Jane Kim
AP Art History at Albany High School will no longer be provided next year, leaving many students and teachers disappointed.
The class was taught by Katie Collado for the first time this year, after Karen DeHart retired last year. She says she enjoys creating lessons and projects for students, “It was really fun, and I’m sad that I won’t be teaching it again because I made a lot of really, in my opinion, cool materials and projects for my students to do. And it’s pretty sad that it’s kind of over now.” She explained how, as the course went on, it became more enjoyable for the students because they were able to make connections between art and different historical periods. But now that she won’t be able to teach it next year, she said, “And now that I’ve taught the whole thing, I feel like I have all this knowledge and all these ideas that I can’t do anything with anymore.”
Collado also adds that the course is unable to continue because AP Art History requires a lot of humanities, like essay writing and analysis. She says, “If an art teacher wanted to take it on, then it could continue. But it requires a lot of humanities, like writing and essays. So a lot of studio art teachers maybe aren’t so interested in teaching it.”
Some students have had a big impact from this class. Senior Joanne Kim, who took the class with DeHart, shares how she originally applied for the class to have the weighted GPA, but became passionate about the subject the more she learned. She says, “I actually ended up really falling in love with art and seeing history through the lens of art, and Ms. DeHart was such a great teacher.” She talks about how the class influenced her so much and how she even applied to be an Art History major in college, “I actually applied to college as an Art History major not necessarily because I’m going to be an Art History major but because I found that a lot of my extra curricular and interests really developed around the passion for Art History I got from being in that class.”
Kim also has different feelings about Art History leaving AHS. As she notices more and more changes with art in society, she shares, “There’s kind of a dying interest in art and in art history and in museums and things like that. And so it’s really sad to see our unique AP Art History course being taken away. It feels like a reflection of society as a whole.”
Other students also share similar feelings. Junior Noa Callen shares how AP Art History was one of the most enjoyable classes she took, even though it was challenging at first, “It was very rigorous, I would say, but personally I really enjoyed learning about different art pieces. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a subject as much as I have art history because it’s comprehensive and hard, but it also teaches you a lot about human history while also engaging you with art.”
Next year, Collado will teach African American studies instead. She said, “I’m really excited. When I was looking at their curriculum, there’s actually a lot of overlap with our art history unit on African art. So I think that’ll be really cool.”
Lastly, Becca Burns, a counselor at AHS, says, “And for kids who are drawn by humanities, it’s been one of the best places for them to explore the interrelatedness of lots of subjects.” Showing the importance and value of Art History at AHS, she also shares that, “I know the decision-making bodies at AHS have been talking about ways to fill in that gap, but there’s nothing quite the same.”
