AP 3-D ART AND DESIGN
Kady Bez
Mubeza Chair
Santa Barbara High School
Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Height: 35", Width: 28", Depth: 24" | Idea(s): Leather is synonymous with strength and durability. This sling acts as an anchor, grounding a space. | Material(s): Steel, aluminum, Napa leather, and vintage 1/2" leather | Process(es): Cut & stitched with an industrial sewing machine. Seam is fortified with an additional leather strip | Curatorial Note: This work emphasizes the relationship between material and function in a way that is both thought-provoking and refreshing. Its streamlined design invites us to focus on the chosen materials and fully appreciate their impact.
STUDENT STATEMENT
Does your art connect to or take inspiration from any past or present art styles, techniques, or traditions? If yes, how?
My piece was informed by a range of artisanal practices and techniques. Inspired to broaden the scope of my artistic mediums, I learned to weave with dried straw, stitch through half-inch leather, render in computer-aided design, weld steel, hone aluminum, and more. I viewed each component of the project as an opportunity, a chance to ask the artists around me more about what they did best. From working with an antique motorcycle restorer to a professional leatherworker, my piece was a product of synergistic collaboration across trades.
Which elements of art were most important in this artwork, and how did you use them to communicate your ideas?
Art is such an ambiguous term: Is it the beautiful, sculptural aspects of the project that make it art? Or the textiles involved? Some might argue that the intersection between form and function defines the piece as “artistic.” I believe these questions are meant to be left unanswered. Who am I to say my work is art? That is left to the will of the viewer.
Height: 12”, Width: 18", Depth: 0" | Material(s): Ballpoint pen and paper | Process(es): A mind map used for ideation and contemplation of future materials.
Which principles of design guided your choices in this artwork, and why?
The chair combines principles of scale, symmetry, and texture. Staying proportionate and structurally viable also informed the design.
How did applying design skills (elements and principles) help you strengthen both the look (formal qualities) and the meaning (conceptual direction) of your portfolio?
A symmetrical silhouette, coupled with ample negative space between the chair legs, gives the piece a contemporary character. I loved the idea of letting the materials speak for themselves in a raw, unobstructed state. This strengthened the form of the piece and offered the bare quintessence of the chair to the viewer.
In what ways did your confidence in art making grow during AP Art and Design?
During this course, I found myself challenged at every intersection. Given the type of project that I did, and my very little experience in any of the media used, it would have been easy to get frustrated and abandon the work. However, when prompted to keep pushing through creative adversity―whether by a looming deadline or the encouragement of my peers and instructors―I realized that I am much more capable of my art making than I thought. In retrospect, I am proud to have fabricated a piece of art that I couldn’t have conceived of if I had not been tangibly challenged by it.
What advice would you share with future AP Art and Design students about building drawing and/or design skills?
I would encourage future AP Art and Design students to try a new technique or explore media they are unfamiliar with. Oftentimes, the result is something you couldn’t have conceived of otherwise, if you had stayed within the constraints of the familiar and the comfortable.
As an aspiring interior designer, this study has helped me to conceptualize my design work further, commenting on how material choices play a prominent role in fabricating a lived space.
Height: 7.75”, Width: 6", Depth: 5.5" | Material(s): Q Tips, drop cloth, hot glue, paper, and pencil | Process(es): Digital consolidation of intended textiles & references & a quarter-scale model. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
Height: 17”, Width: 11", Depth: 0 | Material(s): Steel | Process(es): Welding the initial frame using pieces I cut on the steel saw. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
Height: 35”, Width: 28", Depth: 24 | Material(s): Steel, aluminum, plywood, and construction paper | Process(es): The finalized template for my sling backing. The dimensions will be applied to my future textiles. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
Height: 3”, Width: 1", Depth: 1” | Material(s): Stainless steel | Process(es): Machined 3 caps/feet to insert in the chair frame. Used stainless steel for a sleek/durable finish. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
Height: 6”, Width: 5.5", Depth: 0.25” | Material(s): Steel, aluminum, plywood, leather, and drop cloth | Process(es): Finalized corner mechanism: each sling will have leather tabs that slide through slotted triangles. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
Height: 6”, Width: 5.5", Depth: 0.25” | Material(s): Aluminum | Process(es): Completed corner pieces, machined out of aluminum, act as "slots" holding each sling in place. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
Height: 35”, Width: 28", Depth: 24” | Material(s): Steel, aluminum, Napa leather, and 1/2" vintage leather | Process(es): My vintage, Mexican leather sling & a detail shot of my "signature" stamped in a Napa leather tag. | Digital Tool(s) used: Adobe Illustrator
TEACHER STATEMENT
Daniel Barnett
Art Instructor / Academy Director
Visual Arts & Design Academy, Santa Barbara High School
How often did your class meet?
Our school is on a block schedule. Classes range from 68 to 90 minutes a day depending on the day.
Please describe the structure of your AP Art and Design course.
AP Art and Design is offered as a single course at our school, in which students choose which portfolio type they will execute. For students not wishing to submit to the College Board, we offer Honors Studio Art as an alternative, but we use the same course architecture as AP for both classes—just fewer required works for Honors. Some students take Honors Studio Art in the fall as a kind of AP on-ramp class, and then take AP Art and Design in the spring for submission.
How did you help students strengthen technical skills and apply design knowledge (elements and principles) while also developing creative problem-solving habits?
Our program offers students a sequence of classes that skew toward the analog/traditional fine arts as well as digital design—so, students arrive at their senior year with a repertoire of art and design skills and working knowledge of the elements and principles. With that said, we never treat those as an end in and of themselves, but rather as the ingredients and vocabulary needed to skillfully operate in our domain. In the case of Kady, we did extensive problem-solving together along with the tons she did on her own, which bordered on engineering, ergonomics, and materials science, given her project’s nature. It’s really highly individualized student support. I consider myself a midwife to my student’s creative work.
How did you manage classroom resources and materials to support art making?
A decades-long legacy of committed art educators has established a solid support foundation for students in our city when it comes to resources and materials. At both the facility and materials levels, our goal is to create an art-making environment in which students—of all levels of means or none at all—can walk in and freely access a buffet of materials and supplies needed to manifest their ideas. Additionally, our network of artist partners in the community allows us to help support students when their needs extend beyond what we have available in class. Kady, for instance, was able to connect to a mentor in the community to support her welding when we couldn’t do that at school.
In what ways did you integrate digital tools or technology into students’ creative processes?
As the Visual Arts & Design Academy, we’re thankful to have a robust offering of both analog and digital tools. Some of Kady’s visual mock-ups are evidence of her own design practice and inspiration from designers-in-residences we offered to students, supporting them in pitching and communicating their ideas in compelling, clear, and beautiful ways. Students are able to freely flow in their work processes, from analog studio to design lab for ideation, prototyping, product pitching, and presentation. The Adobe Suite and Procreate are the most used tools.
In what ways does your school leadership support AP Art and Design students and the
broader art program?
Our school and district have been the most supportive by offering consistent funding over many years’ time, and also, importantly, by giving autonomy to trusted teacher leaders to develop and evolve programming. Student success, measured by generally happy, thriving, well-supported, creative students who have a sense of belonging and feel valued and invested in, has been the down payment for long-term support.
What advice would you offer to other AP Art and Design teachers?
The portfolio journey is one of the most authentic, irreplaceable, and empowering experiences a young person can have in school today—if we let them lead it. For my students, the work is almost entirely self-driven. My role is to provide flexible structure, a rigorous but encouraging environment, and accountability for their own creative potential. The validation that comes from having their ideas taken seriously—on a deep, almost spiritual level—is rare and transformative. My advice is to take the least possible credit for their success. Build the space, hold the standard, and let them discover what they’re capable of. They are real artists.
Kady Bez
