About AP Art and Design

The AP Art and Design program consists of three different courses and AP Portfolio Exams—AP 2-D Art and Design, AP 3-D Art and Design, and AP Drawing—corresponding to college and university foundation courses. Students may choose to submit any or all of the AP Portfolio Exams.

AP Art and Design courses are for all students who are interested in inquiry-based thinking and making. Although there is no prerequisite for AP Art and Design courses, prior experiences learning about and making art and design support student success in AP Art and Design. Students who have not had opportunities to take art or design classes prior to AP will likely need assistance in developing a foundational understanding of art and design materials, processes, ideas, and skills to prepare them for success.

Students work with diverse media, styles, subjects, and content. Each of the three portfolios consists of two sections:

• The Sustained Investigation section requires students to conduct a sustained investigation based on an inquiry of the student’s choosing. The work in this section should reflect ongoing practice, experimentation, and revision.
• The Selected Works section requires students to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.

Students’ work is informed and guided by observation, research, experimentation, discussion, critical analysis, and reflection, relating individual practices to the art world. Students are asked to document their artistic ideas and practices to demonstrate conceptual and physical artmaking development over time. The AP Art and Design Program supports students in becoming inventive artistic scholars who contribute to visual culture through art making.

• Big Idea 1: Investigate materials, processes, and ideas.
• What informs why, how, and what artists and designers make?
• Big Idea 2: Make art and design.
• What informs why, how, and what artists and designers make?
• Big Idea 3: Present art and design.
• Why and how do artists and designers present their work to viewers?

Course Skills The following skill categories delineate overarching understandings central to the study and practice of art and design:

• Inquiry and Investigation: Investigate materials, processes, and ideas.
• Making Through Practice, Experimentation, and Revision: Make works of art and design by practicing, experimenting, and revising.
• Communication and Reflection: Communicate ideas about art and design.

All three AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams contain two sections. The Selected Works section requires students to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. The Sustained Investigation section requires students to conduct a sustained investigation based on an inquiry of the student’s choosing. The work in this section should reflect ongoing practice, experimentation, and revision. Both sections of the portfolios require students to articulate information about their work through written evidence.

Section I: Selected Works | 5 digital images for 2-D and Drawing, 10 digital images for 3-D | 40% of Portfolio Score

• Demonstrate synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas using 2-D or 3-D art and design or drawing skills

Section II: Sustained Investigation | 15 digital images for 2-D, 3-D, and Drawing | 60% of Portfolio Score

• Demonstrate sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision.

For more information visit: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/about-ap-art-and-design

College Board’s Advanced Placement® Program (AP®) enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies—with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both—while still in high school. Through AP courses in 38 subjects, each culminating in a challenging exam, students learn to think critically, construct solid arguments, and see many sides of an issue—skills that prepare them for college and beyond. Taking AP courses demonstrates to college admission officers that students have sought the most challenging curriculum available to them, and research indicates that students who score a 3 or higher on an AP Exam typically experience greater academic success in college and are more likely to earn a college degree than non-AP students. Each AP teacher’s syllabus is evaluated and approved by faculty from some of the nation’s leading colleges and universities, and AP Exams are developed and scored by college faculty and experienced AP teachers. Most four-year colleges and universities in the United States grant credit, advanced placement, or both on the basis of successful AP Exam scores; more than 3,300 institutions worldwide annually receive AP scores.

College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of over 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, College Board helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success—including the SAT® and the Advanced Placement® Program. The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators, and schools. For further information, visit collegeboard.org.