IB students breathe sighs of relief

 

Over the last few weeks, the International Baccalaureate Visual Art students of Santa Ynez High School have been undergoing their fair share of stress as the date for their examinations approaches. On April 8th and 9th, the students will meet with the examiner who has traveled to the campus to conduct the exam in person. Unlike the Advanced Placement Studio Art process, which consists of sending slides and a statement to the AP Board to be judged, the IB exam is conducted on a personal level.

The students submit their Research Workbooks – which are a compilation of research, evaluations, inspirations and sketches in a sort of scrapbook-sketchbook format – ahead of time to the examiner. The Books are accompanied by a Candidate Record Booklet, which includes a personal statement describing the artist’s process and investigation, twelve 4 x 6” photographs of the pieces of art the student has created, and twenty photocopied pages from the Research Workbook. After the initial examiner has evaluated the portfolio, the Candidate Record Booklet is sent to Wales to be examined a second time. The first examiner sees a show displaying the work of each individual student, and has a one-on-one conversation with the student, allowing the student to discuss his or her process more thoroughly.

 

Bryce Small, Jessie McCurdy and Haley Snyder attended Art Night on April 3, along with most of the other IB students, to gather all their materials and ready themselves for the exam. As stressful as these few days will undoubtedly be, however, the experience will be incredibly beneficial, for IB encourages genuine process of thought and free investigation.

 

The magnificent art that has come from these students, including the imaginative Nora McKinnon, Kristen Lozano and Syeira Simon, is truly inspiring, and it reflects admirably on the art department as a whole. While the students will look back on the experience with favor and appreciate its significance to their artistic journey, the primary emotion in the students’ minds after next week surely will be relief.