Art High School Portfolio Guidelines in NYC

The Fine Arts Studio offers a demanding conservatory-style art education. In the first two years, students focus on developing traditional skills through foundational courses, mandatory for all art majors, regardless of their entry year at LaGuardia. This program emphasizes fine art and equips students for higher education and careers in 21st-century arts industries. To learn more about LaGuardia’s visul arts program click here.

Frank Sinatra Art High School:

Now, how do you prepare to audition for these fantastic visual art programs?

Audition

All audition programs, including LaGuardia High School, offer virtual auditions. Virtual auditions are uploaded into MySchools during the application period.Some programs are also offering the option to do an audition in person. Visit the page linked here and scroll down to Audition Options by school to see the programs offering in-person auditions.

High schools evaluate virtual auditions and in-person auditions equally and consistently so students do not have an advantage or disadvantage auditioning one way or another.

Students are asked to prepare the same audition components whether they are auditioning in person or virtually.

Learn about the common components for each discipline in MySchools.

Let us take a look at the portfolio requirements and guidelines.

Portfolio

All high schools – including LaGuardia – use the same audition components for each arts discipline (such as visual art or dance). This means that if you want to apply to, say, three art programs, you would only need to submit one art audition. An art high school audition requires photographs of 4 to 8 pieces of original artwork that includes the following with optional prompts for some art high schools, indicated below:

Art high school piece 1 example

1. Make sure you draw the entire figure and fill the page: do not cut off parts of the head or feet.
2. Draw your figure with realistic proportions.
3. Try to use value or lines to draw the folds on the clothes.
4. Include any observed details and draw the facial features.
5. Add some background elements to place the figure in a simple setting, ensuring it doesn’t appear to be floating in space.
   
   

Additional pieces 

Pieces 4-7: Add 1 to 4 additional pieces to your portfolio. You may select pieces that were created using any material in any form. They may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional.

Art high school piece 8 examples

Piece 8: If you are applying to Art and Design High School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and/or Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, submit this creative drawing. (This piece is optional for students applying to other programs.)

Using pencil and paper, draw a FANTASTICAL SANDWICH! Use your imagination and creativity – depict your wildest ideas of what a Fantastical Sandwich looks like to you. Consider for the drawing: What bizarre, unusual, or creative toppings does your sandwich have? Who made it? Who is it for? When creating your Fantastical Sandwich be sure to include a background and fill the whole page. Feel free to use colored pencils if you wish. And, have fun with
it!

Additional components, such as a short video or written statement, are required. The jurors want to connect a face to your work, so it’s important to consider this component as much as the portfolio pieces themselves.

Student Introduction

Select three pieces of artwork from your portfolio (Piece 1 and Piece 2 must be included). Upload a short video about the three uploaded pieces of original artwork. Discuss your choice of subject and materials, motivation, and influences. Your video should be no longer than three (3) minutes. If you are unable to create a video, you may upload a written explanation of up to 500 words (either is equally acceptable).

Callbacks

Schools may invite you to “callbacks” for other school specific requirements. Schools also may invite students for live on-demand tasks. Do not be concerned if you are not invited for a callback. A callback does not mean acceptance or rejection.

You don’t want to do all this work only to have bad photos of the art you worked so hard on. Make sure the photographs are handled with as much care as the rest of the portfolio. Here’s how you can improve your photography skills without the need of expensive camera equipment.

How to photograph your work

What you need:

• A digital camera or a smartphone camera
• A built in editing software on your phone or on your computer

Where you take the photos:

• In a place with bright natural light
• No shadows being cast from other objects around
• Consider photographic outside
• You can also place your artwork on the wall, especially if you are using artificial light, or a lamp to lights the artwork

What to avoid:

• Avoid using a flash, it will ‘bleach’ the colors of the original artwork or create a glare
• If you are photographing on the wall, do not tape directly onto the front of your artwork, instead place the tape on the back
• Try to have an even amount of light coming from the left and the right side, so the artwork is evenly lit and doesn’t create spots of shadow
• If using indoor light, be careful not to block the light, which will create a shadow over your work as well
• Avoid overexposure, or too much light on the artwork
• Avoid blurred focus on the artwork
• Avoid having curled up corners of your artwork in the photo

Positioning

• Hold your camera completely parallel to the artwork, to avoid skewing the original artwork
• Clean up any smudges or dust before photographing your art
• Make sure the artwork fills the entire photo. Do not take pictures from too far away

When recording a short video, consider the following

Environment:

• Find a quiet space to record if possible
• Cut out background noise like turning off a running fan, or closing the window
• Let family members know you are recording and if you have pets, make sure they aren’t distracting
• Bright light is best. Do not backlight, where the lights is behind you to avoid an unclear video

Camera:

• Make sure your camera lens is clean
• Record in ‘Portrait’ mode, unless there is an important reason to record in landscape mode instead

Recording the video:

• The goal is to speak about yourself and your artwork clearly and directly
• Plan out how you would like to introduce yourself and say about each portfolio piece. Rehearse your script!
• When you are ready to record, begin by introducing yourself and state the number of portfolio works your will be discussing
• For each work of art, clearly state the work of art and then discuss your choice of subject and materials, your motivation and influences
• You can add a closing statement
• Keep your video no longer than 3 minutes

reating a written piece

• The goal is to write about yourself and your artwork clearly and directly
• Write a draft first
• Type if possible. If you are submitting a hand written piece, make sure it is clearly written
• Begin by introducing yourself, state the number of artworks you will be discussing
• Create a paragraph for each portfolio piece.
• As you write about each artwork include your choice of subject and materials, your motivation and influences.
• You can add a closing paragraph
• Keep your written statement no longer than 500 words.

As we went over many steps and requirements about the Art High school portfolio making process, keep in mind on what truly counts for the Art high school portfolio. The jurors want to see originality, creativity, preparation and passion for the Visula arts.

Keep these aspects in mind as you are on the exciting journey of preparing your Art High School portfolio!

Good Luck!

Students in our Specialized Art High School program have prepared for their admission through portfolio development, as well as audition preparation through mock-up tests in the program. Since admission for art schools like LaGuardia High School could get competitive, it is important to get specialized instruction that targets specifically what school admission is looking for. Talk to our consultant further to see what options could work for you!

Please CLICK HERE to check our Specialized Art High School page to learn more.

Contact New York Art Studio at info@nyartstudio.com or  (212) 279 1622 for more information

Check out our Instagram @nyartstudio which features student works and our daily classroom activities.