Visual Arts & Design Audition
To audition for Visual Arts and Design, you’ll be asked to upload an Audition Portfolio before the application deadline on January 26, 2024. We highly suggest you attend the Audition Workshop in November to help prepare for your audition submission. Students will also be asked to come in-person for auditions.
CTE Program
Our Design and Visual Communication (graphic design) and Fashion Technology, programs within the Visual Arts and Design major are Perkins Chapter 74 programs, which means we are required to follow the admissions guidelines for Visual Arts and Design set by the state of Massachusetts. We will give a composite score based on five areas:
Audition/Interview (50% of the score): The audition/interview is scored on rubric by a panel of ProArts College representatives, local community artists, and BAA staff.
Grades (20%): You must have received sufficient academic credit to complete the necessary prior grade. For example, a student applying to be a 9th grade student will have to show sufficient academic credit to complete 8th grade by June of the application year.
Attendance (20%): You must have an attendance record that is also sufficient to complete the prior grade.
Discipline/Conduct Record (5%)
School Recommendation (5%)
Portfolio Requirements
Please take your time with each of your art pieces and submit ONLY original work. We ask that you include 10-20 art pieces in your Portfolio and encourage you to view this Portfolio Tutorial Video prior to preparing your Portfolio.
Your portfolio should show your strengths and experiments with techniques as well as materials and could include:
Two-dimensional and three-dimensional works on paper, fabric, canvas, ceramics, digital, etc.
Pieces that include a variety of subject matter and ideas.
A variety of different materials such as fabric, pencil, colored pencil, ink, paint, charcoal, pastel, etc.
Sketchbooks, photography, fashion designs, and graphic designs.
Graffiti, lettering, and mural art.
Websites, online/social media art pages and look books.
Work from observation.
In-Person Audition Criteria
Visual Arts & Design auditions are evaluated on the following criteria:
Craftsmanship: How well is the artwork presented in terms of quality, organization, and thoughtfulness?
Skill: How well does the work show your ability to use materials?
Originality: How well does the work represent your ideas and not copy someone else’s work?
Ideas: How well does the work communicate personal and/or social ideas?
Click HERE to view the full rubric used during Visual Arts & Design auditions.
No Callbacks
There are no callbacks for VAD applicants.
If have questions about the audition process, please contact baa-admissions@bostonpublicschools.org.
