AP Art History

Leone Donovan

Course description: The AP Art History course gives the serious student the opportunity to explore the history of art from ancient times to the present. The visual language of humans illuminates each age and culture more clearly than any other form of communication. Through readings, research, viewing images and videos, virtual and real visits to art museums and galleries, students will come to know the significant artists and artworks from diverse historical and cultural contexts. We will examine the development of trends, movement, and events in art and will see how they reflected or affected the times in which they occurred. Writing skills will be important in the description, analysis, and comparison of these works. Students will be asked to look, research, discuss, and write about art in relation to such issues as patronage, gender, politics, religion, and ethnicity. They will be expected, through carefully structured assignments, to exhibit an extensive scholarship in conjunction with these experiences in preparation for the AP Art History exam. Download a copy of the College Board’s description of AP Art History (PDF).

The function of the art is not only to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be. – W.E.B. DuBois

Teacher: Leone Donovan, Messalonskee HS. Leone has taught art for almost 3 decades. Currently, she is one of the two art teachers at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, Maine. In her face-to-face classes, she teaches most visual arts: drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, crafts. She also teaches digital design and digital photography. Last year she started teaching a metal sculpture class and is still learning a lot herself so, just in case, she’ll leave instructions with someone to alert all of you if she blows up her school. Leone grew up here in Maine and returned after attending college and grad school. She enjoys doing long distance walking here and in Europe. She’s a mad geocacher (check out geocaching.com if you’re curious), a mystery book fan, and loves taking art classes herself. She shares her space with three demented cats, Benny, Lucy, and Gem. Lastly, Scotland is her favorite place to visit and, as you may have guessed, she visits museums and art galleries wherever she travels.

Suggested student preparation: Nothing specific.

Start date: September 4, 2012

End date: one week following the AP Exam for this course.

How to enroll: More information on enrolling students in this course.