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Perfect Portfolio Online
Visual Arts Ontario has years of experience in providing workshops, courses and
one-on-one consultations on how to present an effective portfolio. Now you can
benefit from that experience in the comfort of your own home or studio. Perfect
Portfolio On-line will teach you the skills to optimize all career related opportunities
including exhibitions, grants and scholarships. You will:
- Learn the essential elements of a professional portfolio.
- Develop strategies to articulate clear and focused presentation materials.
- Become skilled at adjusting your C.V. and other portfolio components
for every professional situation.
- Acquire creative writing ability for artist’s statements, proposal
development, funding submissions, artists’ residencies and scholarships.
- Achieve an in-depth understanding of career planning for visual artists
including realistic short and long term goal setting.
- Learn the fundamental business skills that are essential to a career
in the visual arts.
- Become skilled in researching appropriate gallery and exhibition opportunities.
- Enhance your self-confidence in entering the art marketplace as a capable
business professional.
If you have a computer and basic word processing skills, the Perfect Portfolio
On-line learning module is ideal for your personalized learning experience.
- Learn at your own pace.
- Set your own assignment and course completion schedule. Take a few
weeks or a few months to complete the course – it’s up to you. Depending
on your approach, anticipate between 60 to 100 hours.
- Receive unlimited problem resolution assistance from VAO’s on-line
faculty.
- Exchange ideas and information with course colleagues on Perfect Portfolio’s
interactive bulletin board.
Certification
Currently Not Available. For info contact: info@vao.org
The Perfect Portfolio Online Experience
Still wondering if Perfect Portfolio Online is right for you?
VAO had a chance to meet up with Marylou Casadoro, the most recent graduate of the Perfect Portfolio Online course.
In the following interview, Marylou takes us through her experience with the course.
See first hand how Perfect Portfolio Online helped this visual artist strengthen her portfolio and assist in structuring a plan for her arts career.
"Simply put, one can be an artist without a portfolio, but one can't have an arts career without one"
- Marylou Casadoro, Perfect Portfolio Online Graduate
VAO: How did you hear about VAO and Perfect Portfolio Online?
MC: I heard about VAO through a friend of a friend. A year later(!), I checked it out online and discovered Perfect Portfolio Online (PPO), exactly when I was ready to prepare my portfolio. It suited me perfectly because I could take the course on my own time and complete the assignments according to my own schedule. This was important because not only am I an artist, but I work full-time.
Describe your experiences working through the PPO course? What were some of the challenges you faced?
I began the course in November 2005 and finished in May 2006. During those six months I also taught myself to take slides with a 35mm SLR manual camera. This was challenging in itself because it was just as much about shooting artwork as it was about learning technology. As a result of this step, the conversion to digital will be an easy process.
The main challenge in the course was focusing on me as an artist. What did I want to say? How did I want to say it ? What were my plans? Once I had written my artist's statement, the rest seemed to flow.
The feedback I received was very helpful. I got used to re-working the various parts of the portfolio as each assignment was completed and feedback was received. Before the end of the course my portfolio was ready and I began making submissions at the end of April.
How do you feel your portfolio presentation and your arts career has improved through taking the PPO course?
What did you find the most helpful with PPO?
I am very pleased with my portfolio. Every artist knows that being artistically creative is much more pleasurable than dealing with slide lists, cover letters, proposals for grants, budgets etc. However, it is a necessary part. For example, an artist might think about applying for a grant, but be put off by the administrative aspect of the application. Once an artist has been through the PPO course, everything has been prepared. It is just a question of re-working or re-writing.
Simply put, one can be an artist without a portfolio, but one can't have an arts career without one. It is a question of knowing what you want. Personally I liked the feeling of thinking and working through the various steps on my own, but I equally appreciated the feedback from an established art professional. It allowed to get a fresh outlook and make positive changes.
Now that you've completed the course, where will you take your artwork from here?
One of the interesting assignments was writing my short-term and long-term goals. This made me think where I want to go with my art. I discovered that the most important step for me at this point of my life is to belong to a cooperative or collective. I would also like to exhibit my work and find other figure painters like myself with whom to exchange views.
To whom would you recommend the PPO course? Do you have any words of advice for those currently working through the course or to those who are thinking about joining?
I would recommend the course to all emerging artists who are ready to have their work exhibited. The course has enough structure to get you through all the steps of portfolio preparation, such as press release, contract letter, biography or curriculum vitae etc. However it is flexible enough to allow you to do it on your own time. For me it was a very positive learning experience.
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