FINE ARTS

AP ART CLASSES OFFER STUDENTS COLLEGIATE LEVEL EXPERIENCE

By Elizabeth Anne Sterling (Class of 2021)

The LRCA Fine Arts program offers incredible opportunities for students to grow their love of art and advance their artistic skills through a College Board approved Advanced Placement (AP) strategy with three different emphases: 2D Design, 3D Design, and Drawing. With minimal prerequisites, students with interests in researching and creating art at a collegiate level are encouraged to enroll in one of the year-long AP courses, according to Fine Arts AP instructor Melanie Buchanan.

Unlike typical art classes, the AP classes focus less on technical artistic training and more on criticism, research, and analysis. Artists enrolled in any of the AP Studio Art classes have a solid understanding of their emphasis and are able to design their individualized programs and creative projects around essential questions of their choosing. An interesting hybrid between academics and art, the AP art program allows students to think freely and choose a personally meaningful topic around which to create their portfolio of artistry. After a topic is selected, students research and create artwork in response to what they have learned or experienced. Buchanan says her goal for students is to have a deep understanding of their chosen topic and the artistic process.

Students learn to synthesize all parts of the creative process together to achieve meaning,” Buchanan says. “Students not only choose their topic, but they also choose what media they want to work in and how they want to work in their chosen media.

At the end of the school year, students submit samples of their work to the AP Board for examination. Exams are evaluated in two parts. The parts are intended to show proficiency in the quality of the work produced as well as demonstrate a depth of investigation and evidence of ongoing practice, experimentation, and revision of works based on the student’s individually selected topic of focus. While there is no final exam for the AP courses, grades are determined based on the thorough evaluation of each student’s final portfolio.

Students are in a collaborative environment, but work on their projects individually and at their own pace with checkpoints along the way. They have ready access to all classroom art supplies provided by the school. Since supply fees are associated with the AP courses, art scholars can also request special supplies and media for their specific project needs.

The Advanced Placement offerings provide avenues for virtually every creative art endeavor. AP 2D Design targets students who have a passion for studio art, drawing, painting or digital design and who have experience in two-dimensional art making. AP 3D Design provides experienced ceramicists and sculptors with opportunities to creatively solve multidimensional design issues specifically in the areas of ceramics and sculpture. AP Drawing helps develop accomplished students’ technical and expressive abilities in digital design, drawing, and critique.