For young artists considering art school, building a portfolio is an opportunity to understand who they are as artists, where they want to go, and how to communicate that through their work.
This fall, RISD’s new course Portfolio Prep for Teens gives students the time, guidance, and structure to begin that process with intention.
Leading the course is painter and educator Ivo Makianich, whose experience spans both professional studio practice and teaching at RISD. After earning his MFA in Painting from Boston University, Ivo became an active member of the RISD teaching community, teaching Drawing Foundations, Painting Majors, and Anatomy for Teens through RISD Pre-College.
Instructor Ivo Makianich, Painter and Educator
Ivo is especially excited to teach Portfolio Prep because it is a new course—giving him the opportunity to build a class from the ground up around what young artists actually need as they develop their work and prepare for college applications.
Students will:
- gain clarity around their college goals, the application process, and different art program options.
- assess existing work, identify gaps and opportunities, and create new work to strengthen their portfolios.
- learn how to select, document, and present artwork effectively.
- develop a sample essay and partial or complete digital portfolio that can serve as a starting point for an actual college application.
- receive individualized feedback through critique and direct interactions with their instructor and peers.
Observe your work through different lenses.
Just as importantly, Ivo encourages students to look beyond individual assignments or “good” and “bad” pieces. He helps them recognize the growth happening from one work to the next—to identify recurring questions, discoveries, challenges, and improvements that can reveal the direction of their artistic practice.
Drawing from his own experience as a painter, Ivo combines attention to craft and technique with broader questions about how artists think, experiment, and develop ideas. His goal is to help students build an independent studio practice and develop an “internal compass” for evaluating their own work, rather than relying solely on grades or outside opinions.
Preparing a portfolio is also about learning how to work like an artist: managing time, staying organized, following through, collaborating, and developing the consistency needed to sustain a creative practice.
While Portfolio Prep does not guarantee admission to any particular college or art program, it gives prospective art students the tools, feedback, and perspective to approach the application process with greater confidence—and to begin thinking more intentionally about the artists they are becoming.
Portfolio Prep begins Saturday, October 17 on the RISD Campus.
Teen In-Person Course registration is open now through October 15.
Selected Works: Ivo Makianich
