Putting together a great portfolio is an art

By Sarah Buck

Not even the best marks in the world are enough to get into some programs. If you want to study Fine Arts at Concordia University, you’ll need something else too: raw talent, artistic vision and evidence you’ve been working on developing your skills. That’s what faculty members are looking for when they review the portfolios of students applying to programs like Film Production, Painting and Drawing, and Sculpture. Concordia’s reputation as one of the top fine arts schools in North America means admission is quite competitive.

So what makes a good portfolio?

Kathy Adams is one of four admissions counselors who guide prospective students in Fine Arts at Concordia. “What they’re looking for is your voice as an artist. That’s what it really comes down to. So whatever medium you’re using, it’s what do you want to say with your art?”

In some programs, carefully curating your portfolio to make it a cohesive whole is absolutely essential, says Adams. Applicants to Photography, for example, will want to choose pieces that fit together thematically. But that’s not quite so important for a program like Studio Arts. In that case, diversity is key: what professors really want to see is work from different mediums, two-dimensional work versus three-dimensional work . . . “In a case like that, put in your strongest work, that’s what it comes down to,” says Adams. Never put something in your portfolio that you don’t think is a good piece of work just because it fits with a theme.

The ideal way to find out early on if you’re on the right track: bring your best and most recent work to Portfolio Day on February 8, 2014. You’ll get some one-on-one constructive feedback from faculty and current students!