Important Updates
2021 AP Art and Design Exhibit
The 2021 AP Art and Design Exhibit showcases the outstanding artwork created by students for the May 2021 exam.
Webinar for the 2021 AP Art and Design Exhibit
Rebecca Stone-Danahy, director of AP Art and Design, will showcase how to use this exhibit in your classroom. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to navigate the digital exhibit, review the featured content focusing on student inquiry, teacher and school administrator statements, and explore the relationship to the course and exam description.
AP Daily Videos and AP Classroom
Teachers and students can access short, on-demand AP Daily video lessons in AP Classroom. These videos will cover every skill outlined in the CED, which you’ll see on your AP Classroom Course Resources page. Videos can be assigned as homework to encourage students to watch on their own, so you can use class time to focus discussions where students need help, whether teaching online, in person, or both.
Course Overview
AP 2-D Art and Design is an introductory college-level two-dimensional design course. Students refine and apply 2-D skills to ideas they develop throughout the course.
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AP Art and Design Course Overview
This resource provides a succinct description of the course and exam.
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AP Art and Design Course and Exam Description
This is the core document for the Art and Design courses. It clearly describes portfolio requirements, course goals, approaches to assessment, and the AP program in general. The CED was updated in the fall of 2021 to include the Artistic Integrity Agreement.
Course Content
The AP Art and Design course framework is composed of course skills, big ideas, essential questions and enduring understandings, learning objectives, and essential knowledge. AP Art and Design skill categories delineate overarching understandings central to the study and practice of art and design. Each of the three skill categories consists of skills that encompass foundational to advanced learning over the span of the course. Students need to develop, practice, and apply these skills in a variety of contexts.
The AP 2-D Art and Design course framework is made up of three big ideas. As always, you have the flexibility to organize the course content as you like.
- Big Idea 1: Investigate materials, processes, and ideas.
- Big Idea 2: Make art and design.
- Big Idea 3: Present art and design.
Course Skills
The AP Art and Design framework included in the course and exam description outlines distinct skills that students should practice throughout the year—skills that will help them learn to develop inquiry around the thinking and making of art. Skills 2 and 3 are specifically assessed in both portfolio sections (Sustained Investigation and Selected Works).
| Skill | Description |
| 1. Inquiry and Investigation | Investigate materials, processes, and ideas. |
| 2. Making Through Practice, Experimentation, and Revision | Make works of art and design by practicing, experimenting, and revising. |
| 3. Communication and Reflection | Communicate ideas about art and design. |
AP and Higher Education
Higher education professionals play a key role developing AP courses and exams, setting credit and placement policies, and scoring student work. The AP Higher Education site features information on recruitment and admission, advising and placement, and more.
This chart shows recommended scores for granting credit, and how much credit should be awarded, for each AP course. Your students can look up credit and placement policies for colleges and universities on the AP Credit Policy Search.
Meet the Development Committee for AP Art and Design.