A student focuses intensely on her paper as she meticulously sketches a hand. She has AirPods in and seems to be in her own world as she draws. She’s so still as she draws. It looks like she’s not even moving. It’s a drawing of a person drawing.
In the other art classes —drawing, ceramics, and painting—students have to abide by whatever the prompt for their project is. AP Studio Art allows students to have more creative freedom over the artwork that they choose to create.
Kali Diaz (‘25) is one of the 11 students currently in the class, taking the class because of the creative freedom students have.
(Photo courtesy of Arianna Brito)
“I really wanted to communicate more messages through my art, [and] sort of give it more meaning,” Diaz said. “You get to choose the topic on what you create and what materials you can use to communicate those ideas.”
Students come up with an overall theme for their projects that they’ll focus on throughout the year. Everyone’s themes are different so AP Studio Art teacher Julissa Andrade talks to each student individually to help them with their projects. The theme can be about anything that the student wants it to focus on, both external and internal.
“An external topic could be about society and what they think of [it]. An internal topic can be about their identity and who they are,” Andrade said. “So the topics can get very personal and emotional. It’s not always about the same specific thing in their theme, but growing and learning from it and researching about it.”
Though a lot of students may join the class just for the college credit, Philip Leyendecker (‘25) chose to join the class to improve his artistic skills.
(Photo courtesy of Philip Leyendecker)
“I like to practice and [improve my] artwork because I like seeing people’s reactions to my artwork,” Leyendecker said.
During the class period, students have time to work on their art pieces. With it being such a small class, everyone has gotten to know each other and their projects pretty well.
“We have a pretty close-knit community so [we] talk with each other about what we’re doing and it’s just pretty chill,” Diaz said.
Having the time to work on their projects during class allows for students to not worry so much about their deadlines.
“It’s not about the grades, it’s about the quality of work that you do and how much effort you actually put into it,” Leyendecker said. “So, we’ll just sit around, do our artworks, and just chat among ourselves. It’s just all really fun.”
Though it is an AP-level class, the AP Studio Art test is much different than most of the other AP tests.
“We choose five [of our artworks] to submit [photos of] to the College Board, and then we also send photos of our processes behind our artworks, and how we got to the final product,” Diaz said. “We also submit little [responses] to sort of explain the processes and the materials that we use for our final artworks.”
The artistic freedom within the course allows students to experiment with many different artistic styles and techniques. Students choose the materials they would like to use, and Andrade provides it for them.
“If they wanna do paint, printmaking, [or] they want to try stuff out in clay, [or] with pens, markers, [they can use] whatever [art type] they want,” Andrade said.
AP Studio Art is a class for those who want to not only improve their skills, but also have an interest in studying and producing art in the future.
(Photos courtesy of Arianna Brito)
“[The class is] very based on what they want to do, and I think that’s the most fun part about it,” Andrade said. “At the beginning of the year, they can change their ideas, but there comes a point where the portfolio itself is what’s required to get the college credit.”
Whether it’s college credit or a desire to improve their art skills, the students in the class grow throughout the year in their knowledge and ability to express themselves through their art projects.
