Your NSCAD portfolio should be a collection of creative work presented in the form of digital documents, or links to audio or video pieces. All portfolio materials must be uploaded as part of your application on nscad.slideroom.com.
Include 10-20 recent examples of your strongest work in at least three mediums (materials or methods used to create your art).
We want to see original work that reflects your creativity, curiosity, interests, and artistic growth. Your portfolio should demonstrate a range of skills and mediums, showcase your creative process and methods, and communicate your ideas clearly. We also consider your commitment, self-motivation, and readiness for art and design education.
Include 5-10 examples of how your ideas develop, how you prepare, and how you move a project to completion.
Process work does not need to be perfect. Sketches, observational drawings, prototypes, drafts, research, storyboarding and visual brainstorming progress all provide valuable insight into your creative thinking. Exploration, observation and experimentation help us understand your artistic process as much as the final results, so use the messy parts of creating to your advantage.
Each finished work will need to include the following useful information: title, medium and materials, dimensions (if applicable), and the year it was made.
Want to take it a step further? Add a brief description about your work: the process, concepts, or inspiration. This will help the Admissions Committee better understand what your artworks are about and how they were realized.
At NSCAD, we recognize that artistic practice is shaped by diverse cultures, worldviews, communities, identities, and lived experiences. We welcome portfolios that include work created both inside and outside formal educational settings.
If your creative practice has developed through community learning, cultural teachings, self-directed exploration, family traditions, employment, or other life experiences, we encourage you to include this work in your portfolio.
Whether your work reflects Indigenous, African diasporic, Pan-Asian, Pacific, Middle Eastern, Latin American, European, or other ethno-cultural traditions—or combines multiple influences—we encourage you to submit work that is authentic to your creative practice. We are interested in seeing your ideas, curiosity, creativity, and artistic growth in whatever forms are meaningful to you.
Examples of mediums you might include (but are not limited to) in your Portfolio:
There are many ways to fine tune and strengthen your portfolio before applying:
Each fall and winter, NSCAD representatives travel across Canada, and to select US locations, to attend Educational Fairs and Portfolio Day events, visit schools and meet prospective students. Go to Recruitment events - NSCAD for details on upcoming virtual and in-person events.
