AP 3-D

WHAT YOU'LL SEE

The AP 3-D Art and Design Portfolio highlights creative work that explores form, space, and structure. Students investigate how three-dimensional elements—such as volume, mass, balance, texture, and proportion—can be used to communicate ideas. Through sculptural, architectural, or design-based approaches, students learn to connect materials, processes, and concepts in ways that reflect both technical skill and creative inquiry.

Each portfolio includes 20 digital images, submitted in 2 sections. In Selected Works (5 works, presented through 10 images showing multiple views), students present finished pieces that demonstrate advanced 3-D skills and a clear synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. Each work is accompanied by brief written notes describing what it represents and how it was made.

The Sustained Investigation (15 images) emphasizes discovery through inquiry-based, student-driven learning. Students identify a guiding question or area of inquiry and explore it in depth through practice, experimentation, and revision. This process encourages critical thinking and innovation, as students examine how materials, spatial relationships, and conceptual ideas interact in three dimensions. The images may include finished works, process documentation, and details that reveal the evolution of form and meaning. Together, these selections demonstrate curiosity, persistence, and artistic growth as students refine their understanding of design in space and form.

What the Exam Assessors Look For

Assessors evaluate each portfolio using national AP Art and Design scoring guidelines. In the Sustained Investigation, assessors look for evidence that the student’s inquiry drives exploration through sustained practice, experimentation, and revision using 3-D design skills. High-scoring portfolios show visual and written evidence of synthesis—clear relationships among materials, processes, and ideas—and reveal the student’s ability to develop and deepen an inquiry over time.

In the Selected Works, assessors evaluate advanced 3-D design skills; the integration of materials, processes, and ideas; and written evidence that accurately identifies what each work represents and how it was made. The highest-scoring portfolios show clear synthesis—where materials, processes, and ideas merge seamlessly to create visually and conceptually compelling works.

Students may work in a range of media, including sculpture, installation, ceramics, metalwork, architectural models, fiber or textile art, glasswork, and mixed-media assemblage. Still images from video or film and composite images are also accepted. All submitted work must be the student’s original creation. Generative artificial intelligence tools are prohibited at every stage of the creative process, and all portfolios are submitted digitally through the AP Digital Portfolio.

${prev-page}

${next-page}