Portfolio Review Tips
The portfolio should include pieces from as many of the following categories as
appropriate:
- Drawings and paintings done from observation and/or
imagination
- Photography, printmaking projects, collage, mixed media, etc.
- Sculpture in any medium or size
- Environmental or site-specific installation (work made for a particular location
either indoors or outdoors)
- Computer-generated imagery
- Work that changes with time, such as kinetic sculpture, animation, installation,
performance and digital media, including live action video and interactive work or other time-based works
The Carnegie Mellon School of Art faculty are just as interested in an applicant's creative thinking skills as in his/her technical skills. It is important to show pieces that tell a story that only you can tell. The portfolio should be assembled to showcase your engagement with materials, ideas and contexts. Pieces that show your ability to work on a wide range of artistic concerns, or to work in depth and in sequence on a single idea are desirable. The portfolio should include as much work as possible done independently and outside of the classroom. In preparing for your on-campus portfolio review, we encourage you to take the following presentation
suggestions into account:
- Work should be photographed so that the image fills the frame
- A neutral background is recommended so that it does not conflict with the work
- If several exposures of each piece are taken with different camera settings, the
applicant will be able to select the best one for use in the portfolio
- Matting and mounting of works is not necessary
- Applying fixatives to works that smudge is highly recommended