WJ’s AP art students have begun the long journey of creating their sustained investigation, an ongoing portfolio-based art project which gives students the opportunity to make a thematic body of work of their choosing, allowing them the freedom to choose the concepts and the artistic techniques they want to use. Answering a question of their choosing, they create 15 thoughtful and well-organized art pieces that connect when shown all together, demonstrating their highest level of craftsmanship along the way. 

Senior Ryan Hemingsley is an AP photography student. Not wanting to give up taking a photography class, but being all out of classes to take it in, Hemingway is taking the course for a second year, allowing him the perfect excuse to get out and take pictures every day. For his sustained investigation, he is documenting the teen music scene and gathering evidence to answer the question of how it shows the complexity of teen years. His pieces take a lot of planning to complete and come with challenges, including the fact that one doesn’t have full control of a piece when creating it. Since cloudy weather makes everything feel less photogenic and dull, it can be harder to find things that feel worthy of taking pictures; this challenge allows him to open up and be able to take pictures in more seemingly bleak environments. 

“I hope [the photos] show the teen music scene and how complex things are when you’re young; how it’s exciting and also scary,” Hemingsley said.

Junior Melin Ozturk is in AP Digital Art. Her concept for her sustained investigation is reality versus illusion, being controlled by people who affect your reality. She came up with many other concepts but ultimately favored this idea the most. A sustained investigation takes a lot of time, coming up with different ideas and making sure they all fit together to fully convey the message. Sustained investigations become difficult, especially when adding more pieces, because the artists need to come up with new ideas. For Ozturk, this is one of the challenges that she faces in creating her digital art pieces. In the end, she hopes that her final pieces turn out aesthetically pleasing and inspirational. 

“It is already getting difficult to come up with new ideas every week. It’s like a new challenge, actually,” Ozturk said.

AP Studio Art student senior Ashton Hyer is ahead of the game, with five pieces completed and the beginnings of a new one for his topic on how plants can be used to represent important aspects of someone’s life. While it’s a challenge for him to find ways in which plants and life connect, he enjoys the process. He’s able to have a new sense of freedom he hasn’t been able to have in past art classes because he’s able to create what he wants and work with the mediums of his choosing. 

“[I’m] trying to find a way where the plants and life tie together in some elements,” Hyer said. It can be challenging to do.”

While others are set on the theme or question that they will be using to create their pieces, other students still haven’t decided. Senior Annie Linkie, who is taking AP Ceramics, is still deciding what her final project is going to be. She has come up with multiple different questions that are similar, but is struggling to come up with multiple projects that follow in the investigation. She is thinking of researching the relationship between nature and human biology through structure. On top of still deciding her final idea, she also has to balance making both wheel-thrown projects and sculpting by hand. 

“I want to have a very well-rounded, sustained investigation and not just different versions of the same piece,” Linkie said.