COUNTYWIDE : High School Artists Try Their Hand at Earning College Credits

The artwork of Mara Pearson shows a myriad of images: fluorescent paintings of daisies, charcoal depictions of women standing underwater, a pencil drawing of a woman with roots sprouting from her arms and legs and 20 versions of a friend’s face in different media.

Pearson, a Camarillo High School senior, will submit some of the work this week to the National Educational Testing Service’s Advanced Placement Program in studio art.

Pearson, 18, is one of a number of students countywide who are trying to earn college credit by completing up to 40 artworks for submission during their senior year. More than 4,850students nationwide are aiming for the same goal.

To gain advanced placement in studio art, students must submit one portfolio for evaluation, said Kevin Gonzalez, a spokesman for the testing service.

If a portfolio earns at least a 3.0 on a 5-point scale, colleges may allow the student to earn college credits, often enabling him or her to bypass introductory art classes.

“There are some really beautiful things that come out of it,” said Michael Harris, Camarillo High’s art department chairman, who says he encourages talented students to submit their work. Some of his students’ works are on display in an art show at the Ventura County Maritime Museum.

Pearson is taking advanced art and English classes this year and is trying to obtain advanced placement credit in both subjects.

“Even though it’s a little difficult, it’s preparing me for college,” she said. “It’s very rewarding. It’s a challenge, because the first drawing you do, you feel like you’ll never finish, but then you get a rhythm and you learn to pace yourself.”

Pearson started taking art classes with the intention of getting a jump on college course work, but has found that she has something more to show for her efforts.

“Earning college credit was the thing, but it was also very rewarding, because now I have a very large portfolio,” she said. “I’ll just show it to anyone who wants to look at it.”

Pearson also said she now feels more than ready for her freshman year at Cal State Northridge, where she plans to study either creative writing or fine art.