Getting the chance to have a portfolio critiqued by an art and design expert before application deadlines is a rare opportunity for most high school art students. However, thanks to an initiative between ABEL and OCAD, that opportunity is now becoming more accessible for high school students.

The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) teamed up with the Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning (ABEL) program to perform remote portfolio reviews with high school students in York Region. Grade 12 art students at Newmarket High School and Richmond Green High School discussed their portfolios with OCAD faculty members during two videoconference sessions earlier this fall, facilitated by the ABEL team and beamed out over ORION.

Students who would otherwise be unable to visit OCAD in person for feedback on their portfolio benefited from an opportunity to remotely show their work to an expert for critique. This feedback enables the students to improve their portfolio in advance of their official application deadline to postsecondary fine arts and media programs. Participating students reported that they had valuable discussion time and individual feedback from the faculty.

ABEL Program Manager, Janet Murphy, attended both sessions and expressed her enthusiasm for the pilot project. "It was amazing. The OCAD-ABEL partnership is a great demonstration of inter-institutional collaboration and enrichment," she said. Due to the success of the November pilot, there are plans to continue and expand the remote portfolio reviews in the future.

To learn more, visit www.abelearn.ca.


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