NY Times on portfolio prep

There's a valuable article on portfolio preparation in the New York Times today, part of a special section on Education Life.

"To greater or lesser degrees, grades, class rank and SAT/ACT scores count, but admissions judgments for visual arts programs are largely based on a student’s portfolio of work. That’s true whether the interest is fine arts, fashion, interior or graphic design, architecture or illustration. Yet few students have any idea what they should be submitting when applying. For that matter, neither do guidance counselors and even high school art teachers; many high schools don’t even have art classes."

There's good advice for applying to fine arts and to specialized programs. There's also a bit on National Portfolio Day events, which are a great way for students to learn more about post-secondary art programs and get professional feedback on how to get their portfolio ready for prime time.

Yes, there are National Portfolio Day events in Canada. For example, the Ontario College of Art and Design will host one on Sunday, November 16th, 2008. Emily Carr University (until recently, the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design) will host one on Saturday, December 6th, 2008. 

And I've got some advice for you myself in an earlier post.