Eleven students graduated from IB Visual Arts this year. Between them, they possessed a wide range of interests in the field of art. Most chose to continue their studies in the field of art and design, and received offers from among the most prestigious art and design colleges in the world, including Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, New York University of Visual Arts, and others.
Jennifer Pan
Dartmouth College
Intended Major:
Quantitative Economics, Fine Arts
Jennifer chose IB Visual Arts for two related reasons: her love for art, and the personal enjoyment it brings. She sees art bringing people together and consolidating their values. By finding her inner voice in paintings, she draws greater meaning from experience, and builds a bridge of communication with her audience, through emotional resonance. Both painting and artistic writing are a relaxing, engaging, and imaginative process for Jennifer. She especially appreciated IB Visual Arts for its organic combination of academic work and extracurricular activities, which reduced the academic pressure and cultivated her aesthetic sensitivity.
IB Visual Arts is a course that demands genuine passion. Beside clear goals, and creative ability, the burst of inspiration is crucial. This was Jennifer’s greatest lesson. “If there were only perseverance without the assistance of inspiration, it is unlikely one could complete a picture in a hundred hours; but with the blessing of inspiration, an artistic creation a square metre in size might be completed in just a few hours.”
Yifan Cheng
University of Southern California, US
Intended Major: Stage Design
Yifan selected IB Visual Arts prudently, based on a long-term career development plan, thus consolidating its artistic foundations. Yifan actively participated in art exhibitions, held both on and off campus. This was not as extraordinary as it may seem. Over the years, students from Pao School have organized several such off-campus exhibitions, including "The Miscellaneous Exhibition" in July 2021, the "IB Final Exhibition" in May 2023, and most recently "THE Exhibition".
In the process of learning visual art, Yifan encountered various obstacles. For example, the combination of different materials and media can produce many unexpected results, which complicates and lengthens the creative process. Although Yifan was at times frustrated by these obstacles to a straightforward realization of the vision, their resolution brought with it a special sense of achievement.
Sophie Wang
New York University of Visual Arts, US
Intended Major: Illustration
IB Visual Arts is jokingly referred to as an "unnecessary hell course" by some students. Sophie nevertheless was firm in her decision to choose IB Visual Arts, as a way to balance her course selection. "Traveling back in time two years, I would still make the same choice. If I hadn't chosen IB Visual Arts, I might not have been exposed to photography, sculpture, or had the opportunity to arrange my own exhibition”
Sophie believes that self-motivation and time management skills are essential qualities for taking IB Visual Arts. The course adopts a cumulative homework system, so it is necessary to properly control and allocate time by oneself. At the same time, in order to avoid detours, it is necessary to clarify chosen themes as soon as possible, improve long-term planning, make the theme a clear focus, pursue it logically, and connect the archive to its eventual exhibition throughout the process.
IB student art work collections
Conscious City
Robin Chen
Cat
Lisa Hou
Relics (series)
Clare Huang
Parallel
Lulu Luo
The Vanishing Alleys – 2 (series)
Chloe Wang
Regret (collection)
Lucy Wu
What’s Above
Annie Yan
Window of my world
Lucy Yu
