Admissions

Portfolio Requirements for Transfer Students – Art and Art Education

Students pursuing the BFA in Art or the BFA in Art Education are admitted to UIC in the Art Foundation program. Art Foundation students complete 24 credit hours of 100-level introductory art courses (Foundation Year). After completion of the Foundation Year, Art Foundation students submit a portfolio for admission to the BFA in Art, or they submit a portfolio and application to the Art Education program. Please see the Undergraduate Catalog for official degree requirements for the BFA in Art and the BFA in Art Education, both of which require the Foundation Year. 

Transfer students with at least 15 credit hours of transferable ART courses may submit their current portfolio before classes begin for consideration of advanced placement in the BFA in Art, meaning they begin their art studies at the 200-level. The portfolio review process requires submission of a portfolio (guidelines below) and a discussion with advising staff and art faculty.

Eligibility:

Only those transfer applicants who seek advanced placement in BFA in Art or BFA Art Education foundation year are required to submit a portfolio of creative work as part of their application. Eligible students must have 15 credits hours of transferable ART courses. See below for guidelines on portfolio content and format.

Portfolio Deadline:

We recommend submitting portfolios at the same time as your UIC Transfer application. 

Please contact Liv Jordan in the Advising Office for a link to upload the portfolio. (ojordan2@uic.edu). Transfer portfolio reviews will take place before students begin classes at UIC.

Portfolios are not required for the admissions process. Applications are required for admission to the UIC School of Art and Art History via the UIC Transfer Application. You can visit our website for full details on how to apply to our programs. We encourage portfolio submissions along with application submissions, but will accept through the transfer student application deadline. 

Portfolio Content, Format and Submission:

The Department of Art accepts portfolios digitally, formatted as a digital slideshow, preferably Google Slides. The applicant’s name must be the first slide. The portfolio should consist of 12-18 work samples (one per slide) from at least three of these areas: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Photography, Filmmaking, Performance and/or New Media Art. These work samples can be from course assignments and/or creative works done outside of school but should reflect a student’s current and/or recent practice. Include titles, dates, media, and dimensions for each work. 

The portfolio should be submitted via Google Drive after directly contacting Liv Jordan  (ojordan2@uic.edu) for the upload link. The portfolio should be uploaded  in a slide presentation format (Google Slides preferred). The portfolio should also include a brief artist statement (for instance, Why do you make Art? What inspires your art practice? What are your goals in regards to an art degree? Describe your strengths and challenges.)

–Submit a Slide Presentation (Google Slides preferred)

–Title Slide featuring YOUR NAME

–12-18 Samples of Creative Works (representing at least three areas out of: painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, filmmaking, performance and/or new media art)

– Image list: Provide title, date, dimensions, media and additional notes/descriptions if applicable for each work sample. Information for work samples must be numbered to correspond to images. This can be uploaded as a separate document or included as a slide/s.

–Brief Artist’s Statement  (What inspires your art practice? What are your goals in regards to an art degree? Describe your strengths and challenges.

– CV or Resume of art related accomplishments and work experience. (include web links if applicable.)

–Upload to a link provided by Liv Jordan (ojordan2@uic.edu)