AP+Studio+Art+Introduction


 * AP Studio Art **

**I N T R O D U C T I O N **
The AP Studio Art portfolios are designed for students who are seriously interested in the practical experience of art. AP Studio Art is not based on a written exam; instead, students submit portfolios for evaluation at the end of the school year. The AP Studio Art Program consists of three portfolios—2-D Design, 3-D Design, and Drawing—corresponding to the most common college foundation courses.  AP Studio Art sets a national standard for performance in the visual arts that contributes to the significant role the arts play in academic environments.

Each year the thousands of portfolios that are submitted in AP Studio Art are reviewed by college, university, and secondary school art instructors using rigorous standards. This College Board program provides a national standard for performance in the visual arts that allows students to earn college credit and/or advanced placement while still in high school. The AP Program is based on the premise that college-level material can be taught successfully to secondary school students. It invites motivated students to perform at the college level. In essence, the AP Program is a cooperative endeavor that helps high school student’s complete college-level courses and permits colleges to evaluate, acknowledge, and encourage that accomplishment through the granting of appropriate credit and placement.

For the latest information about AP Studio Art, visit AP Central (apcentral.collegeboard.com). This site includes teachers’ perspectives on the AP art courses and portfolios, as well as many student works from all three portfolios.


= = =**G O A L S **= The instructional goals of the AP Studio Art program can be described as follows: • Encourage creative and systematic investigation of **formal*** and **conceptual issues*.** • Emphasize making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in **informed*** and **critical*** decision making. • Help students develop technical skills and familiarize them with the functions of the **visual elements*.** • Encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art. The AP Studio Art Development Committee recognizes that there is no single, prescriptive model for developing a rigorous, college-level studio art course. The portfolios are designed to allow freedom in structuring AP Studio Art courses while keeping in mind that the quality and breadth of work should reflect first-year college-level standards. AP courses should address three major concerns that are constants in the teaching of art: (1) a sense of **quality** in a student’s work; (2) the student’s **concentration** on a particular visual interest or problem; and (3) the student’s need for **breadth** of experience in the **formal, technical, and expressive*** means of the artist. **__AP work__** **__should reflect these three areas of concern: quality, concentration, and breadth.__**    =**Ethics, Artistic Integrity, and Plagiarism **= <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> In evaluating portfolios, the Readers look for original thinking. Students are encouraged to create artworks from their own knowledge, experiences, and interests. Universities, colleges, and professional schools of art have rigorous policies regarding plagiarism. AP Studio Art endorses these policies.

Any work that makes use of (appropriates) other artists’ work (including photographs) and/or published images must show substantial and significant development beyond duplication. This is demonstrated through manipulation of the formal qualities, design, and/or concept of the source. The student’s individual “voice” should be clearly evident.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">It is unethical, constitutes plagiarism, and ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> **often violates copyright law simply to copy an image (even in another** **medium) that was made by someone else and represent it as one’s own.**

Digital images of student work that are submitted in the portfolios may be edited; however, the goals of image editing should be to present the clearest, most accurate representation of the student’s artwork, and to ensure that images meet the requirements of the Digital Submission Web application. When submitting their portfolios, students must indicate their acceptance of the following statement: “I hereby affirm that all works in this portfolio were done by me and that these images accurately represent my actual work.” <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">

<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">
=**<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">*T E R M I N O L G Y **<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> = <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Formal and Conceptual Issues ** <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> Formal issues relate to creative endeavors based upon the principles and elements of visual art. Conceptual Issues relate to the depth and power of the creative thinking involved in the meaning and interpretation of the art work. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> The perceptual aspect refers to the ability to visualize and “see” composition in order to artistically represent subject matter from careful observation. Also the artistic sensitivity to “feel” and represent mood in artwork is perceptual. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> The technical aspect of art production refers to the application of craftsmanship and precise production methods in creating art and using media and materials. Technicalities are resolved in completing a “finished” work. Creating a work of art that displays emotion and presents a mood or strong feeling exhibits the passion of the artist in the work of art. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> Research is important in establishing strong correlations between the initial idea and the final artistic work. Historical and multicultural influences can be developed to strengthen the representation. The composition and message can become complex and compelling by going beyond the initial inspiration and researching multiple solutions. Critical decision-making allows the student to make wise artistic selections based upon the research. Critiques involve the four processes, description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment. The critical process allows the artist to intelligently improve and correct the art work. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> The elements of Drawing and 2D Design: line, color, value, texture, shape, and space. Or in 3D Design artworks: mass, volume, color/light, form, plane, line, and texture. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> Quality refers to the mastery of the principles and elements of visual art that should be apparent in the composition, concept, and execution of the works, whether they are simple or complex. There is no preferred (or unacceptable) style or content as long as it represents the very best that the artist can accomplish. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> A concentration is a body of related works describing an in-depth exploration of a particular artistic concern. It reflects the process of investigation of a specific visual idea. It is NOT a collection of works with differing intents. Students are encouraged to explore a personal, central interest as intensively as possible; they are free to work with any idea in any medium that addresses drawing/design issues. The concentration should grow out of the student’s idea and demonstrate growth and/or discovery through a number of conceptually related works. The evaluators are interested not only in the work presented but also in visual evidence of the student’s thinking, selected method of working, and development of the work over time. The artist statement (answering the 2 questions) may clarify these issues. 1. What is the central idea of your concentration? 2. How does the work in your concentration demonstrate the exploration of your idea? You may refer to specific images as examples. (Concentrations are the heart of IB art.) Because Signature has an internationally based curriculum, it is always commendable to involve global and multicultural issues. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> The student’s work in this section should show evidence of conceptual, perceptual, expressive, and technical range; thus, the student’s work should demonstrate a variety of art making skills, media and approaches. This is the section that evidences competency in a wide application of the principles and elements of art.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Perceptual **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Technical **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Expressive **<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Informed and Critical Decision-making **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Visual Elements **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Quality **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Concentration **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Breadth **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">
=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">COMMITMENT FROM STUDENTS = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(35, 31, 32); font-size: 110%;">All students who are willing to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses. AP Studio Art is for highly motivated students who are seriously interested in the study of art; the program demands significant commitment. It is highly recommended that studio art students have previous training in art. At the same time the College Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP courses therefore; students who wish to commit to the work should be allowed the opportunity to succeed. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> The quest for quality of both production and experience in AP Studio Art makes active demands not only on the students but also on the teachers and on the school itself. The course has been taught in many different ways: for example, as a separate, one-year class; or as a separate program of study for AP students who meet during a general art class period; or as independent study for a few highly motivated students. Because AP Studio Art is designed as an intensive course and requires more time than traditional offerings, some students may prefer to extend it over more than one year. In such cases, the most recently published AP Studio Art poster, detailing current requirements for each of the portfolios, should be consulted at the beginning of the submission year of the course so that any changes in the portfolio requirements can be taken into account well before the materials are to be submitted. It is highly recommended that students submit only one portfolio a year and submit only in the junior or senior year if college credit is desired. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(35, 31, 32); font-size: 110%;">Group and individual critiques enable students to learn to analyze their own work and their peers’ work. Ongoing critical analysis, through individual critiques, enables both the students and the teacher to assess the strengths and weaknesses in the work. <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Where museums and galleries are accessible, students are encouraged to use them as extensions of school. In addition, art books, Web resources, and various forms of reproduction provide important examples for the serious study of art. Such references are invaluable in expanding students’ awareness of visual traditions—cultural, historical, and stylistic.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">As in the introductory college course, students will need to work outside the classroom, as well as in it, and beyond scheduled periods. **<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);"> Students should be considered responsible for homework, such as researching concepts and techniques in the library, book stores and galleries, maintaining a sketchbook or an investigative workbook, as a necessary component of instruction.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">Critiques, a common structure in the college classroom, are important in AP as well. **