Designing an art curriculum that emphasizes authentic artmaking, empowers students, and elevates their voices--requires rethinking the way that art educators teach. Art educators must develop curriculum and instruction that embodies three key concepts: (1) inspire student thought; (2) assess students in ways that encourage artistic growth beyond the initial artmaking moment; and (3) facilitate an environment of respect to embrace uniqueness. In this article, the author shares conceptual tools developed over 10 years as a secondary art educator to build an environment of creative investigation in the secondary classroom.