The National Art Education Association (NAEA) has clearly defined the role of art with six content and achievement standards that are broad in coverage and designed specifically to ensure a thorough and comprehensive art program for K-4, 5-8 and 9-12. To meet the standards, students learn vocabularies and concepts associated with various types of work in the visual arts, and must exhibit their competence at various levels in visual, oral and written form. The visual arts include drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, design of all sorts, architecture, film, video and folk arts--all involving tools, techniques and processes. In this article, the author reviews how the National Standards for Visual Arts Education came to be.