Many students think of AP classes as only covering one’s “typical” classes, such as History, English, or Science. However, class sign-ups allow many students to take AP Art. While talking with a current AP Art student, Soriya Triantis, it’s clear that it has to be one of the most interesting AP courses to take.

Firstly, it’s important to know what prerequisite classes one might need in order to take AP Art. For the students already enrolled, this isn’t something to worry about, but for potential students, it is important to know that you would at least need to take Art Foundations. Triantis said that the curriculum guide requires the completion of the foundational class, and then three other art classes. With only two periods given for electives for freshman and sophomore students, this restriction might seem daunting— but rest assured, it isn’t as difficult as one might think. Most art classes are only a semester long, so it’s not a hard task to get into the higher level courses.

Secondly, it was also very interesting to learn about motivators and what the class is like in general. Sometimes, younger students are deterred from taking art classes by others, with the prefacing thought that it might make one dislike creating pieces of art, if it is a required thing to do for a grade, or even possibly, to make money. However, Triantis mentioned, “ I love having the time here to just work for an entire period and to be able to create whatever I want, really.” Finding time outside of school to work on large projects can be difficult, so having classroom space in the day certainly makes it easier to get work done. It’s important to see that the students in the class now are dedicated and enjoy it. Inquiry over what the class structure was like was also brought up.

It was unclear at first if most of the projects that students were working on were directed by the teacher. Triantis explained that for some of the first semester, projects were teacher-led, but now, they get to work on their own projects. The freedom to use different mediums is also very interesting to see. Triantis gave off the impression that students can choose what they want to work with— right now, she is working on a charcoal realism drawing, while other students are working with different types of paints and other materials. She even mentioned that some students are working with ceramics. Diverging from only studio art gives every student an opportunity to do what they’re good at. The amount of autonomy given seems to foster a great environment to create in. It is also important to note what the class is based around developing. Instead of focusing on building technique, Triantis stated that “it’s more about experimentation and discovering your own style; what you like to create.” So not only does AP Art give students time to work on projects and make different forms of media accessible, but it also can help someone develop their own expression or their own style, which is really important for young artists. It seems like overall, this class does a great job of helping students grow and learn, and it definitely is a good one to consider taking.