Stephanie Fuja’s AP Art class has spent all year preparing for the AP Art show, taking place April 29 through May 3.
According to senior Olivia Kane, AP Art is a class only offered to seniors. Students taking AP Art have had to complete Drawing 1 and 2, Painting 1 and 2, and Photos 1. According to Fuja, students are required to make twelve pieces of art throughout the year.
“They have to create twelve pieces of artwork that relate to a common theme or idea over the course of the year,” Fuja said. “So they’ll each kind of have their own little section in the show with all of their work that they’ve done all year relating to [that theme] and then they’ll have a written artist’s statement so that people viewing it can understand.”
According to Kane, themes range from flaws in the education system to lessons learned on a canoeing trip.
Senior Frankie Hebert, an AP Art student, believes that themes really showcase the individual artist.
“A lot of the [themes] are really personal, which I think is going to make them very strong,” Hebert said.
However, Fuja explained that picking a theme and making the art is not all that goes into making the show happen.
“They have to create their layout for the show,” Fuja said. “So they have to start deciding how are they going to hang the artwork, where are they going to put each piece, how much space it’s going to take up, and things like that.”
Participants in the show agree that making the art is only part of the work. Kane explained that in addition, each artist has to make a number of written postcards.
“Postcards are kind of like a way to tell people what’s going on,” Kane said. “We can send them to our friends and family, give them to teachers so they can be aware of the AP Art show.”
According to Fuja, people coming to see the show can expect to see a wide variety of art.
“[People] can expect to see a high level of talent, really unique ideas, a lot of creativity, [and] interesting concepts, represented visually through works of art,” Fuja said. “[The show is] really dynamic this year, I’d say.”
The student artists agree on the diversity of the art that will be exhibited.
“Some people are working with charcoal, other people are painting or drawing, [there is] photography, mixed media pieces […], and ballpoint pen,” Hebert said. “Some pieces are big, some are smaller. Just a really big range of [artwork]. I think that for high school students we’re all pretty advanced.”
According to Hebert, while they may be advanced, making the art for the show has not been without some struggle. She adds that the biggest problem for herself and other artists has been time management.
“There have been times where I’ve tried to work on multiple pieces at one time, or I made a piece too big and I can’t finish it on time,” Hebert said.
Fuja agrees on the struggles her students have faced, but she says that it hasn’t taken away from the quality of their work.
”Truthfully, any of the challenges that they’ve had, they’ve overcame really well,” Fuja said. “I’m very proud of their hard work and their creative level of artistic talent. It’s awesome.”
While the hard work has not been without a cost, students explain that the show means a lot to them.
“It’s something that’s really important to us,” Kane said. “I’m really excited.”
Fuja agrees that the show is important to her students and adds that it is a nice way to end their senior year.
