Heritage High School
AP Studio Art
2-D Design
Instructor: Ronald Fabin Project Proposal
PREREQUISITE: Art III
DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to give the serious art student an opportunity to receive additional credit for extensive studio work done under the supervision of the art teacher. Students will be made aware that this work involves significantly more commitment and accomplishment than is required in other high school art courses. The AP Studio Art program offers three portfolios: Drawing, 2-D Design and 3-D Design. Portfolios share a basic, three-section structure: Quality, Concentration, and Breadth. The course focuses on both sections of the portfolio (Breadth and Concentration) throughout the year, with the best artwork selected for use in the Quality section of the AP Studio Art portfolio. Therefore all content meets the requirements as stated in the student exam poster. Through direct teacher instruction, emphasis will be placed on the production of a volume of quality pieces of artwork, while addressing all three sections of the portfolio.
Course Schedule
We follow a block schedule at Heritage. Classes meet every other day for 89 minutes. We have two eighteen-week semesters in our school system. This permits students to work for the full eighteen weeks in the first semester, but only about thirteen weeks in the second, due to the AP Exams in early May (also, minus Snow Days that may accumulate, which are not made up in our system). Work for the Breadth section is generally teacher driven in the first semester. The assignments are based on a variety of collected problems commonly encountered in college-level design courses. The students have specific in-class and out-of-class assignments. They are also expected to complete some class work at home, depending on the schedule of assignments.
Student Learning: Activities and Strategies
Students will expand their two-dimensional design skills and advance their visual communication skills by exploring a variety of design processes and techniques, as well as compositional and aesthetic concepts. Units of study are presented to satisfy the Breadth requirement. Students will use a variety of mediums, techniques, and approaches to develop concepts and ideas. Critiques of work are ongoing. Students are expected to participate in class critiques of their personal work as well as the work of their peers and master artists. The vocabulary of art will be used to engage in written and verbal critiques of these works. Individual conferencing will assist students in the development of their Concentration work. Students will develop a body of work that is an investigation of an idea or theme that is of personal interest to them. Displays of work are also ongoing throughout the school and community. Recruitment officers from a variety of postsecondary institutions are invited to present information on a regular basis.
First Third—September, October, November
Overview
A series of teacher-initiated assignments will be presented with the purpose of introducing students to the widest possible range of experiences in design, along with high-level problem-solving skills. Instruction will pick up where the Art 3 class left off. Areas of instruction will include, but not be limited to lithography, monoprints and oil painting, as these areas have not been included in previous instruction. By term end, students will create and complete a body of work suitable for the Breadth (Section III) of the Drawing Portfolio. As well, it is anticipated that students will discover personal directions, particular studio strengths, and develop visual ideas. Through a range of specific assignments, students will be involved in a minimum of one class assignment and one out-of class assignment at all times. Assignment introductions will be staggered to allow students to work on more than one assignment at a time. A minimum of one assignment will be due per week, with three projects due in a two-week period (class and homework combined).
A minimum of 10 slides are due at the end of this term.
Second Third—December, January, February
Overview
While some Breadth work may continue to be required, the main focus of this term will be the development of specific personal reflection suitable for a Concentration Study (Section II) of the 2-D Design Portfolio. Considerable time will be devoted to defining and describing successful approaches to the highly personal nature of Concentration work through a balance of individual and whole-class assignments. By term end, students will not only have completed a significant portion of the Concentration pieces but will also have initiated a written statement to describe the intent and development of the project using accurate artistic language.
A minimum of 24 slides are due at the end of this term.
Final Third—March, April, first week of May
Overview
This short term will be devoted to the final preparation for the AP 2-D Design Portfolio. Students will receive individual mentoring regarding the selection of pieces for the Breadth Section in order to demonstrate maximum variety while continuing to develop work that demonstrates invention, personal direction/voice, and thoughtful decision-making for the Concentration Section. Process-based assignments in the form of challenges will be presented, intended to encourage risk-taking in the production of the final pieces for the Concentration. An individual mentoring appointment will be scheduled at which time the Breadth Section and the Concentration Section will be thoroughly reviewed in order to identify and remedy weak pieces.
Students will evaluate all work that is intended for the final portfolio and carefully consider the inclusion of any pieces completed prior to the course or completed outside the instruction offered in this course.
Work for all three sections of the AP Portfolio must be ready on Exam Day, including necessary presentation of the five pieces for Section One.
