In the 16th week of this semester, about 20 art students in 10th grade brought their artworks to the Art Center to attend the IB Visual Arts and AP Drawing interview. As the students gradually arrived, they each had laid out their artworks on a large table for the 4-5 art teachers to walk around and examine, with the scoring sheets in their hands.

The endless array of artworks showed combinations of various media such as pencil, watercolor, color pencil, acrylic paint, chalk, collage, all in 2D or 3D. All students have artworks with drastically different styles, but they were all composed with large amounts of design and work, expressing the artists’ inner-most emotions and feelings while representing their self-identity. Each one's work is evidence of all the hard work that has been put into art, using what was learned about art history, art concepts, and analytical art, taking a large step into creative art.

The teachers sat down at the tables and asked about the ideas, backgrounds, and processes that led to the different artworks. The students expressed their ideas with ease, as the teachers nodded and jotted down notes now and then. The teachers then discussed some of the problems in the artworks and gave some suggestions. This was a motivating experience for all the students, learning from all the teachers, as well as from the artworks from students all around.

Regardless of whether the students are taking IB VA or AP Drawing next year, a year of art experiences adds color to the intense high-school lives with the input and help from students, teachers, and parents alike!

(Written by Amanda Pictures by Chen Wu Supervised by Menglei Wang Reviewed by Qian Zuo)