After three creative years of art classes and an entire final year on a single concentration, the AP Art students get to switch it up and reward each other with personalized pieces.
“We are working on an art commission project, which is where each student in AP Art does a personal piece for another student in the class,” senior Spencer Gutterman said. “We picked names from a box to decide which person does art for another person.”
Gutterman said that every piece is different because it follows a theme that their partner chose for them.
“We went up to them and talked to them about what they wanted us to paint or draw for them, it’s not a secret or anything,” senior Amanda Ballesteros said.
“I will probably do some sort of watercolor of a landscape because it’s different from my concentration,” senior Miranda Wiebe said. “Everyone’s doing something different from what their concentration was because they’re bored of using the same medium.”
“All year they have been doing a lot of self exploration artistically with their one concentration,” AP Art teacher Gillian Bailey art.
Bailey said that they will try to keep it relatively secret so that they can do a grand unveiling.
“This project gives them a taste of what many professionals do,” Bailey said. “It  is a fun, and very real world experience.”
Gutterman said that there are a lot of different styles you can use with this project, which he thinks is what art should really be like.
“The project is actually one of my favorites because it allows artists to really get creative with how they do the commission,” Gutterman said.
Ballesteros said the project is a really cool idea and she will probably hang hers in her dorm next year.
“It’s just a nice project so everyone leaves class with a gift from a classmate,” she said.
Senior Maya Thomas said that it is nice sort of taking it easy in class and appreciating how unique and talented all the students are.
“We spend a lot of time in art class working on individual pieces to improve our technique and develop style, so it’s pretty cool that we’re creating artwork now that others will find meaningful and take a little bit of joy out of,” Thomas said.
Ballesteros said it is nice so that everyone leaves with a gift from a classmate.
“I am very appreciative for this art program, as it has taught me so much over these past few years,” Yu said. “I have expanded my creativity in ways I couldn’t express before these classes.”