This presentation describes how two high school art teachers, Elizabeth Drake and DiDi Grimm, implemented the Studio Habits of Mind framework in their urban art program. The framework identifies eight cognitive habits commonly used by artists: develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, and understand the art world. The teachers introduced these habits to students and aligned art projects, guidelines, and rubrics to the habits. Students reflected on the habits during and after projects. The overall goal was to scaffold students' development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills through an emphasis on the cognitive strategies and dispositions used in artistic practice.

1. 2013 IAEA Conference Presentation
Scaffolding Studio Thinking Strategies in the Urban High School Art Program
Elizabeth Drake & DiDi Grimm
Lincoln Park High School

2. Artist
Studio Habits

3. Studio Habits of Mind
Identify & describe 8 important
types of cognitive activities that
artists engage in when making
& reflecting on works of art.

4. 1. Develop Craft:
Technique :
Learning to use tools, materials and
artistic conventions

5. Studio Practice:
Learning to care
for tools,
materials,
and space

6. 2. Engage & Persist:
Learning to embrace problems of relevance within the art world and/or
of personal importance, to develop focus and other mental states
conducive to working and persevering at art tasks. Perseverance!

7. 3. Envision:
Learning to picture mentally what
cannot be directly observed and imagine
possible next steps in making a piece.

8. 4. Express:
Learning to create works that convey an
idea, a feeling, or a personal meaning.

9. 5. Observe:
Learning to attend to visual contexts more closely than ordinary "looking"
requires, and thereby see things that otherwise might not be seen.

10. 6. Reflect:
Question & Explain
Learning to think and
talk with others about
an aspect of one’s work
or working process.

11. Evaluate
Learning to judge one’s own work and working process and the
work of others in relation to standards of the field.

12. 7. Stretch & Explore:
Learning to reach beyond one's capacities, to explore playfully
without a preconceived plan, and to embrace the opportunity to
learn from mistakes and accidents.

13. 8. Understand the Art World:
Domain & Communities
Learning about art history and current practice.

14. Studio Thinking is Critical Thinking
All artists, students and professionals, raise
questions, think, reason, solve problems and
reflect on artwork and processes.
Artists comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize,
and evaluate problems using learned art skills
and content knowledge.

15. Learning the Studio Habits
1. Students review habits
2. Engage in activities to learn
the studio habits
3. See habits aligned to project
guidelines & rubrics
4. Reflect on habits during and
after art-making experiences
5. Discuss habits during pair &
share critique
6. Reflect on studio habit
prompts during selfassessment

16. Art I: Introducing the Studio Habits
•
•
•
•
Present Studio Thinking PowerPoint
Display habits and common Studio
Thinking prompts in classroom
Map each habit in small groups
Display and discuss small group maps
with whole class
Advanced Students: Review the Habits
•
•
•
List all art activities that align with
each studio habit
Small group discussion of habits
Large class discussion of habits

17. Aligning the Habits to Project & Course Guidelines: Summer AP & IB Art Portfolio

18. Aligning the Habits to Project & Course Guidelines: Art Electives
Project Guidelines
Sketchbook Investigation

19. Aligning the Habits through Project Self-Assessment Rubrics: Art Electives

20. Aligning the Habits through Project Self-Assessment Rubrics: Art Electives

21. Aligning the Habits to Project & Course Guidelines: Art I

22. Aligning the Habits through Project Self-Assessment Rubrics: Art I

23. Aligning the Habits through Project Self-Assessment Rubrics: Art I

24. Aligning the Habits through Project Self-Assessment Rubrics: Art I

25. Mid-Project Studio Thinking Reflections: Electives
1st week of project reflection
3rd week of project reflection

26. Mid-Project Studio Thinking Reflections: Electives

27. Final Project Studio Thinking Reflections: Electives

28. Final Project Studio Thinking Reflections: IB & AP Portfolio

29. Expanding Knowledge of the Habits through Project & Course Guidelines
Planning Project Proposals & Critiques

30. Aligning Art Standards to Studio Thinking & Common Core

31. Aligning Art Standards to Studio Thinking & Common Core

32. Aligning Art Standards to Studio Thinking & Common Core
Studio Thinking Habits of Mind, developed by researchers at Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero, Lois Hetland and Ellen Winner
Common Core Alignment to Studio Thinking, Louise Music, Executive Director, Department of Integrated Learning, Alameda County Office of Education
Edited to align to LPHS Units of study, National Visual Arts Standards & 21st C Skills and Studio Thinking Framework with Common Core
Please email if you are interested in LPHS Studio Thinking instruments:
Elizabeth Drake eadrake@cps.edu
DiDi Grimm dagrimm@cps.edu
Thank you to our CPS colleagues, the CTC @ NEIU and Every Art Every Child for support!
Please visit www.everyarteverychild.com for more information on Studio Thinking.