Story by Kayla Denson
Staff Writer
Students, teachers and parents huddled around a vibrant art portfolio by AP art student Brianna Duarte. They soaked in the depth of Duarte’s masterpiece with their faces showing appreciation of her talent.
Then they wandered to the next display of art.
Each student-artist of Bishop Amat’s AP and IB art programs humbly stood next to their portfolios covered with an assortment of paintings, photographs and sculptures that exhibited their varying styles of creativity at the annual AP and IB Art Exhibition held in the Carroll Center on April 18 and 19.
The distinct difference in skill between the AP and IB art students and the Art I and Art II students is obvious just by taking a walk through the school hallways.
“You have a lot more freedom in what you can do in AP art,” said Duarte, a junior. “Teachers aren’t telling you what to do like in Art I.”
The difference between being in an intermediate art class and being in a regular one is the amount of freedom you get to be creative and how long your leash is to be independent, students said.
“You have total freedom in this, but Mrs. [Rita] Fortner is always there if you need her input,” senior AP student Johnny Aldridge said. “It’s a really good outlet for your creativity.”
Mrs. Fortner, who teaches both AP and IB art, said her goal is to help students discover their artistic identities.
“I really want my students to start developing an artistic voice,” Mrs. Fortner said. “I want them to be able to experiment and invent something new and original.”
According to Mrs. Fortner, an advantage of being an advanced art student is the ability it gives students to express themselves without having to follow the common standards of beginning art classes. These students are granted this privilege mostly because they already posses the technique and artistic mindset that beginning students are learning in Art I.
The ability to draw is not the only requirement needed to qualify for an AP or IB art class, she said. To take this class students need to have completed prerequisite Art I and Art II and present Mrs. Fortner with a portfolio of their work. In some special cases if a student’s work is good enough she will let him or her skip the prerequisite classes and jump right into her class.
Other than the required artistic skills there are many other qualities that an AP/IB student holds.
“You need to have determination, organization, and confidence,” senior AP art student Emily Topey said. “It takes a lot of confidence to put your work up there and have people look at it.”
But completing a masterpiece takes a lot of stamina and motivation.
“To really develop something you need to put in the time,” said Mrs, Fortner. “It takes more than an hour to develop the content and technique in a masterpiece.”
The art program at Amat is actually very successful with several students winning awards for their work and having their art put into prestigious art shows. Students credit Mrs. Fortner as a large factor in their success.
“Mrs. Fortner is really open to us expressing ourselves. There’s no constrictions,” Topey said.
Duarte agreed.
“Mrs. Fortner guides us a lot and helps us with our technique,” she said. “She’s a really great art teacher.”
