In Spring quarter a portfolio review is conducted for junior transfers to become art majors effective for the fall quarter. Students are given no more than two opportunities to attempt to pass the portfolio review. Freshmen entering in academic year 2004/2005, or later, are not eligible to participate in the portfolio review.
The Portfolio Review Deadline for Junior Transfers entering UCSC Fall 2007 was:
April 9, 2007
For Junior Transfers who do not pass the review in April 2007, the deadline for their second review attempt will be: January 16, 2008.
For Junior Transfers either entering UCSC in fall 2008, or who did not participate or pass the winter 2008 portfolio review, the deadline for the spring 2008 portfolio review will be April 7, 2008, 4:00pm.
Application Requirements
1) 15 to 20 quality slides (in a slide sheet) or photographs (all must be labeled & numbered in sheet protectors) or video, or URL/Web site. We do not accept digital files or CDs.
2) Label each slide with your name, the title, medium, size and date of each work.
3) Inventory sheet listing all slides and photos with titles, media, sizes, and dates.
4) Written Statement (one page typed, 8 1/2" x 11", single spaced)
5) Copies of transcripts from all colleges you have attended (unofficial is fine). Include UCSC transcripts and narratives (which you can take off the WEB).
6) A self-addressed, stamped envelope to return slides, if you are not a current UCSC student. If you are a current student, you may pick up your slides and notification letter in the Undergraduate Advisor's Office.
NOTE: Application materials are to be submitted loose-leaf in a manila envelope. Please do not use sheet protectors on any paperwork, (transcripts, application form, etc.) except photographs, nor submit in binders or metal brad folders.
The Portfolio review committee strongly favors slides as representing student work. Slides are best. Students should be aware of the development time for slides from film and for slides copied from digital files. Slide development time is affected by California laws which prohibit kodachrome developing in-state. Students making slides of artwork directly, with film, should provide enough time to re-do the process if the slides come out poorly. If a student chooses not to submit slides, laser prints from digital files may be submitted. Such prints should be presented on uniform paper and should reflect uniform process. Color should be faithful to the original artwork. Digital files should be large enough to produce reproduction-quality prints. Definition, detail, clarity and color fidelity are all essential. Students who submit substandard slides and prints should not be surprised if this substandard presentation disadvantages their work.
Portfolio
The Art major at UCSC is a very popular major. This means that there are too few spaces to accommodate all the UCSC students who wish to study art. Because of this ongoing situation, the Art Department admits junior transfers to its major by way of a portfolio review. Acceptance into the Art Department is not an entitlement that automatically follows acceptance to UCSC, or completion of prerequisite lower division requirements. Many students who are accepted to UCSC will not be selected by the Art Department as art majors.
In order to select its students, the Art Department appoints a rotating Portfolio Review Committee. The objetive of the committee is to admit students who demonstrate, as evidenced in their portfolio, statement and pre-art academic performance, that their intentions and achievements are most compatible with the mission, standards, goals, and specializations of the Art Department.
In general, the presented visual materials (slides, video tape, or web site) are of primary interest to the committee. The Portfolio Review committee expects these materials to be adequately documented and to be carefully and clearly presented. The committee consists of a group of experts in their fields, and their expertise includes an understanding of how to interpret visual materials. They are skilled at "reading" the visual evidence presented in the portfolio and in detecting, by looking at slides, for instance, the commitment and accomplishment of the applicant. They have an expertise in understanding how works of art come about both conceptually and in terms of skill, and they have an expertise in understanding where beginning artworks lead in terms of future developments. When disagreements and uncertainties arise in the visual materials, and the potential of the applicant in our program is uncertain, added weight is given to written materials (statement and transcripts/narratives). Thus a determination is made.
What Does the Portfolio Committee Look For?
Your portfolio of slides, photos, video or website introduces your work to the Review Committee. It is in your interest to submit materials of high technical quality; the slides or photographs should be clear and well-presented so as to show your work accurately. Details or close-ups may be helpful when documenting detailed work, or work where the surface is important. Materials submitted in your portfolio should be organized to show your work in the most favorable way. It is useful to consult with someone else - an art professor, or an art student who has already passed the review - in order to develop the strongest application possible. The Portfolio Review Committee is looking for students who demonstrate skill, personal direction, ambition, and commitment.
Students who wish to improve their prospects for acceptance often ask the following: What does the committee wish to see? What presentations make a favorable impression on the committee? What things make an unfavorable impression? The committee is looking for vitality, commitment, and skill, or signs of potential for the development of these things.
VITALITY: By "vitality" the committee means they want to see evidence that the student is excited by the work. They want to see evidence of this quality in the work itself.
COMMITMENT: By "commitment" the committee means that they want to see that students have invested themselves in certain ideas, ways of doing things, or ways of conceptualizing their creative work, and evidence of a willingness to spend time on individual projects and/or on the body of work contained in the portfolio. They also want to sense that students can exert judgment about their own work--that they can tell good from bad in their own work.
SKILL: By "skill" the committee means that the student demonstrates a level of technical ability in one or more areas and that the student does not require remedial work that cannot be provided by the department.
Portfolios Should:
Show a range of work produced in your art classes
Focus on quality as opposed to quantity.
Indicate time spent to achieve a strong resolution.
Show thought given to the generation and execution of the work.
Show attention to use of materials and processes.
Provide evidence of exploration in form and technique.
Portfolios Should Not:
Show work of low quality along with work of high quality.
Include high school work unless it is truly exceptional.
Written Statement
Your written statement is considered an important part of the portfolio. Evaluation is based upon signs of a student's potential for joining theory and practice in his or her creative activity.
Written Statements Should:
Include comments on your reasons for choosing to concentrate in art, some of the ideas in which you are currently interested, and indications of future areas you would like to explore.
Discuss the work you've submitted in the written statement.
Address your recent (college) art background (as opposed to your childhood experiences in art).
While criteria for evaluation are difficult to measure in art practices, the written statement helps provide a basis for evaluation in each area.
Evaluation Criteria
The Portfolio Review Committee is looking for candidates who give evidence of strong promise in the field of the Fine Arts. When evaluating your portfolio and statement, ask yourself these questions:
Does the documentation of your work communicate its quality?
Is your statement clear? Does it touch on all the topics requested above?
Does your application communicate skill and commitment?
The Art Department is also concerned about each student's professional expectations as they relate to our program. We want our departmental offerings to coincide with each student's expectations and skills in a productive and meaningful way. As we do not teach animation, design, illustration, ceramics, or crafts, we are disinclined to accept students who are clearly committed to these areas. We believe that such students would best be served by entering another program in another college or university that is geared toward these art forms.
Slide Workshops
Each quarter workshops are conducted providing information on how to make slides of your artwork. The workshops take place in the Photo Building at Baskin Visual Arts I-200. Please check the Art Department Bulletin Board in the future for workshop dates. The date of the workshop will be emailed to all Pre-Art and Art majors.
