The College Board has selected Pax Soden, 12th grade, for the 2026 AP Art and Design Exhibit, an extraordinarily selective honor recognizing outstanding student artists from around the world. To put the significance of Pax’s achievement into perspective, last year’s exhibit featured just 51 students selected from more than 82,000 AP Art and Design portfolios submitted worldwide.

Unlike most AP courses, AP Art and Design does not culminate in a traditional written exam; instead, students submit a college-level portfolio that serves as their AP Exam. A major component of that portfolio is the “Sustained Investigation,” which includes 15 images developed throughout the course to document the evolution of a student’s artistic inquiry.

Throughout their investigation, students explore a guiding question through their artwork while demonstrating experimentation, revision and growth in their use of materials, processes and ideas. They also must write articulately about their materials, techniques and artistic choices. Importantly, judges aren’t looking only for polished finished pieces; students are encouraged to show sketches, experimentation, mistakes, revisions and changes in direction that demonstrate how their ideas and artistic practice evolved.

Pax, who worked in colored pencil, is the first Exeter student to have artwork selected for the prestigious exhibit, which will be unveiled online in January.

“This is an exceptional honor,” said Pax’s art teacher, Ms. Christina Pinkerton. “To see Pax’s creativity, hard work and artistic growth recognized in this way is incredibly exciting and so well deserved.”