Exploring Visual Arts Students in Chinese High School

In China, despite the strong promotion in aesthetic education, to our knowledge, the subject of visual arts is still be neglected by the public. The population of visual arts students, especially those who choose it as their major in high school, is experiencing the burden of people's innumerable prejudices and preconceptions. However, there are very few studies in English that explore the barriers suffered by visual arts students. This paper aims at helping the public raise the awareness of visual arts and visual arts students. After introducing China's system of Beaux-arts college entrance examination and an overview of the new policy reform in 2021, this paper summarizes some typical barriers faced by visual arts students from three dimensions. According to the literature review, the results indicate that the social, economic and mental obstacles experienced by visual arts students have a formative and fundamental impact on their future pursuit of visual arts and even their career and life development. This paper also puts forward some constructive suggestions with the purpose of promoting the progress of visual arts reform and helping visual arts students get more understandings and supports. The whole study suggests that much attention should be paid to the subject of visual arts and visual arts students. In the meantime, corresponding reforms and policy implementation also need to be accelerated.