Portfolio Prep with OCAD U
PORTFOLIO PREP with OCAD U
June 16th through July 30th

As an artist entrepreneur, it’s important that your portfolio tells a compelling story about you. It’s what employers, clients, granting agencies, or educators look at to understand your skills, interests, and passions.
ArtWorksTO invites media artists who are Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, and/or 2SLGBTQ+ youth (ages 18-29) to participate in portfolio training and to connect with OCAD U creative professionals.
From June 16th through July 30th you’re invited to take part in a portfolio prep program for any level of artist. Jump in to any or all of these opportunities to take your portfolio to the next level. Taking part in these workshops and events will help you put your best application together for the ArtWorksTO NEXT and FOUNDATIONS streams.
- INDUSTRY INSIDER SERIES - Available June 16th through June 30th
Tune in to online panels and free workshops featuring OCAD artists and designers. You’ll learn:
- How to craft your bio and artist statement
- Fundamentals on presenting a strong portfolio for education, employment and grants
- Tips on navigating your creative career from emerging creatives
- ONE-ON-ONE PORTFOLIO REVIEW/FEEDBACK - Available June 16th through July 30th
Need support with taking your portfolio to the next level? Book a free one-on-one consultation session with OCAD U creative professional Mary Anne Garcia.
- ARTWORKSTO SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OCAD U SUMMER WORKSHOPS AT HOME - Available July 5th through July 30th
Ready to expand your practice, learn a new skill and connect with creative professionals? Apply for a scholarship to OCAD U’s Summer Workshops at Home program. In this 3-week program you’ll learn to round out your portfolio in a discipline specific workshop taught by OCAD U instructors
Workshops Offered in 2021:
- Zines & Surrealism
- Drawing: Explorations
- Kitchen Design: Floor Plan Drawing
- The Sketchbook: Process Drawing & Ideation
- Peek-a-Boo Package Design
- Intro to Acrylic Painting
- 3-D Model Making: Form Finding Spatial Verbs
*Scholarship application process: in your 1:1 portfolio review with Mary Anne, she will make personalized course suggestions based on suggested areas of growth and walk you through the scholarship self-nomination process. Deadline to apply: July 1 for a July 5 course start date.
Workshop Descriptions:
Zines & Surrealism (Mondays) -starts Monday July 5, 2021
- In this workshop, you'll explore how strange or fantastical subject matter provides the perfect theme for DIY creations called 'zines' and mixed-media work.
Drawing: Explorations (Tuesday & Thursdays) - starts Tuesday July 6, 2021
- Learn about portraiture, anatomy, action poses, rendering hands and feet, while also learning to apply ink, pencil, and water colour to create realism. All levels of experience are welcome!
Kitchen Design: Floor Plan Drawing (Wednesdays) - starts Wednesday July 7, 2021
- In this workshop, discover the fundamental elements to design an accurate kitchen plan through hand drawing techniques.
Peek-a-Boo Package Design (Monday, Wednesday & Fridays) - starts Monday July 12, 2021
- Start by looking at different ways to incorporate illustration, hand drawn text, and images in 3Dimensional approaches to packaging. Then, with sketching, ideation and material research, explore inventive package design for every-day objects!
The Sketchbook (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays) Some asynchronous sessions - starts Monday July 12, 2021
- This workshop will provide an overview of techniques to enrich a process-based approach to drawing. Produce (or refine) a dynamic sketchbook, whose pages can stand alone as individual works, or be representative of a continuous ideation process.
Intro to Acrylic Painting (Tuesdays & Thursdays) - starts Tuesday July 13, 2021
- This painting studio workshop provides all the basic skills and know-how to get started with acrylic paints.
3-D Model Making: Form Finding Spatial Verbs (Tuesday & Thursdays) - starts Tuesday July 13, 2021
- In this course you will use paper as a medium to explore, create, and manipulate 3-dimensional forms and spatial compositions. Learn how to use primary volumetric shapes as the building blocks for designing form and space.