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Instructions for Online Undergraduate Portfolio Submission

Download Instructions: Art Portfolio Instructions (pdf – download adobe reader.)

External applicants (Freshmen or Transfer) and internal applicants (current UT Austin students seeking a Change of Major or Addition of Simultaneous Major) are required to submit portfolio materials if applying to B.F.A. Design, B.A.Studio Art, B.F.A.Studio Art, or B.F.A.Visual Art Studies.

Portfolio Requirement

The Department of Art and Art History has changed the mode in which portfolio materials are submitted. Actual artwork, 35MM slides, CD–ROMs, DVDs, or Web sites are no longer accepted. Instead, applicants will be able to utilize our web-based portfolio submission system.

When reviewing portfolios, the Department of Art and Art History takes into consideration the amount and type of art training applicants have received. Applicants should not shy away from applying or submitting portfolio as the Department recognizes that applicants are coming to this process from varied cultural backgrounds, with different levels of access to formal art training and art-making experiences. We are not looking for perfection; we are looking for potential!

Work selected for the portfolio requirement can be from class projects, individual and community-based art lessons, or from self-directed study. Your visual work is evaluated for imagination and innovation, development of ideas and concepts, diversity of media and subject matter, visual organization, craft and technical competence. It should also demonstrate your originality and creativity in areas that are representative of the design- and studio-based courses offered by our Department.

Conceptually, you can think of your art portfolio either descriptively (showcases stand-alone work that describes an interest in a particular material or medium) or thematically (illustrates a story or demonstrates a conceptual thread that runs through the body of your work.)

For applicants who feel they have limited access to means with which to produce this portfolio requirement, we encourage you to reach out to your high school art teachers, community art instructors, artists in your family and community – and to us, to help you recognize that you do have the talent and capability to respond and produce this portfolio requirement!

Questions regarding the content of this portfolio requirement should be directed to Shane Sullivan at UT Austin: comebackshane@mail.utexas.edu

Portfolio Guideline

The portfolio requirement consists of five parts for a total of seventeen to twenty-five images. Portfolios that do not adhere to the following will be removed from Slideroom and the applicant will be contacted to resubmit according to this guideline:

Part A: Direct Observational Drawing. Four to six images of drawings observed directly in real time and space, rather than copied or gridded from a printed image. To be selected from the following categories: the human figure (you must include at least two), animals, still-lifes, nature or urban landscapes, exterior or interior architectural spaces or environments. Hint: Traditional drawing media preferred: charcoal, conte crayon, ebony pencil, graphite, black ink.

Part B: Two-Dimensional. Four to six images of two-dimensional work (excluding direct observational drawing and photography). To be selected from the following media: book arts, collage, colored pencil, graphic design media, mixed-media, pen and ink, painting (acrylic, gouache, oil, pastel, watercolor), or printmaking (intaglio, linocut, lithography, serigraphy, woodblock), or scanned pages from your sketch book/art journal.

Part C: Three-Dimensional. Four to six images of three-dimensional work. To be selected from: assemblage, ceramics, glasswork, installation, metals, sculpture, or other three-dimensional processes and/or forms. Hint: Even if you have not had formal training in ceramics, metals, or sculpture, you can create three-dimensional work by utilizing assemblage (the three-dimensional equivalent to two-dimensional collage). Research assemblage, research the elements and principles of three-dimensional work, locate three-dimensional objects, get a hot glue gun – and you're off!

Part D: Lens- and Time-based Media. Four to six images or videos. To be selected from: photographs (black/white or color, wet or digital processes), video art (motion or stills), digital-time arts, or documentation of performance art pieces. Hint: Even if you have not had formal training in photography, you can submit lens-based work. You can use any image-capturing device (35mm, digital, cell phone, toy camera, Polaroid, video, etc.). Give consideration to: subject matter (what are you looking at), composition (how are you looking at it), and framing (what is your point of view).

Part E: Self-Portrait. One image. All parameters determined by the applicant. Hint: Consider showing us both how you see yourself and how you want us to see you through your artwork!

Portfolio Submission

• Document Your Work

With the advent of digital cameras and image editing software, photographing your artwork and editing the images has become much easier. SlideRoom does not have photo–editing tools, yet, so portfolios must be prepared before uploading. Search the Web for instructions on how to photograph your artwork using the correct angles, backgrounds, equipment, and lighting, and also on how to digitally edit your images using software such as iPhoto or Photoshop.

• Go to the UT Austin's portfolio portal at SlideRoom: https://utaustinundergradart.slideroom.com/
• Choose a Mode of Admission and Program:

	Freshmen:* Design	Transfer:** Design	UT Major Change:*** Design
	Freshmen: Studio Art (B.A.)	Transfer: Studio Art (B.A.)	UT Major Change: Studio Art (B.A.)
	Freshmen: Studio Art (B.F.A.)	Transfer: Studio Art (B.F.A.)	UT Major Change: Studio Art (B.F.A.)
	Freshmen: Visual Art Studies	Transfer: Visual Art Studies	UT Major Change: Visual Art Studies

*Freshmen: Have or will soon graduate from high school or receive a GED and have not enrolled in another college or university after graduating from high school or receiving a GED.

**Transfer: Have graduated from high school or received a GED and have enrolled in another college or university after graduating from high school or receiving a GED.

***UT Major Change: Currently enrolled or former UT Austin students who are interested in changing major to or adding a simultaneous major in the Department of Art and Art History.

• Manage Portfolio

  Portfolio Specifications:

  1. File size is different than image size. The maximum file size that we will accept is 5 MB (60 MB for video). Optimal image size is 1280 x 1280 pixels @ 72 dpi.
  2. Our online portal will accept .jpeg, .png and .gif for images, as well as .flv, .mov, and .wmv for video.
  3. After upload, you will have an opportunity (and are required) to label all images with Title, Medium, Date, Year, and Description. Portfolio items can also arranged in any order by simply dragging and dropping the items.
  4. For more information of our online system, take a tour of their system before you login: https://utaustinundergradart.slideroom.com

• Complete Questionnaire:

  Complete the questionnaire at time of portfolio submission. The answers to these questions will provide the Department with context while viewing your portfolio materials; completion of the questionnaire is required in order to actually submit your portfolio.

• Complete Design Essay: Special Note for Applicants to the B.F.A. Design: Once in SlideRoom, applicants to B.F.A. Design will have an additional essay question to answer that requires viewing this essay prompt on our Web site: Design Essay (pdf – download adobe reader.)

• Provide Resume.

• Submit Portfolio and Pay Fee:

  When your portfolio and questionnaire are complete, check the SUBMIT arrow at the top, right corner of SlideRoom's Web page. Pay the $10 fee via Credit Card or Debit Card only. The Department will be monitoring receipt of materials and will be updating your Application Status from the UT Austin Office of Admissions. Please allow five to ten business days for your portfolio to be posted as received. Please do not contact the Department to confirm receipt of portfolio materials; instead, use the online Status Check via https://utdirect.utexas.edu/admissions/status_check.WBX

If you are unfamiliar with how to photograph you artwork for an art portfolio, here are some helpful hints:

• Use Google on the Internet to search for directions on how to document your artwork and create an art portfolio.
• Consult with your past or current art instructors or artists in your community.
• Consult the local yellow pages and hire a professional commercial photographer who advertises portfolio services.

• Questions about technical submission matters should be directed to SlideRoom via https://slideroom.zendesk.com/home
• Questions about portfolio requirements should be directed to Shane Sullivan at UT Austin: comebackshane@mail.utexas.edu