The Mycenaean

What is AP Art?

AP Art is, of course, an advanced placement art class, and the highest art class you can take at Leesville. The class can be taken in one Semester, but it is recommended to take it for both semesters to have proper time to get all your projects done. There are 15 art pieces required to be submitted by the end of the year, as well as 5 of your best artworks. 

All of your 15 art pieces have to follow a theme that you create. Themes can be broad or specific as you want. However, you have to be able to have 15 or more ideas that follow along with your theme. The five can be resubmitted from the 15 if you choose to do so. 

How do you get to AP Art?

You have to take beginner art, intermediate, and advanced art classes. It’s easy to get through these art classes pretty quickly, and ultimately is worth making it to AP Art. 

What are the benefits?

It allows you to have creative freedom in your art without following many guidelines. You can use any form of medium, the sky’s the limit. Some common types of mediums are oil, acrylic, colored pencil, markers, watercolor, clay, photography, graphite, and more. 

You also get to create pieces that represent something important to you. You are in a class with others who are in AP art as well, so it’s a good opportunity to take ideas from others or ask for advice if you’re struggling on something specific. It’s almost like a free period that you do art 

occasionally in. 

Julia Pemberton, senior and current AP art student, said, “I would recommend [Ap art] if you have a lot of passion and ideas.”

It’s also an extremely flexible class which allows you to make up work in other classes or study for a test if that is more urgent at the time. You can work on one project and come back to it, or start on another before finishing the first. Around every two weeks, a piece is due to keep on track with 15 pieces which is a large amount of time to finish and do your best work

Pemberton said, “I like challenging myself with my own ideas, no one telling me to do art, I tell myself.”

What are the downsides?

If you’re not a creative person, you might struggle with making it as far as AP art with all the prerequisite classes, but I highly recommend it to anyone who loves art or is a creative person. 

It might not be everyone’s cup of tea to create art, but making art is a great way to release stress and pent up emotions.