At the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, visual arts classes in grades one through twelve present art as a language with unique expressive powers. These powers enable students to fulfill the Laboratory Schools' mission of igniting and nurturing an enduring spirit of scholarship, curiosity, creativity, and confidence. The language of art also challenges students to fuse emotion and intuition with intellect. Through the study of art, each Lab student is encouraged to value and respond to his or her own perceptions and observations as well as gain empathy and understanding for the views and feelings of others. While working to create their own art, students develop a deeper and broader experience of culture and the humanities.

At each level of its program, students not only build skills, but also become more comfortable and confident in meeting the challenges of aesthetic self-expression. To enable students to achieve success through creative effort, fine arts teachers initially teach basic concepts which form the foundation for more advanced study. In the visual arts, students discover a heightened sense of awareness and confidence by developing their sensory perception and powers of observation. At all times and in all media, emphasis is placed on the process rather than the end result of making art.