Portfolio Development, Grades 9-12

Course Description

This portfolio development course empowers pre-college students to re-envision their current body of art and design work as they create portfolio presentations for the college admissions process. Students will research art and design disciplines and investigate prospective art and design schools. Through creative and technical skill-building exercises and research-based projects, students develop a unique portfolio that communicates a cohesive visual narrative to showcase their talent and personal voice. Students will explore how to leverage a sketchbook and learn how to write a compelling personal artist statement as integral parts of the portfolio. Prerequisite: art and design experience.

Course Notes: Students may use Adobe Creative Cloud (subscription not included) or free/inexpensive photo editing apps (to be suggested in class).

Learner Outcomes

By the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Apply skills to create and curate a cohesive body of creative work that supports a visual narrative expressive of an individual and evolving art/design identity
• Demonstrate an understanding of the iterative and incremental making process, including developing sketches, mock-ups, proposals, and responding to feedback
• Document and archive creative work through a wide range of analog and digital techniques
• Apply practical skills to prepare and photograph visually-striking, quality images of work samples
• Craft a compelling personal artist statement
• Research prospective schools and demonstrate an understanding of editing final work for an admissions portfolio
• Demonstrate an understanding of an art/design studio practice by participating in a variety of activities including lectures, demos, and discussions; individual and collaborative exercises and projects; and self-reflection and peer critiques

Additional Information

This course is one offering from our Parsons Academy program, which runs for 11 Saturdays in the Fall and Spring semesters, and for 2 weeks in the Summer semester. For more information on schedule, registration, and refund policies, review each linked program page.