Visual Art Goes Deep

Poly incorporates Advanced Placement Studio Art.

The study of visual arts at Poly draws from fresh inspiration this year, and new and planned studio space is making way for progress in all grades.

Perhaps the greatest shift in visual arts curriculum has already begun at the advanced level, as the Upper School offered Advanced Placement Studio Art in Drawing for the first time in 2011-12. Arnor Bieltvedt’s inaugural class of 15 students has worked toward rigorous portfolio requirements for the national AP evaluation in the spring—and until South Campus improvements are complete, the juniors and seniors in the course are working in the Middle School’s airy new studio renovated last summer on the North Campus.

“It is a beautiful space, and we are really enjoying being here around the younger kids,” Bieltvedt says of the Middle School room. At the same time, he beams over the future possibilities for visual arts when all campus construction is finished in the coming year. The department’s eventual home in the Upper School’s renovated Boswell building will offer even more space and windows on an especially leafy corner of the school.

In the meantime, students taking AP Studio Art are thrilled by the new opportunity. Poly senior Katherine Peng has been taking weekly art classes at USC through the Ryman Arts Scholarship program for two years. She used to envy those among her cohort of talented high school artists from all over Los Angeles who had AP Studio Art in their schools.

“The AP class allows for a more in-depth exploration of art,” Katherine says. “Now we have time to focus on drawing and painting fundamentals ... and class-long critiques mimic those of a college environment.”

The time and space to develop year-long projects and gradually explore a personal artistic style is new for Poly’s visual art students. The Advanced Placement review also demands a strong foundation in basic skills. Bieltvedt foresees an effect over time in Poly’s visual arts instruction—even as early as Lower and Middle School—because that foundation is vital in any level of art study.