Advanced Placement (AP) Art History reentered Pali’s course catalog this school year after its absence in the school’s curriculum for a number of years. In this course, students develop new understandings of art and its impact by analyzing and comparing a variety of works, from prehistoric to contemporary.
Pali Visual and Performing Arts teacher Zofia Lamprecht is currently the only art history teacher at Pali. Lamprecht expressed the importance of studying art due to the subject’s relevance in the lives of students.
“Art is our oldest form of communication,” Lamprecht said. “It’s inherent to human expression, and so we can only gain from studying it, and we learn more of ourselves and each other through that process.”
Senior Brooke Santos, who intends to major in Art History, expanded on the pertinence of the subject, explaining how studying art can help students shape their own perspective in real-world encounters with art.
“When you’re traveling around the world or going to different museums in different places, you can find a lot of the cultural context you were studying [in art history], and you can truly live it in person,” Santos said.
Although this is Lamprecht’s first year teaching AP Art History, she said she has accumulated a vast knowledge of the subject through life experience, with her upbringing amongst artists and architects in her family, encouraging her pursuit of the study of art from a young age.
In order to teach AP Art History, Lamprecht took a “specialized, intensive course” which she described as “a wonderful learning process” for herself.
The class has no prerequisites, nor do students need to have any artistic capabilities for it, but Lamprecht explained that experience in taking an AP course prior to AP Art History is beneficial for students.
Santos was excited to take the class based on the passion she holds for the subject and her positive past experience in Lamprecht’s Advanced Art class.
“I chose [to take this class] because I’m really invested in art history, and I want to major in it,” Santos said. “I think there are so many nuances in viewing and perceiving art that come from knowing the cultural context and the history behind it.”
Santos participated in a selective internship at the Getty Center this summer, guiding and educating others while getting to study different art pieces from new perspectives.
“We learned how to foster dialogues around art and about the historical context to a lot of pieces,” Santos said. “From this, I was really inspired about how education around art can be invigorating to those who visit museums.”
Not all students may share Santos’ experience with art up-close, however, which is something Lamprecht desires to change.
“I would love to take my students to the Getty Center, The Broad and a few other museums,” Lamprecht said. “It’s a little trickier this year, however, yet I’m hoping to take them to the Broad next semester.”
Senior Krishan Chopra explained how he looks forward to relating what he learns from art history to his own life.
“I think modern art relates a lot to what I’ve experienced in my life,” Chopra said. “I want to see how art has evolved through the experiences that I’ve lived through.”
Chopra explained the advantages in taking the class as a senior.
“I think [AP Art History] is a truly profound elective, especially as a senior,” Chopra said. “It’s nice to come in here and learn about something I actually enjoy, while still being motivated and getting a GPA boost.”
Lamprecht posed an encouraging question regarding the course: “Why not spend some quality time celebrating the beauty that we as humans are able to create?”
