High school art students in Texarkana Independent School District come into the art room with a variety of skillsets, strengths and weaknesses. Some students come with years of experience and a desire further their art skill and art history education, while others simply need the credit and never engage deeply with the visual arts. No matter their skill set, art teachers all want students to leave their class with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the visual arts. One way to achieve this is for students to engage with visual arts criticism. Subramaniam, Hanafi, & Putih (2016) note the importance of students engaging with art criticism; “The exercise of art criticism by analyzing works of visual art enhances one’s perception …show more content…
Literature on the Feldman model suggest verify the effectiveness of the method. “[The Feldman model] offer consecutive procedures envisioned to lead the student from the early facing with an artwork to a profounder and greater understanding. [The Feldman model] oblige students to initiate their critical investigation by systematic description of what they observe. Interpretation and judgment lead students to a more multifaceted analysis and better understanding” (Hedayat & M.K., …show more content…
During the analysis of Las Meninas, the students were mostly silent as they completed their evaluation document. After every student completed the document, the researcher asked students their general impressions of the painting when it first appeared on the screen and how that compared to their final analysis. Student A commented, “At first, I thought it was just a picture of a bunch of old rich people, but the more I looked, I noticed that the women surrounding the little girl had plainer dresses on. They were also all attending to her so then I figured only the little girl was important.” Two other students agreed, but the conversation died down afterwards. After the Feldman model was introduced, students engaged in a much livelier discussion of Third of May. The students discussed composition, color, and emphasis and asked more questions to each other and the researcher regarding the painting. Students commented that after learning about the Feldman model and how to analyse artwork formally, it helped them think more critically about the artwork. Students reported they were able to “dig deeper” into the second painting after understanding the