AP classes are known for their large work loads, and fast paced difficult subject matters. AP Art defies some of those expectations, and introduces new challenges for students. 

The AP Art class requires students to choose a sustained investigation topic, and create a portfolio that reflects their idea. For example, if a student chooses “how is happiness created by summer” they would prepare a portfolio that answers their question. 

Each art portfolio includes 10 pieces of art, and each artwork has a description and title. In the description the artist can describe how they created their art, and the message they are trying to share.

This year there are only two students in the AP 2D Art class who are making portfolios to share with the college board, Kyra Lorio and Cameron Azizi. Both of which have very different art styles and ideas for the portfolios.

Kyra Lorio, a senior this year, explains how the topic for her portfolio is sustained investigation. She goes into depth about how she is focusing on individual people to show what it means to be alone. 

Lorio described how she finds inspiration and what that process might look like. She expressed that, “You might have a cool idea for a part of the piece but once that piece is done you still have the rest of the canvas to work on, finding things to fill up that space can be hard?” Lorio finds inspiration for her art through random things at random times, but one thing that helps her is finding inspiration through past projects. 

Cameron Azizi, senior, has decided to create his portfolio about “how does war and turmoil affect Afghanistan?” Azizi has been doing art since 7th grade, and enjoys the creative outlet. For his portfolio he has chosen to use charcoal and graphite as his mediums. 

When asked about how the College Board graded his art work and how he approached the grading process he said, “they kinda grade based the effort that goes into your work but also how much it fits with the topic you chose. If it looks tangentially related it’s not going to get as high of a score, whereas if you had heavily related it to your topic.” 

AP Art, although graded, lets students express their creative skills. The investigative work allows students display their unique and creative styles, while simultaneously having a specific college board standard to reach. In the case of AP Art, beauty is hard work and dedication.