AP Art and Design

Advanced Placement course family

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources.
Find sources: "AP Art and Design" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article is part of a series on

Advanced Placement
Exams    •    Awards
Current subjects

* African American Studies
* Art and Design (2-D, 3-D, and Drawing)
* Art History
* Biology
* Calculus (AB and BC)
* Chemistry
* Chinese Language and Culture
* Comparative Government and Politics
* Computer Science A
* Computer Science Principles
* English Language and Composition
* English Literature and Composition
* Environmental Science
* European History
* French Language and Culture
* German Language and Culture
* Human Geography
* Italian Language and Culture
* Japanese Language and Culture
* Latin
* Macroeconomics
* Microeconomics
* Music Theory
* Physics 1: Algebra-Based
* Physics 2: Algebra-Based
* Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
* Physics C: Mechanics
* Precalculus
* Psychology
* Research
* Seminar
* Spanish Language and Culture
* Spanish Literature and Culture
* Statistics
* U.S. Government and Politics
* U.S. History
* World History: Modern

In development    •    Former subjects

* v
* t
* e

Advanced Placement (AP) Art and Design,[1] formerly known as AP Studio Art, is a series of courses offered by the College Board as part of its Advanced Placement program. AP Art and Design is divided into three categories: 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design, and Drawing.

## Portfolio

[edit]

Unlike traditional AP exams that utilize a multiple-choice section, free response section, and occasionally an audio section, the AP Art & Design Exam is a portfolio that contains two categories: selected works and sustained investigation. The selected works are 5 pieces that are selected by the student for their quality alone. The sustained investigation is a series of 15 slides put together by the student that contain a strong theme around the artwork created. The sustained investigation contains an additional written portion where the student must explain the both their theme for the portfolio and provide evidence for practice, experimentation, and revision throughout. Selected works are graded completely separately from the sustained investigation. Depending on the AP Art & Design exam the student is taking, the components for each of the categories and what is required for a high score will vary. Regardless of the exam, all AP Art & Design portfolios have to be turned in by a set date and time.

## AP 2-D Art and Design

[edit]

AP 2-D Art and Design deals with two-dimensional applications such as graphic design, photography, weaving, and collage. Contrary to AP Studio Art Drawing, focus is applied on the design itself instead of the composition of the artwork.

### Portfolio

[edit]

* Section I: Quality: A student submits 5 actual artwork that represents the student's quality of designing pieces in 2D.
* Section II: Concentration: A student submits 12 different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to make a variety of pieces in 2D that relate to one idea. These are arranged in a special order on slide coverings from College Board. Starting in 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.
* Section III: Breadth: A student submits 12 additional and different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to incorporate 2D design principles that include unity/variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm, repetition, proportion/scale, and figure-ground relationship.[2] These are arranged similar to Section II. Starting 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.

### Grade distribution

[edit]

Score  | 2007[3] | 2008[4] | 2009[5] | 2010[6] | 2011[7] | 2012[8] | 2013[9] | 2014[10] | 2015[11] | 2016[12] | 2017[13] | 2018[14] | 2019[15] | 2020[16] | 2021[17] | 2022[18] | 2023[19] | 2024[20]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

5  | 11.1%  | 12.6%  | 12.4%  | 11.3%  | 12.1%  | 14.3%  | 13.4%  | 13.9%  | 17.2%  | 14.4%  | 19.3%  | 17.9%  | 21.0%  | 12.1%  | 10.2%  | 10.8%  | 11.5%  | 11.2%
4  | 21.3%  | 21.9%  | 23.5%  | 26.4%  | 25.6%  | 28.5%  | 31.3%  | 29.5%  | 28.7%  | 33.0%  | 31.2%  | 30.9%  | 31.5%  | 36.1%  | 34.7%  | 35.5%  | 31.5%  | 28.8%
3  | 34.8%  | 33.5%  | 32.6%  | 32.7%  | 34.6%  | 32.1%  | 34.4%  | 35.1%  | 32.3%  | 35.0%  | 34.6%  | 35.8%  | 34.0%  | 41.3%  | 42.3%  | 40.3%  | 40.7%  | 42.8%
2  | 27.4%  | 26.4%  | 27.1%  | 25.4%  | 23.6%  | 21.2%  | 17.7%  | 18.3%  | 17.4%  | 15.5%  | 13.1%  | 12.2%  | 10.8%  | 9.8%  | 12.5%  | 12.8%  | 14.4%  | 14.0%
1  | 5.3%  | 5.6%  | 4.4%  | 4.2%  | 4.1%  | 3.9%  | 3.1%  | 3.2%  | 4.3%  | 2.2%  | 1.8%  | 3.2%  | 2.8%  | 0.6%  | 0.4%  | 0.5%  | 2.0%  | 3.2%
% of Scores 3 or higher  | 67.3%  | 68.0%  | 68.5%  | 70.4%  | 72.3%  | 74.8%  | 79.1%  | 78.5%  | 78.2%  | 82.4%  | 85.1%  | 84.6%  | 86.4%  | 89.5%  | 87.1%  | 86.6%  | 83.6%  | 82.8%
Mean  | 3.06  | 3.10%  | 3.12  | 3.15  | 3.18  | 3.28  | 3.34  | 3.33  | 3.37  | 3.42  | 3.53  | 3.48  | 3.57  | 3.49  | 3.42  | 3.43  | 3.36  | 3.31
Standard Deviation  | 1.07  | 1.10  | 1.08  | 1.06  | 1.05  | 1.07  | 1.02  | 1.03  | 1.09  | 0.99  | 1.00  | 1.02  | 1.02  | 0.85  | 0.85  | 0.87  | 0.93  | 0.95
Number of Students  | 13,410  | 15,478  | 17,387  | 20,699  | 21,765  | 23,591  | 24,928  | 26,811  | 27,999  | 30,925  | 32,732  | 36,249  | 37,749  | 36,901  | 34,509  | 37,045  | 43,854  | 47,902

## AP 3-D Art and Design

[edit]

AP 3-D Art and Design is a three-dimensional (3-D) art course that holds many similarities to the 2-D course. The course deals with 3-D artistic applications such as metalworking, sculpture, computer models, and ceramics. Like AP Studio Art 2D, the focus is on the design of the artwork itself as opposed to its composition.

### Portfolio

[edit]

* Section I: Quality: The actual work for this exam is three-dimensional and not flat, so transporting it directly to The College Board could cause damage to the artwork and the pieces would most likely not fit in portfolios. Because of this, five pieces of artwork are shown in ten slides to showcase the quality of the student's three-dimensional pieces.
* Section II: Concentration: 12 different slides are submitted to demonstrate the student's ability to produce a variety of pieces that relate to a single idea. The slides are arranged in slide coverings in an order designated by The College Board. Starting in 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents, and the student was allowed to determine the order of the works in their concentration.
* Section III: Breadth: Eight different works are shown in 16 slides which are meant to demonstrate the student's ability to incorporate a variety of different 3D Design principles, including unity/variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm, repetition, proportion/scale, and figure/ground relationship.[2] Similar to Section II, this section's slides are also arranged in an order designated by The College Board. Starting 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.

### Grade distribution

[edit]

In the 2012 administration, 3,840 students took the exam with a mean score of 3.00.

Score  | 2007[3] | 2008[21] | 2009[5] | 2010[22] | 2011[23] | 2012[8] | 2013[24] | 2014[25] | 2015[26] | 2016[12] | 2017[13] | 2018[14] | 2019[15] | 2020[16] | 2021[17] | 2022[18] | 2023[19] | 2024[20]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

5  | 9.6%  | 9.8%  | 9.1%  | 10.2%  | 10.1%  | 10.3%  | 10.9%  | 11.0%  | 12.3%  | 13.2%  | 12.0%  | 11.4%  | 10.0%  | 7.2%  | 6.5%  | 6.5%  | 7.1%  | 6.2%
4  | 14.0%  | 14.7%  | 15.6%  | 16.8%  | 18.1%  | 20.4%  | 19.4%  | 19.6%  | 23.6%  | 25.7%  | 22.0%  | 23.5%  | 22.4%  | 31.9%  | 28.6%  | 28.6%  | 25.2%  | 24.3%
3  | 40.3%  | 37.4%  | 37.2%  | 35.3%  | 33.4%  | 34.6%  | 37.6%  | 36.8%  | 36.0%  | 35.8%  | 37.6%  | 34.0%  | 37.5%  | 36.5%  | 36.3%  | 38.5%  | 39.9%  | 41.4%
2  | 28.7%  | 29.7%  | 31.1%  | 30.9%  | 31.6%  | 28.5%  | 26.3%  | 27.7%  | 24.7%  | 22.3%  | 25.2%  | 26.6%  | 25.7%  | 20.9%  | 24.9%  | 23.8%  | 23.5%  | 23.4%
1  | 7.5%  | 8.3%  | 7.0%  | 6.9%  | 6.9%  | 6.1%  | 5.9%  | 4.8%  | 3.3%  | 2.9%  | 3.2%  | 4.4%  | 4.3%  | 3.5%  | 3.7%  | 2.6%  | 4.4%  | 4.7%
% of Scores 3 or higher  | 63.9%  | 62.0%  | 61.9%  | 62.3%  | 61.5%  | 65.4%  | 67.8%  | 67.5%  | 72.0%  | 74.8%  | 71.6%  | 69.0%  | 70.0%  | 75.6%  | 71.4%  | 73.6%  | 72.1%  | 72.0%
Mean  | 2.90  | 2.88  | 2.89  | 2.93  | 2.93  | 3.00  | 3.03  | 3.04  | 3.17  | 3.24  | 3.15  | 3.11  | 3.08  | 3.18  | 3.09  | 3.12  | 3.07  | 3.04
Standard Deviation  | 1.05  | 1.07  | 1.05  | 1.07  | 1.08  | 1.07  | 1.06  | 1.05  | 1.04  | 1.03  | 1.03  | 1.06  | 1.02  | 0.96  | 0.97  | 0.93  | 0.97  | 0.95
Number of Students  | 2,320  | 2,468  | 2,761  | 3,182  | 3,406  | 3,840  | 4,167  | 4,256  | 4,590  | 5,051  | 5,571  | 5,777  | 6,040  | 5,281  | 4,573  | 5,377  | 7,505  | 9,180

## AP Drawing

[edit]

AP Drawing deals with basic painting and drawing. Focus is applied on the composition of the different lines/colors/shape/etc... of the painting instead of the design itself. Originally called AP Studio Art, it was later changed to AP Studio Art Drawing.

### Portfolio

[edit]

* Section I: Quality: A student submits 5 actual artwork to the AP College Board that represent the student's quality of technique and their design concepts.
* Section II: Concentration: A student submits 12 different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to paint and draw a variety of pieces that relate to one idea. These are arranged in a special order on slide coverings from College Board. Starting in 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.
* Section III: Breadth: A student submits 12 additional and different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to incorporate drawing techniques and issues that include drawing from observation, work with inverted or nonobjective forms, effective use of light and shade, line quality, surface manipulation, composition, various spatial systems, and expressive mark-making.[2] There are arranged similar to Section II. Starting 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.

### Grade distribution

[edit]

In the 2016 administration, 18,407 students took the exam with 21 students earning a perfect score of 72/72.

Score  | 2007[3] | 2008[4] | 2009[5] | 2010[27] | 2011[23] | 2012[8] | 2013[24] | 2014[25] | 2015[28] | 2016[12] | 2017[13] | 2018[14] | 2019[15] | 2020[16] | 2021[17] | 2022[18] | 2023[19] | 2024[20]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

5  | 12.4%  | 13.5%  | 13.6%  | 14.4%  | 12.7%  | 13.9%  | 15.3%  | 16.0%  | 15.6%  | 17.0%  | 21.9%  | 22.4%  | 20.8%  | 15.5%  | 14.2%  | 14.7%  | 15.7%  | 15.1%
4  | 18.2%  | 17.5%  | 18.1%  | 19.3%  | 17.5%  | 20.9%  | 20.4%  | 20.9%  | 22.2%  | 27.2%  | 27.7%  | 31.7%  | 33.3%  | 40.3%  | 37.7%  | 38.3%  | 32.9%  | 31.1%
3  | 37.2%  | 36.4%  | 37.5%  | 38.9%  | 41.5%  | 38.6%  | 42.7%  | 40.6%  | 40.4%  | 38.8%  | 35.8%  | 35.5%  | 37.0%  | 33.2%  | 34.3%  | 35.5%  | 36.1%  | 37.6%
2  | 26.2%  | 26.9%  | 26.4%  | 23.1%  | 23.2%  | 22.3%  | 18.9%  | 19.0%  | 18.5%  | 14.6%  | 12.9%  | 9.0%  | 7.8%  | 9.8%  | 12.4%  | 10.2%  | 13.1%  | 13.5%
1  | 6.0%  | 5.6%  | 4.4%  | 4.3%  | 5.1%  | 4.3%  | 2.7%  | 3.5%  | 3.3%  | 2.4%  | 1.6%  | 1.4%  | 1.1%  | 1.2%  | 1.4%  | 1.3%  | 2.1%  | 2.7%
% of Scores 3 or higher  | 67.8%  | 67.5%  | 69.2%  | 72.6%  | 71.7%  | 73.4%  | 78.5%  | 77.5%  | 78.1%  | 82.9%  | 85.5%  | 89.5%  | 91.1%  | 89.1%  | 86.2%  | 88.3%  | 84.8%  | 83.8%
Mean  | 3.05  | 3.06  | 3.10  | 3.16  | 3.09  | 3.18  | 3.27  | 3.27  | 3.28  | 3.42  | 3.56  | 3.65  | 3.65  | 3.59  | 3.51  | 3.54  | 3.47  | 3.42
Standard Deviation  | 1.09  | 1.10  | 1.07  | 1.07  | 1.05  | 1.06  | 1.02  | 1.05  | 1.04  | 1.01  | 1.02  | 0.97  | 0.93  | 0.90  | 0.93  | 0.91  | 0.98  | 0.99
Number of Students  | 13,558  | 14,120  | 14,589  | 15,027  | 16,266  | 16,188  | 16,597  | 16,928  | 18,105  | 18,407  | 19,957  | 20,853  | 21,769  | 20,486  | 18,096  | 19,210  | 22,555  | 22,882

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "AP Art and Design Program – AP Students | College Board". apstudents.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
2. ^ a b c "AP Studio Art Scoring Guidelines" (PDF). College Board. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-13.
3. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
4. ^ a b "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
5. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
6. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
7. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
8. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
9. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
10. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
11. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
12. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
13. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
14. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
15. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
16. ^ a b c "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
17. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
18. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
19. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
20. ^ a b c "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved Dec 28, 2024.
21. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
22. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
23. ^ a b "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
24. ^ a b "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
25. ^ a b "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
26. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
27. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.
28. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 15, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* AP Studio Art at CollegeBoard.com
* AP Studio Art 2006 grade distribution

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template