The Praxis Art: Content Knowledge (5134) exam measures the art-making, art-history, visual-analysis, and aesthetics knowledge expected of beginning art teachers. This guide covers the current test format, content outline, question types, cost, scoring, registration, testing options, retake policy, and study resources.
What Is the Praxis Art: Content Knowledge Exam?
Praxis Art: Content Knowledge (5134) is designed to measure the art knowledge and skills considered important for beginning professional practice as an art teacher.
The test is intended primarily for candidates completing teacher-preparation programs who plan to teach art. Candidates have typically completed a bachelor’s degree program in art, art education, or a related field.
The exam emphasizes two broad areas: making and presenting art and understanding the historical, cultural, theoretical, and critical foundations of art.
Check your state’s requirements first: Praxis requirements and qualifying scores are established by individual states and licensing agencies. Confirm that your certification program specifically requires or accepts Art: Content Knowledge (5134) before registering.
5134 vs. Praxis Art: Content and Analysis (5135)
Do not confuse Praxis Art: Content Knowledge (5134) with Art: Content and Analysis (5135). They are separate Praxis exams and may be used by different states or certification programs.
120 selected-response questions in two hours. No constructed-response art-analysis section is required.
A separate exam containing selected-response questions and constructed-response tasks. Make sure you register for the test required by your state.
Praxis Art: Content Knowledge Exam Format
The test contains 120 selected-response questions. Some questions include images of artwork, objects, architecture, or other visual material that you must identify or analyze.
The exam may also contain some unscored pretest questions. These items are used for test-development purposes and are not identified during the examination.
What Types of Questions Are on the Exam?
Selected-response questions are not limited to traditional four-choice multiple-choice items. Depending on the question, you may be asked to make one or more selections or interact with visual material.
Select one correct answer from several choices
Select more than one correct response when instructed
Choose an answer from a drop-down menu
Click a particular area of an image or graphic
Drag and drop responses into the appropriate location when required
Visual recognition matters. Some questions display reproductions or images directly on screen. You should be comfortable identifying materials, processes, periods, styles, design principles, and cultural characteristics from visual evidence rather than relying only on written descriptions.
What Is on the Praxis Art: Content Knowledge Exam?
The exam has two main content categories: Art Making and Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Art.
| Content Area | Questions | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Art Making | 76 | 64% |
| General | 15 | 13% |
| Media and Processes | 61 | 51% |
| Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Art | 44 | 36% |
| Materials and Processes in an Art Historical Context | 6–7 | 5% |
| The Western Tradition in Art History | 17–18 | 15% |
| Art Beyond the Western Tradition | 9 | 7% |
| Responding to Art | 11 | 9% |
Art Making – 64%
Art Making is the largest portion of the exam, accounting for approximately 76 of the 120 questions.
General – 13%
This area measures your understanding of the elements of art, principles of visual organization, and approaches used to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional art.
You should understand concepts such as:
Line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space
Balance, emphasis, rhythm, movement, pattern, proportion, variety, and unity
Relationships between elements of art and principles of design
Two-dimensional versus three-dimensional organization
Historical and contemporary approaches such as perspective, hierarchical organization, juxtaposition, appropriation, and transformation
Media and Processes – 51%
This is the single largest subarea on the entire exam, accounting for approximately 61 questions.
You need to understand both how art materials are used and the practical considerations involved in working with them safely.
Drawing: charcoal, graphite, pastel, ink, and related materials and techniques
Painting: oil, acrylic, watercolor, tempera, gouache, surfaces, tools, and processes
Printmaking: relief, intaglio, lithography, screen printing, and related processes
Digital photography: basic camera operation, digital images, file formats, editing, storage, and printing
Videography and filmmaking: materials, tools, processes, and installation approaches
Sculpture: additive, subtractive, modeling, carving, casting, construction, and other three-dimensional techniques
Fiber and craft processes: weaving, basketry, papermaking, sewing-based processes, and jewelry making
Exhibition: mounting, matting, display boards, presenting three-dimensional objects, and appropriate use of exhibition space
Safety: toxicity, ventilation, storage, disposal, hazardous materials, cutting, etching, spraying, clay dust, pigments, and other studio hazards
Study priority: Media and Processes alone accounts for about half of the entire exam. Make sure you know not only the names of materials and techniques, but also how they work, when they are appropriate, which materials are compatible, and how they should be handled safely.
Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Art – 36%
This part of the exam contains approximately 44 questions spread across four subareas.
Materials and Processes in an Art Historical Context – 5%
You should understand how artistic materials, processes, and techniques have been used and developed throughout art history.
Media include painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, architecture, photography, fiber arts, and crafts. Questions may ask you to recognize a process from an artwork, distinguish between techniques, or explain how materials and methods changed over time.
The Western Tradition in Art History – 15%
This section covers major periods, movements, artists, works, and architecture within the Western art tradition.
Prehistoric art
Egypt and the Ancient Near East
Ancient Greece and Rome
Early Christian and Byzantine art
Medieval art and architecture
The Renaissance
The Baroque
Eighteenth- through twentieth-century European and North American art
Contemporary art
Do more than memorize artists and dates. Be prepared to identify stylistic traits, analyze composition, explain a work’s purpose, connect art to its historical and cultural context, and recognize how innovations such as linear perspective, photography, and new painting materials changed artistic practice.
Art Beyond the Western Tradition – 7%
This section covers the visual characteristics, content, context, and cultural purposes of art and architecture from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the South Pacific.
You may need to classify an artwork by region or culture, recognize an important work or architectural form, compare Western and non-Western traditions, or explain the social, religious, ceremonial, or historical role of an object within its culture.
Responding to Art – 9%
This section focuses on aesthetics, criticism, interpretation, and the ways viewers derive meaning from art.
Topics include major theories such as formalism, expressionism, representationalism, and deconstructivism, as well as how those theories can be used to interpret and evaluate works of art.
You should also understand critical responses to major artworks and movements, the use of different analytical viewpoints, symbolism and iconography, and the ways personal and cultural experiences can affect interpretation.
How Much Does the Praxis Art Exam Cost?
The current ETS registration fee for Praxis Art: Content Knowledge (5134) is $130. Additional charges may apply for optional services or registration changes.
How Do I Register?
Registration is completed through your Praxis account.
1. Check your state’s requirements.
Verify that your licensing agency requires or accepts Art: Content Knowledge (5134).
2. Sign in to your Praxis account.
Create an account if you do not already have one.
3. Select Art: Content Knowledge (5134).
Make sure you do not accidentally register for the separate Art: Content and Analysis (5135) assessment.
4. Choose how you will test.
Select an available test-center appointment or at-home online appointment.
5. Select your date and pay the fee.
Review your appointment information carefully after completing registration.
6. Choose score recipients.
You can designate up to four eligible institutions or agencies to receive your scores at no additional charge during the applicable selection period.
Test Center or At Home?
Praxis Art: Content Knowledge (5134) is available both at approved test centers and as an at-home online examination.
Take the computer-delivered exam at an approved Praxis testing location using the testing center’s equipment.
Take the test remotely if your computer, testing room, identification, and other conditions meet the current Praxis at-home testing requirements.
What to Know Before Test Day
Review your appointment information and current ETS identification requirements before your exam.
Be prepared to analyze images of artwork and architecture directly on screen.
Read the directions carefully because some selected-response items may require more than one answer or another interactive response.
With 120 questions in 120 minutes, plan for an average pace of roughly one minute per question.
Do not spend so long on a difficult artwork-identification question that you lose time needed for later questions.
If testing at home, complete the required equipment checks and prepare a private testing environment before your appointment.
How Is Praxis Art: Content Knowledge Scored?
Your performance on scored questions is converted to a Praxis scaled score. Art: Content Knowledge (5134) uses a 100–200 score scale.
The exact qualifying score you need depends on the state or licensing agency using your result. ETS does not establish one nationwide passing score.
Questions included for pretesting do not contribute to your reported score.
Check your state’s qualifying score. Do not assume that a score required by another state automatically applies to your certification program.
When Will I Get My Score?
Because Art: Content Knowledge contains only selected-response questions, you will normally have an opportunity to view unofficial score information at the end of your test session. In some cases, additional analysis may be required before an unofficial score can be displayed.
Your official score report is posted to your Praxis account on the score-reporting date associated with your test date and delivery method.
Praxis scores reported on or after July 21, 2017 remain downloadable from your account for 10 years from the score-reporting date.
What If I Don’t Pass?
You may retake Praxis Art: Content Knowledge if you do not earn the score required for your certification program or if you want to improve a previous score.
Current Praxis retake rule: Your next test date must be at least 28 days after your previous test date. The waiting period applies even if you canceled the score from your earlier attempt.
You may register for the next attempt before 28 days have passed as long as the new test date itself satisfies the waiting-period requirement.
Praxis does not impose a general lifetime attempt limit, although individual states or educator-preparation programs may have additional rules.
How Can I Prepare for Praxis Art: Content Knowledge?
The exam’s weighting should shape your study plan. Art Making represents 64% of the test, and Media and Processes alone accounts for 51%. You should therefore spend substantial time on materials, studio processes, safety, techniques, and visual identification rather than focusing exclusively on art-history memorization.
At the same time, more than one-third of the exam covers art history, cultural traditions, aesthetics, and criticism, so you need to recognize important works and styles and understand why they were created.
Praxis Art Study Checklist
Know the elements of art and principles of design and be able to recognize them in actual artworks.
Review drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, digital media, video, fiber arts, crafts, and installation techniques.
Know safety, toxicity, ventilation, storage, handling, and disposal procedures associated with common studio materials.
Practice identifying artistic processes from photographs and reproductions.
Review major Western art periods from prehistory through contemporary art.
Know important artists, works, styles, architecture, historical contexts, and technological developments.
Study art and architecture from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the South Pacific rather than concentrating only on Western art history.
Review formalism, expressionism, representationalism, deconstructivism, visual analysis, symbolism, and iconography.
Practice interpreting unfamiliar artwork using visual evidence rather than relying only on recognition of famous works.
Complete timed practice so you can sustain a pace of approximately one question per minute.
Praxis Art: Content Knowledge Study Resources
Use these resources to review current 5134 content and practice before your examination.
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