It’s time to start constructing your art portfolio to demonstrate to colleges and universities your technique, creativity, and potential as an artist. But as you navigate this intimidating college application, portfolio submission and decision process, keep in mind that each artist’s journey and experience is unique, just as each artist’s style and work is unique.
Meet Erika and Sarah, two current students at the Frostic School of Art. While they both successfully completed the portfolio building process, their approaches were totally different. As they prepare to enter their senior year and then launch careers in the art field, we asked Erika and Sarah to reflect on their application experience. Who better to provide advice for building your art school portfolio than two students who have been in your shoes?
Erika Dedenbach, Senior
Major: Art
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
Career Goals: To work as an Artist Liaison to help develop the careers of the gallery’s artists by strategically pursuing institutional support and outside projects. The main function of an Artist Liaison is to develop relationships with curators, institutions and opinion makers in nationally and internationally; to work with partner galleries; to develop and support exhibitions inside and outside the gallery; and to provide competitive intelligence on interesting opportunities, trends, and new artists for consideration. This is an opportunity to be part of an exciting and fast-paced environment, supporting a team that works with a roster of respected international artists.
Future Goals: Complete a master program in Eastern Europe and settle down abroad.
Sarah Spohn, Senior
Major: Photography & Intermedia
Hometown: Laingsburg, MI
Career Goals: To work with museums and external artists to inform others, protect, conserve, and document environments, ecosystems, and cultures around the world.
Future Goals: Live in the great state of Alaska; Work for the Anchorage Museum; Continue to produce work regarding life’s purpose, Alaskan culture, and environmental issues in the medium of alternative process photography.
What types of artwork/mediums did you include in your portfolio?
Erika: I included a few ceramic pieces, pencil drawing, jewelry, and acrylic painting. These different examples displayed that I could be versatile in other mediums.
Sarah: I tried to give the Frostic School of Art a variety of mediums to show them the diversity of skills I had. I knew I wanted to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography & Intermedia so I included three photographs, one object drawing, and one oil painting. I made sure to include a few more works of the medium in which I wanted to place my focus.
What classes did you take in high school that helped you prepare your portfolio?
Erika: During my senior year I participated in an independent study. The direct assistance from my art teacher helped with the decision making to attend WMU.
Sarah: When I entered high school as a freshman, my school district had just cut all art classes. So to compensate for that, I decided to get into the most creative class my school offered - Publications! In that class, I was able to gain skills in design, color theory, photography, marketing, business, and management. This inspired me to explore the world of commercial and fine art photography while making plans to start my own photography business.
How did you decide which pieces to include in your portfolio?
Erika: What was aesthetically pleasing to not only myself, but also my teachers and peers thought to be successful.
Sarah: I chose pieces that I was proud of and that I knew had a good concept and reasoning. I also made sure to choose pieces with the best craft. For me, craft and concept go hand-in-hand.
Did you ask for any help when putting together your portfolio?
Erika: Yes, I did. I asked my teachers because of their experience in the art world.
Sarah: I asked my Publications teacher to help me choose the works that were the strongest conceptually. I then asked my parents for their opinion as “non-artists” to make sure they agreed upon my presentation and quality of the images I was uploading to my application.
How did you approach the statement of intent?
Erika: I referred to bullet points from the recommendations provided in the prompt and wrote rough drafts independently. After creating something I thought was presentable, I asked my English teacher to give me feedback.
Sarah: At first, the statement of intent scared me. I didn't know where to start and how to talk about my passion to attend art school. But I started by focusing my attention on three of the prompts and creating an outline. In the outline I made bullet points of the main ideas and details for each prompt. After that, I made a draft, gave it to others to edit, and made more drafts until I felt it was perfect.
Looking back would you do anything differently?
Erika: No, I would not. I worked hard on all of my pieces and I felt confident turning everything in.
Sarah: I would have paid more attention to the quality of the images of my work. I could have spent more time setting up a backdrop and lighting to document my drawing and painting.
What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with prospective students as they begin in the application process?
Erika: Give yourself time to complete both the statement of purpose and the portfolio. Do not be afraid to reach out to your teachers and/or parents for feedback.
Sarah: Don’t get too nervous! Stay true to who you are as an artist and show the Gwen Frostic School of Art your skills, passion, and pursuit of the arts in an authentic way! And be excited - the FSoA is an amazing place to get your degree - it’s one of the best in the state!