17th Annual AP Studio Art Thesis Show
At the AP Studio Art Thesis Show, now in its 17th year, 16 Hackley senior artists represents the culmination of their artistic efforts not only from their AP Studio course, but from their years of matriculation through Hackley’s Visual Arts Program. Enjoy this video tour of the show. Read on.
Some of this year’s AP Studio Art seniors began making art in the Hackley Lower and Middle School studios, others started their art careers in the Upper School studios. In whichever divisional studio their artistic journey began, drawing was a central component of their experience. In all Hackley’s divisional programs, and in all the studio disciplines, drawing is at the core of what Hackley artists learn and do. It is often said by Hackley grads and alums that it was on the Hilltop that they learned to write. For well over a decade now, Hackley artists have been saying the same about drawing.
As students matriculate through the department’s Intermediate and Advanced major courses, greater emphasis is placed on the intellectual, creative, and conceptual components of the toolkit, so that if students choose to enroll in the AP as seniors, they are able to tackle the kind of ambitious and sophisticated work the community has come to expect in the department’s annual AP Studio Art Thesis Shows.
The actual AP Studio portfolio is comprised of two portfolios: the “concentration” and “breadth” portfolios. For their concentration requirement, the seniors must develop a substantial body of work around a theme or concept of their own choosing. Hackley AP Studio seniors approach their concentration work uniquely as an “exploration” into something, and so the strongest concentration portfolios are often those that have journeyed the farthest or dug the deepest. For their breadth requirement, the seniors must show the College Board examiners that they are comfortable working in a range of media, both figuratively and abstractly, and that they have mastered a full range of formal drawing issues.
If you ask the seniors which pieces they are most fond or proud of in their portfolios, some may point to a particularly large or intricate concentration piece, while others may point to an Advanced Studio still-life or pixelated color-theory portrait, or even an Intermediate Studio charcoal animal drawing. For many Hackley students, these breadth projects are “rites of artistic passage,” and can be the turning point in their studio career. Many of the drawing are designed specifically to meet a requirement of the AP Studio breadth portfolio, or more broadly to teach all Hackley artists to be the best drawers they can be.
What could not be readily apparent in the work displayed in Allen Memorial Hall was the number of hours spent talking in the studio. The department has modeled its AP program along the lines of undergraduate and graduate programs that integrate critiquing, or “the crit,” as an essential component of the creative process. Hackley’s AP Studio course is unique in the emphasis it places on critiquing, and Hackley senior artists are unique in their sophisticated ability to observe, discern, and communicate constructively about their art, as well as about the work of their peers.
Congratulations to this year’s senior artists on their 2018 exhibition, and thank you to all in the Hackley community who share their ongoing interest, support, and ongoing enthusiasm for the arts on the Hilltop.
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Like writing, drawing is a challenging discipline to master, and one that requires concentration, effort, commitment, patience, perseverance, and imagination. The 2018 AP Studio artists learned early on at Hackley that art is as hard as it is fun, as serious as it is playful, and as intentional as it is intuitive. This unique studio ethos defines all Hackley student art on the Hilltop, and distinguishes Hackley student art from that produced at other schools. To sustain this ethos, the Visual Arts department has held to a linear, sequential curriculum in the Upper School, which it believes most effectively builds formal knowledge, technical skills, and confidence. The senior AP Studio portfolios began in one of the department’s Foundations courses with projects designed to equip developing Hackley artists with the concrete formal, practical, and technical toolkit they will need to advance to the next levels in an increasingly demanding program.
As students matriculate through the department’s Intermediate and Advanced major courses, greater emphasis is placed on the intellectual, creative, and conceptual components of the toolkit, so that if students choose to enroll in the AP as seniors, they are able to tackle the kind of ambitious and sophisticated work the community has come to expect in the department’s annual AP Studio Art Thesis Shows.
The actual AP Studio portfolio is comprised of two portfolios: the “concentration” and “breadth” portfolios. For their concentration requirement, the seniors must develop a substantial body of work around a theme or concept of their own choosing. Hackley AP Studio seniors approach their concentration work uniquely as an “exploration” into something, and so the strongest concentration portfolios are often those that have journeyed the farthest or dug the deepest. For their breadth requirement, the seniors must show the College Board examiners that they are comfortable working in a range of media, both figuratively and abstractly, and that they have mastered a full range of formal drawing issues.
If you ask the seniors which pieces they are most fond or proud of in their portfolios, some may point to a particularly large or intricate concentration piece, while others may point to an Advanced Studio still-life or pixelated color-theory portrait, or even an Intermediate Studio charcoal animal drawing. For many Hackley students, these breadth projects are “rites of artistic passage,” and can be the turning point in their studio career. Many of the drawing are designed specifically to meet a requirement of the AP Studio breadth portfolio, or more broadly to teach all Hackley artists to be the best drawers they can be.
What could not be readily apparent in the work displayed in Allen Memorial Hall was the number of hours spent talking in the studio. The department has modeled its AP program along the lines of undergraduate and graduate programs that integrate critiquing, or “the crit,” as an essential component of the creative process. Hackley’s AP Studio course is unique in the emphasis it places on critiquing, and Hackley senior artists are unique in their sophisticated ability to observe, discern, and communicate constructively about their art, as well as about the work of their peers.
Congratulations to this year’s senior artists on their 2018 exhibition, and thank you to all in the Hackley community who share their ongoing interest, support, and ongoing enthusiasm for the arts on the Hilltop.
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