Thanks to the Edith O’Donnell Institute, fine arts students will be taking cheaper AP exams in May. By taking part in a contest in which students can have their work featured at the Dallas Museum of Art, students will receive a grant that reduces the cost of the AP Art History exam to $41.

“The Edith O’Donnell Institute is the grant that helps pay for the AP tests for all the studio and the art history kids, and that money is one of the things that the grant does,” AP Art History teacher Amanda Beller said. “The other thing that the grant does is host the competition. For studio pieces, they can submit paintings, drawings, it’s also for photography and music theory and art history. So for music theory they write a score and then for art history they write the response.”

AP Art History students from the Dallas area will be submitting a Free-Response essay on a piece of their choice that is featured in the DMA for a chance to have their response posted in the museum.

“I think that the DMA contest is very good for students to be able to practice their essay writing skills along with their analysis skills,” junior Madeline Nelson said.

AP Art History students in the past have won the contest, and the winners get to visit the DMA and have their essays posted in the museum.

“It’s really an opportunity for kids to have their work displayed in the museum,” Beller said. “I think there’s some really good candidates [this year]. I have some really strong writers. And there are some strong writers from last year who are competing as well.”

Many AP Art History students look forward to submitting their essay.

“It allows students to delve into analysis of one individual piece and learn how to apply various themes we’ve been learning about to other pieces,” Nelson said. “I’m doing ‘A Good Deed is Never Forgotten‘ by Pierre Nicolas LeGrand.”

Some students are optimistic about the opportunity to win the contest.

“I’m doing a piece called ‘Bougival‘ by Vlaminck,” sophomore Katie Abernathy said. “I’m hoping to win. I don’t know though, because this is my first time I’ve ever even heard of it, but hopefully I can win.”