Pacific Northwest College of Art

Pacific Northwest College of Art Fast Facts

• Some quick facts about PNCA.

Majors

• Painting
• Communication Design
• General Fine Arts
• Illlustration
• Photography
• Printmaking
• Sculpture
• Intermedia

Accreditation

• National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD)
• The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)

Campus

Pacific NW College of Art
1241 NW Johnson St.
Portland, OR 97209
Phone: 503-226-4391
Fax: 503-226-3587

For more facts, click here

Undergraduate Portfolio Requirements

General portfolio requirements

• Your portfolio is an important part of your application. It will be evaluated on artistic and conceptual content, design and composition, technical skill and creative potential.
• Submit twelve to twenty examples of your best and most recent work. You can include classroom work, studio assignments or personal projects.
• We strongly recommend that students interested in the painting, printmaking and illustration majors include drawings in their portfolios.
• If you choose to include drawings in your portfolio, the majority of them should be done from direct observation. Observational drawings are done by looking at three-dimensional objects or space, and are not copies of photographs or other artists’ works. For example, you may draw landscapes, human figures, portraits, your room, or family pets.

Download our Portfolio Tips PDF.

How to submit

• Portfolios may be submitted in person during a campus visit or to a PNCA representative at a National Portfolio Day or by sending examples in slide or digital format.
• All oversized work should be submitted in slide or digital format.
• Work does not need to be matted or framed.

All slide or digital portfolios submitted by mail must include an index list of the pieces which identifies each piece by:

1. Number
2. Title
3. Medium
4. Date
5. Dimensions
6. Description of the assignment (if applicable).

35mm slides should be labeled with your name and the corresponding number from the index list.

• Submit slides in a plastic slide sheet.
• Digital files can be emailed or submitted on a PC-formatted CD-ROM in JPEG format.
• Moving images should be submitted in VHS or DVD format.
• Portfolios will be returned to you as soon as possible if you have provided a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Slides and disks without return postage will be held for six months after receipt for you to pick up. After that time, they become the property of PNCA.
• While every effort is made to protect portfolios, PNCA is not responsible for loss or damage due to shipping.
• DO NOT MAIL ACTUAL, ORIGINAL WORKS TO THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE.

Transfer applicants

• In addition to the twelve to twenty pieces required for general admissions, transfer students are required to submit additional examples of their artwork if they have completed and received credit for studio art classes at another college.
• The additional pieces must reflect work completed in the art classes and must be submitted in slide or digital format.
• An index identifying the size, medium, assignment, and the college course in which the work was executed must be included.
• All admissions materials, except portfolios, become the property of PNCA and will not be returned to you or released to another party.

Graduate Portfolio Requirements

PNCA’s Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies is a 60-credit, two-year program that is multi-disciplinary and mentor-based. The flexible character of this kind of program allows students to work within a singular discipline (traditional painting, for example) or to pursue a combined practice that bridges disciplines and media.

For more information

Please contact the Admissions Office at admissions@pnca.edu, or fill our inquiry form.