Art Portfolio Scholarship

How to Apply

To be considered for an art scholarship, you must submit both of the following applications:

1. Gordon College Application
2. Art Scholarship Application

Art Scholarship Application

A separate art portfolio and short writing sample will serve as your application for an art scholarship. The portfolio and writing sample must be emailed to [email protected]. Do not send anything through the mail.

The following three components must be included in your application:

1. Portfolio of Artwork
10–15 images of your original artwork. Please make all efforts to adequately light and photograph your images to best represent your work. Images must be attached as a PDF. Please name the files as follows: last name, underscore, first name, underscore, # (e.g. Deddo_Greg_01.pdf, Deddo_Greg_02.pdf, etc). The enumeration should correspond to a separately attached inventory list providing the title of the work, size and medium. If you wish to send your images in a collated PDF be sure to provide all pertinent information as captions with the submitted images.

These 10–15 images may include:

• Drawings in pencil, charcoal, conté crayon and other drawing media, executed by direct observation (not from photographs). Subject matter may include figure, still life, landscape and architecture.
• Works employing color media: painting, pastel, colored pencil or collage.
• Other works showing the breadth of your visual arts experience: printmaking, photography, computer-based imagery, mixed media or three-dimensional works (sculpture, ceramics, installation).

2. Home Exam

Owing to the variety of work we receive in portfolios each year, we also ask that you make four new drawings—each no smaller than 8" x 10"—to be included in addition to the above 10-15 original artworks. Include in your email reproductions of these assignments:

• A self-portrait in pencil or colored pencil, made using a mirror.
• A direct observational drawing of some technical object (e.g., bicycle, complex machinery, piles or stacks of assorted objects).
• A drawing or painting in color, either representational or non-representational.
• A drawing, painting, collage or design of your own choosing, in any media.

Please provide an inventory list (Word document or PDF) with the title and medium of each piece that corresponds with the naming of the images as outlined above. If sending a collated PDF or Powerpoint, your caption/image list can be within the PDF or Powerpoint. 

3. Essay

Provide a short, informal writing sample (no more than 500 words) on one of the following prompts:

• Tell us about your history as an artist. Feel free to speak about teachers, classes or specific creations from your past.
• Describe a relationship you have with an important, interesting or powerful work of art that you have experienced in person.
• Your experience with art and faith—what sort of relationship does your faith tradition have with the visual arts, or how do you see your work as an artist informed by, and/or informing, your faith?

4. Interview (optional)

Though not required, if you would like to meet with the Art Faculty, you may request an interview before or after the initial submission of materials (portfolio and essay). You may bring original examples of your artwork to this interview, although you will still need to submit a formal portfolio (see above).

To request an interview, call the Admissions Office at 978 867 4218 or email them at [email protected]. Interviews may be scheduled for weekdays.

Portfolio Dates & Deadlines

Portfolio and essay must be emailed to [email protected] by:

• December 1 (early decision/early action)
• March 1 (regular decision)
• Late submissions will be considered, but preference is given to those received on time.

 If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].