Your Art Program Just Became Your Easiest Way to Hit State Standards

Our art lessons don’t just satisfy VAPA requirements. They contribute to math, science, history, and literacy standards at the same time. Students think they’re just making art. You know they’re checking boxes across your entire curriculum.

How Meet the Masters Connects Art to Every Subject

Each artist lesson naturally integrates with core subjects your teachers are already teaching. 

Students learn geometry through Mondrian, anatomy through da Vinci, and cultural history through Kahlo without adding to your curriculum burden.

History:  All 35 artists.

When students study Picasso, they’re learning about World War II and the Spanish Civil War. Jacob Lawrence teaches the Great Migration. Norman Rockwell brings the 1950s to life. Faith Ringgold explains the Civil Rights Movement. Suddenly, textbook chapters make sense because students have seen history through an artist’s eyes.

Literature:  Cassatt, Homer, and Ringgold.

Geography:  Cassatt, Rembrandt, Chagall, Remington, Hokusai, Ringgold, Gauguin, Cezanne, Seurat, Hopper, Martinez, O’Keeffe, Mondrian and Kahlo.

Hokusai shows them Japan. Gauguin takes them to Tahiti. Rembrandt reveals the Dutch Golden Age. Students don’t just memorize countries. They experience how place shapes artistic vision. Ask them six months later where Chagall was from, and they’ll remember (along with why his floating figures mattered).

Music:  Klee, Van Gogh, Mondrian, Da Vinci, Cassatt, Degas, Picasso and Renoir.

Van Gogh painted cafes where musicians played. Degas captured ballet dancers mid-performance. When students create their Klee-inspired artwork, they listen to the same classical music that influenced his color choices. Art history becomes a gateway to understanding how creative minds across disciplines influenced each other.

Science:  Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Bonheur, Calder, Seurat, Martinez, O’Keeffe, Van Gogh, Rousseau, Wood, Matisse and Klee.

Da Vinci didn’t just paint. He dissected cadavers to understand human anatomy. Students learning about his work discover how art and science were inseparable during the Renaissance. Seurat’s pointillism? That’s a lesson in color theory and how the eye perceives light. Calder’s mobiles teach physics principles like balance and motion.

Math / Geometry:  Rockwell, Picasso, Calder, O’Keeffe, Degas, Picasso, Rockwell, Escher, Cezanne and Mondrian.

M.C. Escher’s tessellations make geometry suddenly fascinating. Mondrian’s grids teach measurement and proportion. Picasso’s cubism breaks down three-dimensional objects into geometric shapes. Students who struggle with abstract math concepts see them come alive on canvas.

Speaking & Listening:  All 35 artists.

Every assembly includes structured discussions where students analyze artwork and explain their observations. They practice using academic vocabulary (chiaroscuro, perspective, composition) in context. By the final project, even quiet students are raising their hands to share what they notice.

Performing Arts:  Matisse, Cassatt, Warhol, Lawrence, Klee, Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas.

Writing:  Rockwell and Ringgold.

After creating Rockwell-inspired art, students write narratives about their pieces. They compare Ringgold’s story quilts to their own family histories. These aren’t forced “writing exercises.” Students actually want to explain their artistic choices because they’re proud of what they’ve created.

Art Lessons That Build Critical Thinking Without Feeling Like Schoolwork

1. Critical Thinking: Our assemblies and discussions push students to look beyond the obvious. Why did this artist choose these colors? What was happening in their world that influenced this painting? Students learn to observe details, form opinions, and back them up with evidence. These are the same analytical skills they’ll need for every subject, from science experiments to essay writing.

2. Analysis and Communication:  During Meet the Masters lessons, students practice explaining what they see and think using specific vocabulary. They learn terms like pointillism, cubism, and impasto, then use those words to describe artistic techniques. This builds the kind of precise communication skills that show up in Common Core speaking and listening standards. Students get comfortable articulating complex ideas, which pays off in every class discussion and presentation they’ll face.

3. Cultural Competency: When students study 35 artists from 11 different countries spanning five centuries, they naturally develop broader perspectives. They see how different cultures express similar human experiences through art. A student who learns about Faith Ringgold’s story quilts and Maria Martinez’s pueblo pottery gains appreciation for diverse traditions. This cultural awareness matters, both for creating inclusive classrooms and for meeting standards around global competency.

How Students Learn Through Doing

1.  They Experience the Story: Students hear Van Gogh’s actual words (well, an actor’s voice, but you get it) describing his yellow house in Arles. They see his paintings projected large while period-appropriate music plays. It’s not a lecture. It’s an immersive experience that makes 19th century France feel real. And it hits your social studies standards without anyone opening a textbook.

2.  They Practice the Technique: Back in the classroom, worksheets guide students through the fundamentals. But these aren’t boring fill-in-the-blanks. Students experiment with pointillism by making dots. They practice perspective by drawing buildings. When they finally pick up their oil pastels for the final project, their hands already know what to do.

3.  They Create Something They’ll Remember Forever:  Here’s where it all comes together. Students apply historical knowledge, artistic technique, and their own creativity to make original work. Parents frame these projects. Former students (now in high school) still mention their Monet water lilies or Escher tessellations. That’s proof the learning stuck.

Visual and Performing Arts Framework for the State of California: