Valeria Dumitrascu

To guide students, I emphasize personalized exploration of an idea and show how that inquiry helps guide their growth throughout the portfolio process. I explain that this course evolves their ability to document, explore, and expand on ideas. I help students brainstorm ideas that impact them personally. We avoid topics that are too broad, narrowing inquiries to ones that are open-ended enough to inspire various ideas but personal enough for the student to feel connected to each piece. We phrase our ideas in question format, so students can grasp how each artwork they create "answers" their inquiry and understand why they want to explore it, finally leading to how it connects back to their inquiry. This question grounds their personal experiences, interests, and artistic influences, ensuring their investigations remain meaningful, with intent and purpose. Students explore their themes through medium experimentation, documenting their process to refine their ideas. Regular group critiques and one-on-one conferences foster collaborative growth and provide tailored feedback. By following the pacing schedule set at the beginning of the year, I help ensure students remain focused, with time to revise during their artistic journey.

Right from the start, I make students aware that the portfolio focuses on documenting practice, experimentation, and revision. I clearly state the expectations for these three requirements, emphasizing their importance as key components of the rubric and overall portfolio score. I stress that the AP Art Portfolio is more than just creating art—it requires a deliberate conceptual thought process. I encourage students to regularly photograph their progress throughout the year, allowing them to create composite slides that showcase when, where, and how they practiced, experimented, and revised. When students include documented photos and written evidence in their portfolio, they provide AP readers with a clear understanding of how they implemented these criteria in their work.

My AP Art students work hard throughout the school year to complete their portfolios with the highest quality of technique, composition, and thought. They showcase their work in a dedicated exhibit space at our school in the hallway, displayed in a glass case for the school community to see. While they work on their portfolios, I provide both physical resources, such as worksheets and informational materials, as well as digital resources with instructional guides and examples of previous work to support their progress. At the end of the year, I showcase their completed portfolios in a school exhibit using pro-panels provided by our district to show off their work. I include QR codes for peers, students outside the art program, and faculty and staff to offer feedback, fostering pride in the artists’ accomplishments and encouraging meaningful dialogue and critique. Seeing each student’s portfolio displayed in its entirety is a powerful and beautiful moment, as it highlights the culmination of their hard work and dedication from the course of the school year.

Valeria played an integral role in developing the Jordan High School Visual Art Program. Jordan High School opened in 2020, the same year Valeria began as a freshman. I had the honor of teaching her all four years in Art. From our first project in Drawing 1, I recognized that Valeria would be something special. She combined an incredible technical eye with a phenomenal ability to develop unique concepts and compositions. Valeria consistently improved and honed her art, narrowing her style into something distinctly her own. It is rare to see an artist this young find their personal aesthetic and do it successfully. Valeria’s work began to truly flourish when she started photographing her friends and family, moving away from self-portraits and sourcing interesting poses with dynamic foreshortening and angles. I learned from her beautiful layering techniques with paint and colored pencil, creating rich, vibrant, and saturated colors as she crafted stunning compositions, overlapping main subjects with secondary sources and backgrounds. As a decorated, award-winning artist, Valeria earned district, regional, state, and national recognition in various art contests. Valeria showcased a passion for the visual arts that is rare to find in young people today. Her drive to create and enjoy the process as she was doing it was always a wonder to watch. It was a blessing to teach such an incredible artist and watch her grow both technically and passionately toward her art career.