The Portfolio

Artist's Statement

Artist's Resume

Photo documentation

Six best pieces

Downloads:

Portfolio Intro.pdf

Artists Statement Worksheet.pdf

Resume Sample.pdf

What's a Portfolio?

• To successfully enter a career as an artist students must have a vision, they must master the technical skills required in their art medium, and they should present this in a complete and understandable form: The artist’s portfolio. 

  When presenting a portfolio, not only is the artist’s work judged, the artist is also being judged. Is this artist serious? Will he or she succeed in the art world? Are they worthy of being represented? 

  Your artist portfolio should impress viewers with your vision and with how well you have mastered the technical aspects of your work. In your portfolio, you should provide good artist support materials.

  Remember, no matter what you've heard or read, your work doesn't stand alone. Whenever a gallery owner, museum curator, or art consultant reviews your portfolio, the memory of your artwork will be only part of what they know of you. Just as packaging plays an increasingly important role in product marketing, your portfolio is an integral part of your career in the visual arts.

What's in it?

Artist's Statement

An artist's statement is a written introduction to the artist and the artist's work. It should provide insight into who the artist is as a person, why they create the artwork they do, and why that artwork should be important or interesting to those who look at it. Though it may or may not be easy for a student to write about themselves, it is important to try to focus on the main points of the statement without selling yourself short and without being too long-winded in the statement. After all, we want people to have something worth reading without boring them. 

Artist's Resume

An artist's resume is a reference sheet listing the important information about an artist's career. Contact info, education, shows, lectures, and published articles are all things that should be listed on an artist's resume. This is a precise form that follows specific rules so it is important to get all of the information correct on the resume so prospective collectors and gallery personnel have the information they need. 

Photo's of the artwork

Traditionally artist's portfolios included slides of the artist's work. That way curators that are selecting work for a show can project the work to get a better feel for the scale and get a fair comparison with works of other artists. As technologies change the need for slides in a portfolio is diminishing. Digital photography and the associated equipment is becoming more prevalent throughout the industry so presenting an artist's work in digital format is becoming more necessary. Because of this we will photograph our work to document it and prepare a collection of digital photos to be included in our Digital Portfolio. 

Ten examples of the student's best work

Although photographs are a good representation of an artist's work nothing really compares to the original work. Many details are more apparent when you see the work in person so students are asked to retain their ten best examples of their work. These ten examples must represent at least four different media (art materials) and the artist's competency with that media.