BFA Portfolio Review

Passing the Bachelor of Fine Arts Portfolio Review is necessary for full admission into any of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programs within the School of Art at Bowling Green State University.

BACKGROUND

The School of Art offers two types of degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts

(BFA). We offer a BA in Art History and a BA in Art with Specializations in Digital Arts and Studio. The

BA degree does NOT require submission/passing a Portfolio Review.

All students who wish to pursue a BFA degree MUST pass a Portfolio Review after they’ve started classes to be fully admitted to their program. We offer a BFA degree in Art Education, Digital Arts, Graphic Design, and Studio. Students who wish to pursue a BFA degree are admitted to Bowling Green State University as pre-BFA majors in their area of interest.

Passing a Portfolio Review is required to become a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) student. Entrance into the BFA degree is competitive, and passing the BFA Portfolio Review is not based on how well a student performs in the First Year Program courses, but rather on their performance in the BFA Portfolio Review.

ELIGIBILITY

Students are strongly encouraged to complete at least two First Year Program courses (or their equivalents) before taking the BFA Portfolio Review. The First Year Program courses are:

• ART 1020 Design Studio: Color, Surface & Process

• ART 1030 Drawing Studio: Perception, Practice, Process

• ART 1120 Media Studio: Space & Time

NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS PERMITTED

Students have two chances to pass the BFA Portfolio Review. If they do not pass at their first attempt, they may re-take the review the following year.

CONTENT

A BFA portfolio will consist of:

10-15 pieces of original artwork, submitted digitally via SlideRoom

1 application, filled out and submitted digitally via SlideRoom

ARTWORK

Students are encouraged to base their portfolio on artwork created in their First Year Program courses. They may also include pieces from other BGSU art courses, from other university level art courses, and from high school art classes. Work created outside of the classroom (personal projects) is also appropriate to include.

The portfolio can include any medium, regardless of intended major:

• Two-dimensional work: drawing/painting, printmaking, photography, collage, mixed media, etc.

• Three-dimensional work: ceramics, sculpture, jewelry and metals, glass, etc.

• Digital art: animations, web design, digital imaging, video, etc.

• Graphic design

• Installation art

Students are encouraged to include a variety of media, so that reviewing faculty can better assess their abilities in the School of Art programs.

FORMAT

Students must submit their portfolio digitally through SlideRoom. It is up to the student to make sure that they format their digital files appropriately, according to the specifications indicated in SlideRoom.

The following formats are accepted in SlideRoom:

• Images: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif (non-animated), .tif, .tiff, .bmp, .tga

• Video: .m4v, .mov, .mp4, .wmv, .flv, .asf, .mpeg, .mpg, .mkv

• 3D Models: .blend, .3ds, .dae, .obj, .fbx, .dwf, .osg, .osgt, .osgb, .ive, .lwo, .lws, .ply, .wrl, .iv, .shp, .stl,

/bvh, .fit, .ac, .x, .dw, .3dc, .geo, .gta, .kmz, .vpk

Digitally submitting your work means that you will need to correctly document work that is not already in digital format. For example, if you would like to include a drawing as one of your pieces, you will need to take a digital photo of the drawing.

You may seek documentation help from your instructors in your First Year Program classes. You may also check out a digital camera from the Media Center, located in Room 1026 in the Fine Arts Center.

CRITERIA

When your portfolio is reviewed by faculty, it will be graded based on the following equally weighted criteria:

• Creativity: Student’s work displays evidence of creativity, innovation, creative problem solving, and/or originality.

• Conceptual Focus: Student’s work exhibits a conceptual focus and/or visual logic. Work shows evidence of preliminary research. Process and design strategies are consistent with the concept.

• Knowledge of Visual Elements: Student’s work demonstrates knowledge of visual elements (line, shape, value, texture, and color).

• Knowledge of Design Principles: Student’s work demonstrates knowledge of design principles (repetition, contrast, balance, movement, emphasis, economy, unity/variety).

• Craftsmanship: Student’s work exhibits appropriate craftsmanship and presentation.

• Variety: Student’s work evidences various design approaches and creative strategies. There is a healthy variety in the work.

Make sure that you take these criteria into consideration when deciding what pieces to include in your portfolio.

SHOULD I INCLUDE THIS PIECE OR THAT PIECE?

The most important aspect of the selection process is that the student include work in their portfolio that they consider to be their strongest, and that the work be representative of what the student is artistically capable of at that point in time.

To select the right pieces, think about the cohesiveness of all of the works: you are trying to show how well you would perform as a student in the BFA degree program. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

What do I want to say with my art?

Are these my best works?

Would I like my art to be seen together as a body of work?

Would these pieces make a good exhibition together?

Does my portfolio reflect my current skill level as an artist? (Think about: concept and creativity, design, craftsmanship, etc.)

Putting a portfolio together isn’t just about having each piece look good on its own, it is also about creating a cohesive picture of your artistic talent.

WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE

Do not include works copied from someone else’s artwork, or pieces that were drawn from a photograph either taken by someone else or a photograph that is not in the public domain.

While master copies can be a great exercise to learn new skills, duplicated works do not show creativity or originality. Do not include reproductions of famous pieces, of cartoon characters, or of celebrity photos. Additionally, you must abide by the University’s Academic Honesty Policy, see: https://www.bgsu.edu/dean-of-students/academic-honesty-policy.html

If you are not sure if an artwork is appropriate to include in your Portfolio Review submission, you may seek advice from appropriate faculty or staff within the School of Art.

SUBMISSION

Students submit their portfolio on SlideRoom, accessible through the BGSU School of Art webpage. The portal opens on Sunday, February 1, 2026. The submission deadline is Friday, March 20, 2026 at 11:59p.m.

Once the BFA portfolio has been submitted, it will be assigned to a committee of three faculty members. The final score will consist of the average of the three faculty scores.

NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS

Students will be notified of their results by email, within 30 days of the submission deadline. Please refrain from contacting the School of Art office for your results, unless the full 30 days has passed. To ensure you receive notification of your results, when filling out the submission application please provide your official BGSU email address.

PROGRAM CHANGE

At the time of registration (through SlideRoom), students will be asked to select the degree program to which they wish to be admitted. If a student successfully passes the BFA Portfolio Review, their program will automatically change from pre-BFA to BFA in the area that they have indicated on their registration. If a student does not select a program when registering, they will be responsible for changing their major with the College of Arts and Sciences.

CLASS REGISTRATION

Students will need to register for classes for the following semester prior to receiving their BFA Portfolio Review results - do not wait for your portfolio results to schedule classes for the following semester. We advise that students register for classes based on their desired program.

Students wishing to receive additional help in the creation of their BFA portfolio can week unofficial feedback from several sources:

• They can make use of their instructors in the various art courses in which they are enrolled. The First Year Program courses are there to help students find their creative voice and develop as an artist during their first year of study in the School of Art. Therefore, the First Year Program instructors are an excellent source of feedback for students.

• Students can receive unofficial feedback from the Admissions Coordinator. Email artschool@bgsu.edu, call (419)372-0107, or stop by the Administrative Offices in the Fine Arts Center (Room 1000) to set up an appointment.