AP Art has been a unique staple in Westside’s art department for years with its self-guided curriculum for students. With multiple strict deadlines throughout the year to complete their portfolio by May, students must stay on top of their work, guided somewhat by their instructor, but primarily by their own self motivation.
Senior Yve Erickson is in the Advanced Placement 2-D Art and Design class. Meeting due dates is a big component for the students when creating their works of art.
“This latest [deadline] is a little bit sooner than the other ones because we pushed it back a bit,” Erickson said. “So, I guess the deadlines are the most stressful part.”
Throughout the day, you can often find AP art students in the classroom working tirelessly on their newest masterpiece. Many spend their open mods sketching and painting to avoid stress from a late project.
“I work outside of class a lot,” Erickson said. “You know, if I’m not in a class I usually come in here. I’m pretty fast at drawing but I still get a little bit stressed about the deadlines.”
2-D AP Design and Drawing Instructor Elizabeth Hough guides students and offers technical advice while they work independently.
“It’s different because it’s self-paced,” Hough said. “Every day, we’re working with different materials and students can do what they want to do but when they’re struggling they can ask for guidance.”
Similarly to years in the past, an artistically gifted group of students makes up the roster.
“There’s definitely time required outside of class,” Hough said. “What makes it hard is that it’s faster paced than other classes.We have a really, really good group this year with a lot of talented students.”
The true progress AP art students will make over the course of the year is not only in their projects, but also in their artistic technique and skill.
“Students don’t really realize how difficult it is to create interesting, creative projects that show their talent until they try to do it themselves,” Hough said. “That’s artistic development.”
