Writing your Artist Statement

For the 2026 AP Art and Design Portfolio, character limits depend on the section you are completing. All limits include spaces and punctuation. 

Sustained Investigation (SI)

The SI section requires a 1,200-character total written statement divided into two parts: 

• Prompt 1 (Inquiry): Identify the inquiry or question(s) that guided your investigation (600 characters maximum).

• Prompt 2 (Evidence): Describe how your investigation shows evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision (600 characters maximum).

• Per Image Labels: For each of the 15 images, you must provide:

  • Materials: 100 characters maximum.

  • Processes: 100 characters maximum. 

Selected Works

For each of the 5 submitted works, you must provide descriptions for the following: 

• Ideas: 100 characters maximum.

• Materials: 100 characters maximum.

• Processes: 100 characters maximum.

• Image Citations: 100 characters maximum (required if your work is inspired by or references another source). 

Submission Tip: The AP Digital Portfolio does not have a spell-check feature. It is recommended to use the AP Digital Portfolio guide to draft your text in a separate document first to verify your character counts. 

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