As the first semester has come to a close, AP 2-D Art and Design and AP 3-D Art and Design students have started to showcase their portfolios. Beginning in their freshman year, AP art students have been in LM’s art studios, creating pieces of work all leading up to this demanding class. Students are expected to produce fifteen different works of art which will be reviewed for their AP exam. AP 2-D Art and Design is a class constructed around drawings, process documentation, and written information about the artwork they create throughout the year. In years prior, they chose what they wanted to submit for AP evaluation. All students submitting their portfolios have the chance to earn AP credit for the work they submit. Likewise, AP 3-D Art and Design is centered around building an extensive portfolio from their prior and present classes. Instead of being centered around drawing, 3-D students create three-dimensional profiles: metal arts, ceramics, sculpture, etc.
Although the framework of these classes sound very structured, they consist predominantly of independent studio work. This set-up differs from the freshman art classes, which are centered around introducing students to a variety of techniques used in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional pieces. In freshman year art, students start to build their portfolios for the following years. In Art 1 Studio, students explore more in-depth exercises and materials, including traditional alongside digital, that are used to build up mastery in their portfolios. Then, in Art 2 Studio, observational skills acquired in Art 1 Studio are expanded upon by adding color to their work. Students gain more intermediate skills and start to build complex knowledge on how to form their portfolios. This is where the idea of creative expression comes into play. All of the creative and technical skills established in the first two classes aid in students forming an artistic theme for their portfolios to enhance their diverse portfolios. Independent work also becomes more prevalent in Art 3 Studio.
These classes all lead up to the AP art courses where students get to choose their themes throughout the year. This course is made up of committed seniors pursuing to complete portfolios to submit for AP credit. Some prior themes have been based on students’ cultural identities, body image, video games, and inanimate objects. Current AP art student Julliana Messinger ’24 shares that the theme for her portfolio “is the presence of art in society, and this is important to me because it is something I observe quite frequently in my day-to-day life. When I’m on vacation, everyone seems to be capturing life with their cell phone. I wanted to create art that showed my observations of that.” In terms of the independent curriculum, Messinger elaborates, “I loved the freedom because you had to create fifteen pieces and if you don’t like what you’re making it won’t be as fun. I’m glad I chose a theme I knew I could make a lot of pieces for, and enjoy each one.”
As their time in high school finishes, the seniors’ portfolios come to life in the atrium. Their hard work is finally getting the spotlight it deserves.
