By: Cheney Hurley –
A rare, unique gem that has never been seen in the history of Lincoln Public Schools has been revealed this year at Southeast: AP Art History. This course, taught by Greg Spangler, explores not only the art itself, but the history of its existence. According to junior Miriya Pinkerman, students in this class learn about 250 pieces of art over the course of two semesters in order to prepare for the Advanced Placement (AP) Test given in the spring.
“We’ve gone to the Prehistoric Era and we have 11 main pieces. We divided [each page of] a sketchbook into quarters. [On] the left side we do the drawing and on the right we mention the form, function, context, and content of the piece,” said Pinkerman.
Pinkerman heard about this class last year when she was in AP World History. AP World History gave a little insight on the cultures and their uniqueness, but Pinkerman wanted more in-depth information which is why she chose to take AP Art History.
“I really wanted to learn more. I thought it would be interesting to see what was actually happening in a lot of other cultures. In AP World, we would talk a little bit about the culture, but we didn’t spend that much time on it and get to learn why it was built that way, what material it was, and the effort put into it,” said Pinkerman.
Pinkerman thinks this class will give her valuable knowledge that she can use in the future and use to spark conversations, but says her favorite part so far is just simply being able to draw.
“I really like how we’re able to just draw in the class; in a learning environment where I’m actually learning the history behind what I’m drawing. Instead of just drawing it for the sake of drawing it,” said Pinkerman.
From the name, I’m sure you could guess that this course would be good for students who are interested in both art and history, but Pinkerman recommends it for anyone who is up for the challenge.
“I would recommend it to a lot of the art student just [because] you get to draw a lot. I would also recommend it to people who love history. If you really like history, this is a good class for you. If you’ve taken the history courses before, you somewhat know what’s already going on, but this extra information makes things so much clearer,” said Pinkerman. “If you have the interest, you can do it.”
