About halfway down Prairie Ridge’s freshman hallway lies the oft misunderstood and always busy Art Department. It consists of two main classrooms and a collection of various-sized closets and dark rooms and kilns. The rooms are constantly teeming with students of different skill levels and motives, but they all have one thing in common according to Senior Sam Paul: “Paint, on everything you own, in your hair, under your nails, on your backpack, on your shoes.”
Sam Paul is a self described “Art Kid” and she takes this to the highest level by taking AP Art. Yes, there is an AP Art. No, there isn’t a test at the end of the year. Instead, students submit a portfolio of 25 to 29 pieces to be critiqued and grade on a scale of 1 to 6. If a 3 or higher is scored, then college credit can be earned.
“There is this thing, or a part of it called a concentration” explained Sam Paul. “It is twelve pieces that have a theme, like mine is Lord of The Rings.” Another senior’s concentration in AP Art is the book Pride and Prejudice. This means that a section of each person’s portfolio is devoted to various works about the same thing.
Not only do students have a twelve piece concentration, they also submit twelve pieces under the classification Breadth and five under the classification Quality.
But what kind of art do they make? “You can do photography, drawing, two-dimensional or three-dimensional” Sam continued. “And that’s the best part; it is all up to you in every aspect.”
So while taking AP Art, every piece and every deadline and every goal is up to you.This is echoed by AP Art student, Jack Thacker, when he agrees that “since there is so much stuff you have to make, you definitely have a lot of responsibility. It is awesome because it is all your decisions. I mean, everything is up to you, but it is a lot of work.” He really emphasizes the heavy workload.
Exactly how much work though? “Well you have to start working on it during the summer and if you don’t get your stuff done, then you might get dropped down to Senior Studio” he continued.
Yes, if 29 pieces sound like too much, there is a different class with a lighter workload. Senior Studio is “Only a semester long, and you don’t have nearly as many things to make, so a lot of people do it instead.”
But either way, AP Art and Senior Studio are two PR electives that allow creative students to pursue interests in visual arts through new situations, “AP Art definitely has a level of real world to it that you don’t get in most classes or environments.” Sam Paul concluded, attesting to its uniqueness and importance.