HL: Artist Project Overview

Visual Arts Guide: "Artist Project" pg. 77-85

What is it?
A stand-alone HL-only task where you independently ideate, create, and situate an artwork in a real or chosen context. You’ll explore artist influences, refine your work through feedback, present your artwork for a real/potential audience, and reflect on its success.

Weighting: 30% of final HL grade

AP sample 1 - Artist Project.pdf

AP sample 1 - The project artwork - Video.mp4

What You Submit: HL Artist Project (AP)

1. One PDF file (12 screens) with visual and written evidence of your research, creative process, and response to context, not exceed 2,500 words

A. Project Proposal (3 screens, 500 words)
B. Connections (4 screens, 1,000 words)
C. Dialogues (2 screens, 500 words)
E. Post-Production Evaluation (2 screens, 300 words)
F. Future Development (1 screen, 200 words)

2. One video file (3 minutes)

Presenting your resolved artwork, explaining how it is situated in a specific context, and reflects your artistic intentions

Must include artwork details and a short written text (100 words max)

3. One separate text file with

All sources used
Artwork details (title, medium, size)

- The 100-word text from your video

See LEFT for a student example of this body of work

Overview:
In your Proposal and Connections, clearly explain your artistic intentions and how your work is situated in a specific context. You should investigate your chosen audience and environment, and show how your project connects to at least two artworks by different artists, including how their cultural significance influenced your ideas. This shows your ability to situate your work and make meaningful connections through research.

In the Dialogues and Curation section, provide evidence of how you used feedback to refine your ideas and make stronger choices. In your video, show how you’ve curated and situated your final piece, meaning you’ve thought about where, how, and for whom the work is presented, and how that supports your message. This also demonstrates your ability to synthesize concept and form for a real or imagined audience.

In your Evaluation and Future Development, reflect on how effectively your project communicated in its situated context, and whether it met your goals. Then, suggest next steps to continue growing as an artist, showing how you can refine your practice and build on what you’ve learned. This demonstrates thoughtful investigation, situating, and planning for your creative development.

Situate means thinking about where your artwork fits, who it’s for, where it’s shown, and why it matters. It’s about making sure your work connects to a specific environment, audience, or cultural moment. You’ll look at how other artists make these choices, and do the same in your own work by showing clear connections to personal, local, or global contexts. This helps you tell a stronger story through your art, curate your ideas with purpose, and see how your work fits into a bigger world of artists and ideas.

HL Task 2 Marking Criteria - AP Breakdown

A: Proposal (Investigate, Situate)

Clearly explain your intentions and how your artwork is situated in a real or imagined context
Show evidence of informed investigation into the chosen context and audience

Aim for: Clear and confident justification of your ideas and context (7–8)

B: Connections (Investigate, Situate)

Show meaningful connections between your project and at least two artworks by different artists
Discuss their cultural significance and how that influenced your own ideas

Aim for: Relevant, meaningful connections and solid research into context (7–8)

C: Dialogues (Refine)

Include evidence of how feedback or discussions helped you refine your artwork
Reflect on how those conversations improved your work in relation to context and audience

Aim for: Justified, effective refinements based on dialogue (5–6)

D: Curation and Realization (Synthesize, Curate, Situate)

In your video, show how your artwork is presented intentionally for a specific audience and in a chosen space/context
Clearly communicate your artistic intentions and how form and concept come together

Aim for: Resolved, thoughtful curation that shows your work functioning in context (9–10)

E: Post-Production Evaluation (Situate)

Reflect on how well your artwork worked in context
Don’t just describe—evaluate how it communicated with your audience and if it fulfilled your intentions

Aim for: Clear, specific evaluation of your project's impact and context (4)

F: Future Development (Situate)

Propose next steps for your art practice based on what you learned
Your ideas should be purposeful and thoughtful, not vague

Aim for: Creative and meaningful future directions (4)

AP Tools for Success:

Slide Layout (suggestion):

HL AP 12 Screen Plan (shamburek)

^ TeachersPayTeachers Link Here

Assessment Tool:

HL AP Peer Review Rubric

Remember...

Be specific, not general.
Avoid vague phrases like “I like their work.” Instead, explain what you like—form, surface texture, glazing method, or conceptual message—and why it matters to your own artistic goals.

Make clear, visual connections to your own work.
Your screen should show how this artist has influenced your thinking or process. Include clay tests, glaze trials, material sketches, or images of work in progress that demonstrate a direct link.

Analyze both form and meaning.
Don’t just describe how the work looks—explain how those visual elements communicate ideas or reflect cultural meaning. Consider function vs. symbolism, tactile qualities, or how the work interacts with space.

Use subject-specific language.
Include vocabulary specific to ceramics (like coil-building, raku firing, underglaze, vessel profile) and to art analysis in general (like contrast, symbolism, composition, interpretation). This shows deeper understanding and technical knowledge.

Cite all sources properly.
Always include the artist’s name, artwork title, year, materials, and the source where you found the image or information. If using a book, website, article, or exhibition, note the source. This shows academic honesty and strengthens your credibility.

Digital Visual Art Journal - Portfolio is KEY

Much of what you include will come from your digital visual arts journal. This is where you record:

Experiments, sketches, and studies
Reflections and written responses
Research about other artists
Photos, contact sheets, and screenshots
You’ll be selecting pages or scans from this to include in your final portfolio screens.

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