Of the 29 students taking AP Art at Ridgeline High School this year, only a portion are planning on submitting a portfolio. A portfolio is a compilation of artworks, in this case, consisting of at least 15 completed pieces. They will be submitted to the College Board for AP scoring and credit. 

Lauren Jenkins, a senior at Ridgeline, has decided to submit a portfolio of her artwork. She said that she chose to take the college-level art class “when we were signing up for AP classes last year and I needed another AP class. I’ve never taken a school art class before this but I like it a lot. It’s really fun, it’s one of my favorite classes.”

Each artwork that goes into a portfolio takes hours to finish. Oftentimes, portfolios have a student-chosen theme that each art piece follows. Because each art piece requires so much time and focus, Lauren says, “I’ve learned how to force myself to sit down and actually pay attention to detail and spend a lot of time on something.” She admitted that she’s usually one to rush paintings or leave them unfinished, but having to take each project slowly and pay close attention to detail has taught her a lot about art. One of her finished paintings, shown above, is called ‘Fields of Fauna’. Lauren described it as “Oil on canvas, and it took me 30+ hours to finish.”

Lauren and others in her class are able to work on their projects for approximately two hours every day, in flex and their AP Art class hour. The classroom environment is really supportive and encouraging. Lauren said her biggest supporters have been the other students at her table. “Everyone is cheering everyone on.”

Jaycie Self, the art teacher at Ridgeline, says that she’s incredibly proud of her students and how they are able to push themselves. She is happy to admit that “they all do their best to put their creativity into everything they make!”