The start of the school year or new semester marks the perfect time to teach students how to set artistic goals, track their growth, and define where they want to go as artists. This post offers activities and strategies that help students define their artistic vision, set measurable goals, and reflect on their progress throughout the year.
Explore artistic goals for each student
Start by having students ask themselves key questions that help identify their goals as an artist: “What do I want to learn? What do I want to make? What do I want to achieve?” They may want to experiment with a new medium or technique, develop stronger composition skills, or explore illustration styles. Or they may want to plan a full series of paintings or enter their work in a national competition. Whatever their goals, they should be unique to who they want to become as artists.
If students are struggling to identify artistic goals, encourage them to use something they already enjoy as a launching pad for growth. If a student loves drawing animals, for example, challenge them to produce a series of animal drawings — each time using a different medium or technique (e.g., charcoal, watercolor, collage, linocut). Or if students love portraiture, invite them to try abstraction instead of realism.
This strategy combines relevance with experimentation: students stay engaged because they start with something they love, yet they grow because they try a new medium, push technique boundaries, or expand their thematic range.
Use SMART goals to define artistic growth
Once they’ve narrowed down what they want to achieve, teach students how to create SMART goals, a research-proven technique that can help them set and achieve artistic, academic, and life goals.
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Use this SMART Goal Graphic Organizer to guide students through each part of this framework. For example:
- Specific: “I will learn to use soft-pastel blending techniques for landscape drawings.”
- Measurable: “I will complete eight pastel landscapes by the end of May.”
- Attainable: “I have access to pastel mediums, and I’ll work one class period each week.”
- Relevant: “Landscape is a genre I enjoy and want to include in my high school portfolio.”
- Time-bound: “I will finish them by the end of this semester.”
Final SMART goal: “By the end of this semester, I will create eight landscape drawings using soft pastels. I will practice blending each week so I can get better at landscapes and include them in my portfolio.”
Teaching this strategy enables students to craft clear and achievable goals rather than vague resolutions like “I want to get better at art.”
Illustrate artistic goals with vision boards
Creating a vision board can help learners translate intention into action. Encourage young artists to start moving toward their goals by designing vision boards that combine their SMART goals with art-making.
Provide students with tagboard or a large sheet of paper, magazines, colored paper, markers, fabric scraps, sketch paper, or digital collage tools. Then have them create a vision board that illustrates their goals using text, images, sketches, colors, words, and textures. By creating a visual representation, students deepen ownership and internal motivation for their goals as artists.
Track artistic growth using journals and portfolios
Goal-setting is only part of the process — tracking progress toward artistic goals is equally important. Teach students to build an ongoing portfolio or visual journal to chart their growth. They might dedicate one section of their sketchbook to “goal progress” or set up a digital portfolio where they include photographs of each finished piece, along with a reflection on their progress that identifies their successes and areas where they feel they could improve.
Encourage students to revisit their initial vision board or SMART goal periodically (for instance, every four to six weeks). Have them ask themselves:
- What have I achieved since my last check-in?
- What techniques or media am I using?
- How far have I come toward my measurable goal?
- What adjustments do I need to make to my work or goal?
This process helps students see that growth isn’t always linear — some attempts may fail while others may lead to richer work. By reflecting on each attempt, students can strengthen their growth mindset and gain confidence and ownership of their learning.
Tips for successful art goal-setting
Setting goals is easier when students feel inspired and reminded of what they’re working toward. These simple strategies help make art goal-setting meaningful all year long.
- Display students’ vision boards and SMART goals in the classroom to keep the goals front and center.
- Model your own artistic goal — tell your students what you want to learn or create this year.
- Encourage peer check-ins: let students share one challenge and one success at each checkpoint.
- Use digital tools (photo logs, Google Slides, digital sketchbooks) to capture everything in one place.
- Provide flexibility: if a student’s goal no longer holds relevance, allow them to revise it while staying disciplined in tracking progress.
Turning goals into creative growth
Whether it’s the beginning of a semester or a natural transition point in your curriculum, you have a key opportunity to help your art students set meaningful goals, track progress, and reflect on their artistic growth. By using vision boards, applying the SMART framework, and creating systems for tracking and reflection, you empower students to measure their development — not just their finished pieces. These practices can help make your art classroom a place of genuine creative growth.
Ready to inspire students with fresh art supplies?
Check out new arrivals every week — from woodburning supplies to rich block-printing ink to the colored pencils teachers can’t stop raving about — you’ll find it all here in the New Art Supplies Corner.