Being surrounded in the excited chatter of other students with the same interest as oneself is the best feeling in the world. Portfolios, cameras, and everything else to show their work to all of the different art schools.

Now picture this: over 40 art schools congregated in one area. Tables lined up throughout the room with art representatives from every school moving around to help with the lines or to talk with students.

On November 16th, representatives from art schools from all over the country came down to the Jacob Javits Center in New York City for Portfolio Day. Hosted by the Fashion Institute of Technology, students were able to get real critiques on their work from art representatives there. It’s a great way for students to figure out where to improve upon.

There were over 40 schools that a student could go to. Some tables had long lines such as FIT and Purchase College. Others not so much. A tip for a student going is to go to their top colleges first, and then hop onto lines that are not long. It doesn’t matter if a student wants to even go there or not, but it’s a good way to get as much feedback as possible.

Junior Sam Murphy comments on her experiences at portfolio day as “enjoyable” and “insightful.”  She was just one of the many people attending the event. Throughout it, she gained useful knowledge on what colleges are looking for. “The School of Visual Arts told me some of the different things that I would need to add to get into certain programs, such as the fine arts versus the illustration program. They told me that to get into illustration I would need more character design while fine arts would need more conceptual pieces.”

Gigantic as well as regular sized portfolios alike were seen among the sea of students (and parents). Inside the portfolios there were acrylic, watercolor, pencil, and other mediums used in the artwork. Whether students showed finished pieces, works in progress, or sketchbooks, it didn’t matter. Representatives loved to see them all. Finished pieces portrayed what the student accomplished and where the weaknesses are as well, and sketchbooks allowed them to see the types of things the student doodles freely.

Murphy advises, “it was overall a great experience, and I recommend that anyone interested in pursuing some kind of artistic career go.” This day can help an art student with their college search and what the school wishes to see in their portfolio. Anyone wishing to go into art, definitely look out for Portfolio Day next year!