AP Studio Art Teacher

Mrs. J. Chase

AP Studio Art Teacher

Braintree High School

Dear Parents,

Your student has elected to enroll in AP Studio Art. Congratulations! I look forward to working with your daughter/son for the coming year. This letter is to give you the specifics of the Advanced Placement Studio Art Program so that you may be aware of the commitment and work involved for your student.

The AP Studio Art Program is a chance for the visually gifted to excel and receive recognition on a national scale. It allows students to prepare their work with other high school students throughout the country, and helps them put together an excellent portfolio for study at the college level.

This course is a very rigorous one, and it requires a serious commitment from your son/daughter for the entire year. Below is an overview of the program and the AP Contract to be signed by you and your son/daughter. Please go over it with your student.

Portfolio Submission

All students enrolled in AP Studio Art: Drawing areexpected to submit a Drawing Portfolio.

Drawing Portfolios: Students produce a minimum of 24 works that satisfy the requirements of the Quality, Breadth, and Concentration sections of the AP Studio Art Drawing Portfolio.

Portfolios are submitted to the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. Students turn in their portfolios at the set national AP testing time in the Spring. The portfolios are evaluated anonymously by a panel of high school and university art instructors as to quality on a 1 to 5 scale. Each section of the portfolio is graded separately, and then combined into a composite score. Because a portfolio submission of 24 images is needed, each student will need to complete one work every 2 weeks, at least, during the school year.

Also, senior students applying to art schools must have 15-20 finished, high quality pieces for their college portfolios, which are generally due late January. (Early action is usually in November!) These can be pieces from their AP Portfolios.

The three parts to the APPortfolios are as follows:

1. Breadth

This is a set of works showing mastery of the elements and principles of design, varied media, techniques, and subject matter.

• Drawing portfolio: 12 images of 12 different works

2. Concentration

This will include 12 slides exploring a single visual concern in depth. It is something like a visual term paper, and is an important part of the class. When a subject is settled on, the student should spend considerable time developing it. It should show investigation, growth, and discovery involved with a compelling visual concept. The Concentration is usually completed in the second term (Up to twoimages could be close-ups to show details.)

3. Quality

Essentially, this is the student’s best artistic foot forward. The five works chosen for the Quality section may come from the student’s Concentration and/or Breadth section, but they don’t have to. We will choose these pieces in late April, when all of the Portfolio pieces are complete so that we have a sense of the “best of the best”. The actual work is matted and submitted, not digital images,and cannot be larger than 18” by 24”.

Additional requirements for the classroom course, and college portfolios:

Sketchbook

Many art schools, especially Art schools want to see students’ sketchbooks to see how their minds and creativity work. The sketchbook will be evaluated on the inclusion and exploration of the following:

• Inspirational material and images collected from various sources, photos, doodles, plans, quick sketches,and practice of various techniques.
• Homework drawings and thumbnails.
• Study of contemporary artists and trends. Though not a requirement it is highly recommended that the student visit museums or galleries as possible. If a school Field Trip to a museum is organized, it will be required that they attend. Include in the sketchbook notes and information from at leastone gallery, art exhibit, or local art museum visited. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston, several Harvard museums, The Peabody Museum in Salem, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, The Duxbury Art Complex in Duxbury, the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, and many galleries on Newbury St. in Boston are all excellentpossibilities for exploration.

Homework

It is expected that students will spend 4 to 8 hours per week on their artwork outside of class. Thus the student must be self-motivated and diligent.

Critiques

All students will complete brief written critiques on their own work as a part of the evaluation process, and participate in oral group critiques in a variety of formats on a regular basis. Aside from the obvious benefit of community building in the classroom, group critiques also create an opportunity for students to receive fresh eyes on their work from their peers, and to develop their ability to talk about their own work as well as others’ work in constructively critical manner.

Grades

Expectations are based on the range of accomplishments of other AP Art classes and the evidence of thought, care, and effort demonstrated in the work. All students in AP have talent and should receive an “A” if work is turned in on time. A “B” indicates deadlines are not being met or the student is not putting forth enough effort in the artwork. A”C” at progress report or term end indicates that the student is probably not ready to take the class at this time, and should consider a less demanding class – perhaps taking the AP class the following year. Some students might not be ready for a college-level class. If this is the case, it is recommended that the student drop AP and join the Drawing and Painting 3 class.

The final exam will take the form of a PowerPoint presentation to the Drawing & Painting 2 and 3 classes. The PowerPoint will consist of the Quality section, the Concentration section, and the Breadth section. Students will label each image in the presentation with title and media and present each work in the order it was submitted to the College Board. Students will also include slides of their Concentration essays. I require one additional component that is not required by the College Board but is required by me as a way to extend the students’ hands from one class to the next. They must write a statement of advice to future AP Studio Art students at our school. They can consider prompts such as: “What did you wish you knew when you started? What did you wish you had done differently? What kinds of approaches were most helpful to you this year? What is the single most valuable thing you learned from this experience? ”

Expectations and Artistic Integrity

Students are expected to develop their own personal imagery. When published photographs or the works of other artists are used it should in the service of a personal vision. Any published image should be altered in such a substantial way that it moves beyond duplication. This is a matter of artistic integrity.

Art making is an ongoing process that uses informed and critical decision-making to determine outcomes to problems. Students will be expected to develop a comprehensive portfolio that addresses each of these issues in a personal way. Formulaic solutions to problems are discouraged.

Materials:

Students are expected to come to every class with a #2 pencil and 9 x 12 sketchbook, AND to carry those materials with them everywhere possible so that they can be ready for the next artistic opportunity!

Other materials are optional, though I suggest some form of black & white and color media:

-a set of 24 Prismacolor pencils (either regular or watercolor pencils),

- a small set of watercolors,

- a rollerball pen with waterproof ink such as the Uniball brand, and/or a brush-tip/fine-tip double-ended pen to help them round out sketchbook work.

Costs

• Submission of Portfolio/AP Exam: approx. $80-85, due in the Spring. (As of this year, the school pays the submission fee!)
• 3 CD’s for digital images of work.
• Hardbound sketchbook, about $5-8.
• Students will be required to purchase the matt board required for matting the works in the Quality section of the Drawing and 2D design portfolios if we don’t have the appropriate matboard on hand. The AP teacher will teach them how to measure and cut a matt.

Digital Images

Students will shoot images of their work as they complete the pieces. I will teach them how to take professional photos.

The AP Studio Art Portfolio is a very challenging exam, because there are no right or wrong answers. Each student will embark on a highly individualized journey to find his or her artistic self. My role is to guide and inspire your daughter/son in every way I possibly can, but they need your support too. I invite you to stay in touch with me throughout the year and I look forward to celebrating your student’s success when they complete their portfolio. When these students truly, fully invest themselves in their work, their growth is tremendous.

Sincerely,

Johanna Chase

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Please read, sign and return Contract:

Contract for AP Studio Art

Braintree High School

I understand that in order to participate in AP Studio Art the following requirements must be met. Failure to meet with these requirements will result in removal from course or loss of credit depending on the time of year. Student is expected to spend the same time working on projects outside of class that they spend in class. In terms of grading, students are expected to produce one work/2 weeks of AP quality, and have slides made. For each work a student is short at the end of the grading period, he is dropped one grade. This is the student’s personal portfolio, and outside work and work from other courses can also be included.

I have read the above information for AP Studio Art and understand and agree to the class description and conditions.

Student’s Name (Please print) ______

Parent Signature ______Date ______

Student Signature ______Date ______