York’s athletic record is impressive, but there are students not on the field who are as dedicated and talented. This year’s AP Art class has worked hard to create new and creative pieces of art, including drawings, paintings, and photos, for their final AP exam.

Katie Albin, senior, has been enrolled in AP Art for two years now, and her focus has been on exactly what you would think: art.

“I spend a lot of time making art, planning for art, and talking about art,” said Albin. “We have to make a new piece every 2 weeks so it’s kind of a race to finish each piece during class, and often times I’ll have to take pieces home and finish them over the weekend.”

Even though the major focus on the class has been art, that hasn’t stopped Katie from bonding with her fellow students.

“I enjoy the sense of community that we all feel in this class since there’s like 14 of us who all share the same stress and anxiety about art,” said Albin. “Then it’s also my most stressful class because there’s no way that you can ‘study’ for art, or look up the answers online, you just have to work really hard and hope everything turns out.”

Other artists in the class have motivated Albin, but she also has to look for outside sources of inspiration.

“I get my inspiration from a lot of different places, but mostly from movies, other artists, photos found online, and life,” said Albin.

Not only do her peers inspire her, they also push her to be the best artist she can be.

“I get a lot of feedback from the other kids in the class and the teacher,” said Albin. “We’ll spend a lot of the class going over to other people’s work and offering suggestions and feedback.”

All of this work isn’t solely for their love of art. The students are preparing for their AP exam, which is unique from other AP testing.

“The entire year is basically the AP test,” said Albin. “For the test, you have to submit 24 pieces online via photographs of the work, with 12 of the pieces being random and showing the variety of your work and the other 12 being a specific set of works that show a common theme. The entire year is spent creating those 24 pieces and editing them online and getting them ready to send into AP.”

For those interested in joining AP Art, Katie’s advice doesn’t focus on skill, but rather a dedication.

“My advice is that if you’re going to take this class, stay on top of things and try to not get behind at all costs,” said Albin. “That’s the biggest trap that everyone falls into in this class is taking too long on one piece, then all the other ones are a little behind until it’s the end of the semester and you have four pieces left to turn in. As long as you stay on top of things you’ll do great!”

Talk to a teacher from the art department if you’re interested in finding out about the application process!