Activity Introduction
Quick summary: In this lesson, students design a dream car and create an artwork to represent their ideas that will be submitted to the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. This contest encourages and inspires creative expression and imagination in students – some amazing ideas are born from dreams! Students explore how art can be used to communicate important social and environmental messages. Students begin by thinking about whether artists have a responsibility to communicate important messages and then identify a message they would like to communicate about an issue that is important to them. They then design and create a dream car artwork that conveys the message of their choosing.
The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest usually commences late October to early November and concludes late to early March. Find up-to-date entry details, prizes and full terms and conditions here.
Learning intentions:
- Students understand that art can be used to convey social and environmental messages.
- Students understand how to communicate a message through art.
- Students understand how artists realise their ideas through different visual representations.
- Students will develop and practise art-making techniques.
21st century skills:
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions:
Years 9 & 10 Visual Arts
- Conceptualise and develop representations of themes, concepts or subject matter to experiment with their developing personal style, reflecting on the styles of artists, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists (ACAVAM125)
- Manipulate materials, techniques, technologies and processes to develop and represent their own artistic intentions (ACAVAM126)
- Develop and refine techniques and processes to represent ideas and subject matter (ACAVAM127)
- Plan and design artworks that represent artistic intention (ACAVAM128)
Syllabus outcomes: VAS5.1, VAS5.3, VAS5.4, VAS5.5, VAS5.6.
General capabilities: Critical and creative thinking, Literacy.
Relevant parts of Years 9 and 10 Visual Arts achievement standards: Students evaluate how representations communicate artistic intentions in artworks they make and view. They analyse connections between visual conventions, practices and viewpoints that represent their own and others’ ideas. Students manipulate materials, techniques and processes to develop and refine techniques and processes to represent ideas and subject matter in their artworks.
Topic: Creative thinking.
Unit of work: Toyota Dream Car Contest.
Time required: 160+ mins – artwork could be completed as homework.
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – facilitate class discussion, guide groups through activities and through the creation of artworks.
Resources required: Paper measuring no larger than 400mm x 550 mm (15.7-21.7in.) or A3 in size. Scrap paper for drafting. Drawing materials, including but not limited to: coloured pencils, pens/markers, crayons, paints, watercolour paints, etc. Student Worksheets – one copy per student. Device capable of presenting a video to the class. Previous contest winners. Artwork information. Artwork examples:
- SOUP – Refused by Mandy Barker
- Rage, the Flower Thrower by Banksy
- Habitat Degradation: Ocean Acidification by Jill Pelto
- Guernica by Picasso
- The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell
- Law of the Journey by Ai Weiwei
Keywords: Dream, car, art, social, environmental, message, visual conventions, visual representation, techniques, processes, Toyota.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
Teacher preparation
