Portfolio/Audition Requirements

We want to know what your artistic interests are and how that manifests in your practice. Your work can be in any medium; in fact we encourage applicants with multiple interests to submit a variety of work. In order for your portfolio to be seriously considered by the faculty committee and in order to produce the most advantageous presentation, it is important to follow the guidelines. Please read through the requirements carefully. Direct any questions to your Assistant Director of Admissions. 

• Your portfolio must be submitted through the portfolio section of the CalArts application, and should include approximately 15-20 works representative of your most recent or current work. Some sketches and works-in-progress are acceptable. Drawings or paintings created digitally are accepted, however if your practice has physical elements it is to your advantage to also include a selection of work done directly with physical materials or methods.
• IMPORTANT: Do not submit a pre-formatted portfolio or composited images. Submit separate images of individual works. Pre-formatted portfolios (composited images) do not provide an acceptable presentation of your artwork and are highly discouraged. Do not submit composited images, PDFs, or links to websites, and please make sure that the image fills the slide. Otherwise, we will not be able to view the work.
• We are not able to zoom-in on the images. Please submit detail shots on a separate slide.
• Enter any captions, descriptions, or titles of your work in the fields provided in the portfolio upload tool. Do not add captions, descriptions, titles or other extraneous text within the area where you upload your image.
• We are looking for personal work that gives us a sense of who you are as an artist, rather than technical exercises (i.e. please do not include generic class assignments, figure/life drawing, still life drawings) unless you believe they offer a view of a personal and/or unique approach.

If you experience technical difficulties while uploading your portfolio, you may send an email to the Review Coordinator, Ani Kazandjian, at akazandjian@calarts.edu.

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An artist statement is very important in the admissions process and should answer the following three questions:

• What are your artistic interests/goals?
• What informs your art-making practice? (Ideas, research, ways of making, and so on.) 
• Why are you applying to your program at CalArts?

It is recommended that your statement be between 500 and 1000 words.

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BFA applicants are required to submit a 30-90 second video introduction. We would very much like to meet you and since this would be impossible in practical terms, we ask that you send a brief video introducing yourself. We would like you to specifically talk about your influences and interests, to discuss a particular image or artwork in your portfolio, rather than provide personal facts.

• Duration: minimum of 30 seconds, maximum of 90 seconds.
• Speak directly to the camera.
• No edits.
• No special effects or on-screen overlays.
• File should be uploaded directly in your portfolio. 
• Does not require professional-level equipment; cell phone cameras are okay.

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Two letters of recommendation are required. At least one recommendation should be written by a person who understands your designer work, such as a performance instructor or art teacher.

All letters of recommendation should be received by the application deadline, so it is highly recommended that you contact your recommenders months before. We request that you submit the requests for your letters of recommendation through the online application, as it will allow you to track when we receive your requested letters.

Only if this is not possible, you may download the Letter of Recommendation Form (pdf) and have your recommender send their letters by mail to the Office of Admissions. Please choose only one method – either through the online application (preferred) or by mail – per recommender. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted via credentialing services such as Parchment or Naviance.

Mailed letters of recommendation should be sent to:

CalArts Office of Admissions
24700 McBean Pkwy.
Valencia, CA 91355
United States of America

Please note, letters of recommendation must be written in English or accompanied by a certified English translated document.
 

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We want to know what your artistic interests are and how that manifests in your practice. Your work can be in any medium; in fact we encourage applicants with multiple interests to submit a variety of work. In order for your portfolio to be seriously considered by the faculty committee and in order to produce the most advantageous presentation, it is important to follow the guidelines. Please read through the requirements carefully. Direct any questions to your Assistant Director of Admissions. 

• Your portfolio must be submitted through the portfolio section of the CalArts application, and should include approximately 15-20 works representative of your most recent or current work. Some sketches and works-in-progress are acceptable. Drawings or paintings created digitally are accepted, however if your practice has physical elements it is to your advantage to also include a selection of work done directly with physical materials or methods.
• IMPORTANT: Do not submit a pre-formatted portfolio or composited images. Submit separate images of individual works. Pre-formatted portfolios (composited images) do not provide an acceptable presentation of your artwork and are highly discouraged. Do not submit composited images, PDFs, or links to websites, and please make sure that the image fills the slide. Otherwise, we will not be able to view the work.
• We are not able to zoom-in on the images. Please submit detail shots on a separate slide.
• Enter any captions, descriptions, or titles of your work in the fields provided in the portfolio upload tool. Do not add captions, descriptions, titles or other extraneous text within the area where you upload your image.
• We are looking for personal work that gives us a sense of who you are as an artist, rather than technical exercises (i.e. please do not include generic class assignments, figure/life drawing, still life drawings) unless you believe they offer a view of a personal and/or unique approach.

If you experience technical difficulties while uploading your portfolio, you may send an email to the Review Coordinator, Ani Kazandjian, at akazandjian@calarts.edu.

Back to top

An artist statement is very important in the admissions process and should answer the following three questions:

• What are your artistic interests/goals?
• What informs your art-making practice? (Ideas, research, ways of making, and so on.) 
• Why are you applying to your program at CalArts?

It is recommended that your statement be between 500 and 1000 words.
 

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MFA applicants are highly encouraged to submit a 30-90 second video introduction. We would very much like to meet you and since this would be impossible in practical terms, we ask that you send a brief video introducing yourself. We would like you to specifically talk about your influences and interests, to discuss a particular image or artwork in your portfolio, rather than provide personal facts.

• Duration: minimum of 30 seconds, maximum of 90 seconds.
• Speak directly to the camera.
• No edits.
• No special effects or on-screen overlays.
• File should be uploaded directly in your portfolio. 
• Does not require professional-level equipment; cell phone cameras are okay.

Back to top

Two letters of recommendation are required. At least one recommendation should be written by a person who understands your designer work, such as a performance instructor or art teacher.

All letters of recommendation should be received by the application deadline, so it is highly recommended that you contact your recommenders months before. We request that you submit the requests for your letters of recommendation through the online application, as it will allow you to track when we receive your requested letters.

Only if this is not possible, you may download the Letter of Recommendation Form (pdf) and have your recommender send their letters by mail to the Office of Admissions. Please choose only one method – either through the online application (preferred) or by mail – per recommender. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted via credentialing services such as Parchment or Naviance.

Mailed letters of recommendation should be sent to:

CalArts Office of Admissions
24700 McBean Pkwy.
Valencia, CA 91355
United States of America

Please note, letters of recommendation must be written in English or accompanied by a certified English translated document.
 

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Applicants who have passed the preliminary selection process will be notified in mid-February . At that time, candidates will be invited to visit CalArts in March for an interview and to meet faculty and students. The interview is required of invited candidates and is an important component of the final selection process. Video chat interviews are available in exceptional cases, however we like to emphasize the importance of having an in-person interview as part of the application process for prospective students. Additionally, it gives you an opportunity to see the school and meet and talk to the faculty.

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