In our art room, students are artists and the classroom is their studio.
TAB stands for Teaching for Artistic Behavior — a nationally recognized approach that supports student choice, creativity, and independence in artmaking.

Instead of everyone creating the same project step-by-step, TAB gives students the freedom to choose their own subjects, materials, and processes while learning the skills, techniques, and concepts they need to bring their ideas to life.

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How It Works:

• Mini-Lessons: Each week, I introduce new skills, techniques, artists, and art concepts through short demonstrations or discussions.

• Choice-Based Projects: Students decide how to apply those skills in their own unique work.

• Media: students are exposed to media in different units, and have to choose which to focus on within each unit. Upper level courses have access to all materials at all times once they have mastered the artistic thinking process and classroom routines for safe practices.

• Ongoing Practice: Students work at their own pace, often juggling multiple projects, experimenting, and revising as they go.

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Why This Matters:

• Encourages creativity, problem-solving, and independence.

• Helps students develop their own artistic voice.

• Builds skills in planning, decision-making, and perseverance.

• Mirrors the way real artists work in their studios.

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In a TAB classroom, every student’s artwork will be different — because every student’s ideas, interests, and experiences are different. Our goal is for each artist to discover not only how to make art, but how to think and work like an artist.