag.com/steven-van/ -Demakersvan: lace fences: http://www.demakersvan.com/ -Art Nouveau furniture, fashion, everyday objects -Equilibrium clip: movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b3_-pPzDVk 7. OBJECTIVES - Artists will be able to: -Discuss what makes something beautiful or not. -Discuss why emotion is related to beauty. -Choose an object that is considered mundane and make it beautiful using media of their choice that is appropriate to the concept behind the project. -Defend their artistic choices in an artist statement concerning the final project.

8. MATERIALS –Mostly determined on an individual basis -Random beautification supplies such as string, beads, leather, paper, dye, fabric, wire, etc. based upon the student needs 9. PROCEDURES – -Artists will be introduced to artists who use the mundane as inspiration to beautify society. They will discuss in small groups why it is important that these artists are doing this or if it is important at all. -The students will choose a mundane object and begin to brainstorm ways that they could beautify this object and what it would say about the object and about society to do so. -Artists will work for multiple class periods on beautifying their object, using whatever materials they choose to best enhance their concept. -At the end of the creation period, students will write and turn in an artist statement concerning their piece and will present their final product to the classroom at which point they will explain and defend their artistic choices. 10. ASSESSMENT – Assessment will be based on participation in in-class discussions but the majority of the assessment will be on the effort of the student in creating their final object. The students will be graded on their choice of object, choices in material and design in beautifying the object, and their ability to explain and defend their choices in their final artist statement. 11. UNIT EXEMPLAR –Beaded Pelvis Bone 12. EVIDENCE of Prior Knowledge – This unit is left very open-ended because students at the advanced stage know where their interests and strengths are. They are able to form their own opinions and make their own choices about their art and do so for very specific reasons. This unit is meant to open people’s eyes to the beauty that can be seen in the world. The students are given examples of everything from nature photography to lace fences, so they are given a lot of opportunity to be inspired.