Gallery • 4 Photos

Elphie Bacilek

Senior Ava Koot stands beside her multi-medium art piece inspired by Wrath in Dante’s Inferno. This piece was created with air-dried clay for a 3-D effect, displaying hands tearing down others in an attempt to pull themselves out.

As the only year-long art class at LHS, AP Portfolio works as a major outlet for students who are interested in pursuing a career related to the arts in the future or simply as a hobby.

In this class, students are allowed to choose their own topic. Throughout the year, they will create 15 pieces based on their chosen theme. Students are graded based on these pieces, along with separate process pieces. Members of this class work hard to show the College Board that they are exploring new mediums and ideas and improving over time. By the end of the year, students will create their own booth based on their portfolio, and all booths will be exhibited in the end-of-the-year art show.

The class offers a variety of opportunities, such as allowing students to experiment with several mediums like painting, printmaking, ceramics, ink, drawing, glass art, and many more.

“I use any medium I can get my hands on,” senior Ava Koot said. “I’ve done paintings, worked with air dry clay, pen and ink, chalk pastels and my favorite, printmaking.”

This year, Koot has chosen Dante’s Divine Comedy as her theme for her portfolio. Dante’s Divine Comedy is a classic book that was created in the 1500s and comes together to create a trilogy. This book goes through Dante’s inferno, with the seven layers of hell, along with purgatory and paradise. Koot expresses her plan to bring all of her pieces together to take the viewer through the trilogy of Dante’s divine comedy later on in the year in her own personally customized booth at the art show.

The youngest student in AP Portfolio, sophomore Sammy Powers, took a different approach with their work. Powers has chosen to revolve their work around the LGBTQ+ community, along with the many challenges and obstacles that they overcome.

When asked about what inspired their work, music came to mind. Music can truly be quite an inspiring factor in many people’s art, along with other hobbies.

Art inspired by music embraces diverse artistic expressions like painting, sculpture and photography. Artists find parallels in the rhythm, melody and emotion conveyed by music, translating these musical elements into visual forms. This often leads to vibrant colors, dynamic compositions and powerful symbolism, allowing viewers to experience the essence of a song in a physical art form, according to the Naturalist Gallery.

AP Portfolio is a great class to take for anyone interested in art, whether you hope to pursue your artistic talents in your future career or even just for fun during your free time. In this class, students flourish over time with help from the opportunities that are available to them. If you are an aspiring artist, AP Portfolio is truly a wonderful place to create, design and grow.