This Colorado state visual arts content standards guide is based on the idea that visual arts education benefits the student because it cultivates the whole person, gradually building many kinds of literacy while developing intuition, reasoning, imagination, and dexterity into unique forms of expression and communication. Students develop an understanding of each visual arts discipline and the knowledge of the skills that enliven them. Standards provide a positive and substantive framework for those who teach young people why and how the visual arts are valuable to them individually and as participants in a shared culture. The five content standards for the visual arts are : (1) to recognize and use the visual arts as a form of communication; (2) to know and apply elements of art, principles of design, and sensory and expressive features of visual arts; (3) to know and apply visual arts materials, tools, techniques, and processes; (4) to relate the visual arts to various historical and cultural traditions; and (5) to analyze and evaluate the characteristics, merits, and meaning of works of art. Each standard presents a rationale and lists specific educational objectives for grades K-4, grades 5-8, and grades 9-12. The guide also contains a glossary of terms. (BT)