Excessive Faculty College students Flip to TikTok to Share AP Artwork Portfolios


This spring, hundreds of highschool college students throughout the US submitted their Superior Placement (AP) Artwork and Design course portfolios to Faculty Board for analysis. What was a high-stress and considerably non-public expertise between college students, academics, and Faculty Board scorers has lately developed right into a celebratory TikTok development as excessive schoolers have taken to sharing their yr of laborious work with the general public.

AP Artwork and Design programs vary from drawing, 2-D media, and 3-D media, and portfolios are comprised of a “Sustained Investigation,” through which college students produce a collection of 15 artworks associated to a particular matter of their selection, and supplemented by 5 choose works that illuminate their technical abilities. The portfolios are graded on a scale of 1 by way of 5 and might depend towards faculty credit — however there’s nothing like public opinion to place one’s abilities to the check.

Following their submissions, varied college students have been sharing portfolio picks on TikTok utilizing the identical sound, which samples from Joji’s “Gradual Dancing within the Darkish.” It appears to be like just like the development began in 2020 throughout quarantine restrictions, however was finally profitable because it continues in its fourth yr.

One in every of a number of portrait works Justin Heard accomplished for his AP artwork portfolio

Finishing his junior yr in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Justin Heard examined his life by way of self-portraits for his Sustained Investigation this yr. Actively sharing his inventive endeavors on TikTok and Instagram, Heard defined in an e-mail to Hyperallergic that he noticed the AP Artwork Portfolio development lately and needed for his work to succeed in like-minded highschool college students and artists.

Taarena Rathore, a highschool senior from Dallas, Texas, who is about to review Communications Design at Pratt Institute this fall, shared her 3-D Artwork portfolio translating components of her childhood into modern varieties. In an e-mail to Hyperallergic, Rathore mentioned that she joined TikTok in 2020 as a ninth grader and noticed upper-grade college students throughout the nation sharing their portfolios on-line.

“Once I lastly accomplished my AP Drawing portfolio as a junior, I posted it, and I did the identical with each of the portfolios I did this yr which have been for each 3-D and 2-D,” Rathore famous, explaining that this was her second go on the development.

On the subject of competitiveness, Rathore mentioned that she doesn’t view the development as a way of evaluating oneself to others, however quite “the ultimate step to finishing the portfolio.”

“It positively feels extra rewarding when it features extra attraction as a result of I like seeing what folks must say about it,” Rathore continued. “The individuals who noticed it earlier than I posted the TikTok additionally noticed the behind-the-scenes all through the entire yr, however everybody else who noticed my video noticed the items for the primary time and solely noticed the end result. This allowed some to interpret it in several methods, or others to narrate to the themes which was validating to me.”

Rathore additionally accomplished and shared an AP 2-D portfolio through which she explored self-acceptance by way of the colour crimson.

Finishing her junior yr in Georgia, Grace Wang illustrated the affect of scoliosis on her life by way of completely different media for her sustained investigation within the AP 2-D course.

“By investigating this matter, I felt like I used to be capable of not solely perceive myself higher however hopefully have my artwork join with others who really feel the identical,” Wang mentioned in an e-mail to Hyperallergic. “[Scoliosis] has affected many areas of my life reminiscent of my potential to play tennis, sleep comfortably, and even my insecurities.”

Like Rathore, Wang defined that the portfolio sharing development appeared on her TikTok For You web page about two years in the past, and he or she’s needed to take part since.

“There isn’t any aggressive component to sharing my portfolio,” Wang famous. “I solely need folks to have the ability to join and relate to my work, and I imagine many others who share their portfolios on TikTok want the identical.”

Wang mentioned she’s all in favour of pursuing person expertise and person interface design so as to maintain a component of creativity in her profession, aiming to keep up conventional artmaking as a pastime sooner or later.

Over in Gilbert, Arizona, highschool graduate Hailey Schramm lovingly documented life on the go together with her first automotive for her AP artwork portfolio in 2023.

“I’m intrigued by the concept of people forming emotional bonds with inanimate objects,” Schramm mentioned in an e-mail to Hyperallergic, additionally noting that she documented her portfolio course of at size in a quick movie she launched simply final month.

“In my expertise, each time I need to escape, course of my feelings, sing on the prime of my lungs, or have some enjoyable, my automotive is there for me,” she mentioned. “It additionally gives a way of independence and freedom, permitting me to discover and expertise the world alone phrases.”

Schramm mentioned she discovered in regards to the development by way of TikTok person @caamileon about two years in the past and was deeply impressed by their portfolio. She needed to take part as nicely in case her personal art work may convey that sentiment to another person down the road.

“It’s in regards to the thrill of sharing my portfolio with a wider viewers, and hopefully being a supply of inspiration,” Schramm defined. “By placing my work on the market and connecting with folks on social media, I hope to develop a supportive neighborhood that appreciates my artwork, in order that someday I can flip my ardour right into a profession.”

Having graduated in 2023, Schramm took a spot yr to discover her choices within the artistic trade, together with her foray into movie.

Although everyone seems to be vying for a 5 on their portfolio, there’s at the very least one one that will get prime scores for his or her humorousness:



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