Arts have intrinsic value. They cultivate the whole child, building many kinds of literacy while developing intuition, reasoning, creativity, imagination, and dexterity into diverse forms of expression and communication. The Arts enable students to make decisions and seek multiple solutions. They improve perception, reflection, and creative thought. They advance higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The Arts provide powerful tools for understanding human experiences and cultures – past, present, and future.
Arts education engages students in a creative process that helps them develop the self-motivation, discipline, cooperation, and self-esteem necessary for success in life.
The Arts consists of Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. The content and performance standards for the Arts describe what all Montana students should know and be able to do in the Arts. Although literacy arts are generally considered a part of the Arts, standards for the literacy arts are integrated throughout the Communication Arts.