AP Summer Institute (APSI) for Art Teachers

AP Summer Institute in Art & Design | Online Professional Development for High School Teachers

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's AP Summer Institute is a one-week intensive online program for high school art and design teachers at any experience level. Participants earn one graduate credit from SAIC upon completing 30 hours of instruction.

Go beyond standard professional development with a mix of seminar sessions and hands-on collaborative studio activities covering:

Current AP Art & Design program requirements and portfolio scoring
New media and digital upload updates
Peer dialogue and curriculum development
Strategies for all three portfolio tracks: Drawing, 2D Design, and 3D Design

Leave with fresh teaching strategies, ready-to-use instructional materials, and a strong network of fellow arts educators from around the world.

“[The class] was extremely informative. The instructors were engaged and willing to address any student needs. They walked us through the AP College Board process, which gave us initial steps to begin our AP instructor journeys.” — APSI Art and Design participant, 2024

Advanced Placement, AP, College Board, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission.

Registration & Payment

TBD
To qualify for an AP Participant Grant, you must:
Teach an AP course in the upcoming school year
Teach at a school in the United States, a DoDEA school, or a school located in the US territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands
Not have attended an APSI or received an APSI scholarship in the past 3 years in the same AP subject
Not receive professional learning funding from your state, district, or school

Participant grants are not renewable or transferable and only cover tuition for the APSI you select in the year awarded.
You can learn more about the grants and access the application links here, or email the College Board at appl@collegeboard.org.
AP Art & Design drop requests must be submitted in writing to cs@saic.edu and include the student's name, seven-digit ID number, and course information.

Refund Policy: A 100 percent tuition refund will be issued one week prior to the session start date. No refunds will be granted after the dates below. Refunds take four to six weeks to process.

APSI Art & Design Session 1: July 26

Program Highlights

Workshops are led by a current AP Art & Design teacher who was on the AP Art & Design Development Committee during development of the updated portfolio requirements and rubrics. The consultant is joined by an SAIC faculty member with over 30 years experience teaching in post-secondary education, who has held leadership positions associated with the AP Art & Design program for several years.
Access to resources from the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago and its encyclopedic collection of classical, modern, and contemporary art.
Small class sizes utilize group learning and collaboration, enhancing instructor availability for each participant.
Individual and collaborative activities that focus on building meaningful relationships with ideas, materials, and environments.

Faculty

M. Colleen Harrigan is a dedicated visual art professional committed to teaching and learning. She serves in various capacities, including Educator, Mentor, Question Leader for the AP Art & Design Portfolio, Lead Faculty Consultant for AP Art & Design, and AP Art & Design Online Community Moderator.

While her academic foundation is firmly grounded in the visual arts, Colleen's true passion is teaching. Currently, she teaches at the Page School, guiding students on their creative journeys and offering support to fellow educators through professional development initiatives.

As a lifelong learner, Colleen is deeply committed to personal growth and exploration. She is enthusiastic about collaborating with others in both artistic and educational pursuits. If you're seeking a dedicated colleague for your creative and educational endeavors, Colleen welcomes the opportunity to work and learn alongside you.
Michael x. Ryan is a visual artist and educator that has taught at SAIC for the last 30 years. As a faculty member in Arts Administration + Policy and the department of Contemporary Practices, Ryan has developed many undergraduate and foundations courses over the years. As an administrator and faculty member at SAIC, the meeting of different generations of artists/designers is a daily inspiration to the studio. Ryan has worked with the AP Studio Art program for over 20 years, is currently a question leader at the AP Studio Art Portfolio Reading, and for five years was co-chair of the College Board AP Studio Art Development Committee.

In his studio practice, Ryan attempts to record the fleeting residue of the human presence by realizing the interconnectedness of bodies and places while magnifying the minutia of a life lived. Ryan’s work has been exhibited widely in the United States. His work has been acquired by a number of collections, such as The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY, along with many others.

Materials

SAIC will be emailing APSI materials directly to attendees. Electronic materials contain:

The Course and Exam Description (CED)
There is no time limit on access to the electronic materials once they have been downloaded and saved.
Purchase orders should be made out to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Please send a purchase order and invoice inquiries to Scott Whitlock at swhitl3@saic.edu.

Workshop Completion

Upon successfully completing the AP Summer Institute, participants receive:

1 graduate credit from SAIC
Digital certificate of recognition (emailed within two weeks)

Request your official transcript online. Please wait two weeks after completion before submitting your request.

For most districts, a transcript is sufficient documentation for professional development units.