Santa Fe College art students who are members of the Santa Fe Artists’ Guild explored their options for scholarships and further higher education when they visited the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota Jan. 21-22, 2017, for National Portfolio Day. The event enabled visual art and design students to meet with representatives from colleges that are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
“There were hundreds of students from throughout Florida at Portfolio Day and about 45 representatives of schools that offer programs in art and design,” explained SF Art Professor Stacey Breheny, who accompanied the students to Portfolio Day. “Our students got valuable feedback about how to develop their portfolios and some were offered scholarships.”
For visual artists, the portfolio functions as a snapshot of what the artist can do; it includes creations in different media that demonstrate talent, skills and hard work. National Portfolio Day events are important because portfolio review is a requirement for admission to most art and graphic design schools.
Eight students made the trip: Jemerine de Pena, Ashoi Frett, Preston Harris, Amanda Navarro, Chelsea Pinholster, Malique Pye, Joseph Woods and Erin Yonke. Harris and Pye received scholarship offers and other students received strong encouragement as well as portfolio-building advice.
“This experience was very lucrative and useful to me because now I feel more confident about my work,” said Jemerine de Pena. “I know what I need to include in my portfolio to complete it and apply.”
The trip to National Portfolio Day is an annual event for the Santa Fe Artists’ Guild, a club funded through Student Life by student activity fees. Members of the Guild have painted and installed a ceiling mural for St. Francis House in Gainesville. Members also participate in extracurricular activities throughout the year, including the SF Spring Arts Festival. The guild maintains a Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gallereans/
For more information about the trip and the Santa Fe Artists’ Guild, email Stacey Breheny at stacey.breheny@sfcollege.edu.
For more information about the SF Fine Arts Department, call Alora Haynes at 352-395-5296.