EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Over 500 art students from El Paso Community College (EPCC) and different school districts including El Paso, Ysleta, and Socorro showcased their artwork to 19 colleges and universities at the Sun City Portfolio Day event.
The event, which was held on Friday, Jan. 24, at the EPCC Administrative Services Center, aims to promote artistic talent in the region and provide high school and EPCC students with opportunities to showcase their artwork to potential colleges and universities in one place without having to travel outside the city, EPCC said in a news release.
EPCC said students can potentially be offered a scholarship from participating colleges and universities onsite.
“It’s great for these students,” Sarelah Aguilar, EPCC art professor and Sun City Portfolio Day co-director, said. “The closest National Portfolio Day is in Albuquerque, so it’s crucial to have one local. We’ve gone from 30 kids and three universities to now 19 universities and over 500 kids. It gives them a chance to speak to schools they normally wouldn’t, and be critiqued on site, so it’s a fantastic free opportunity for the local art students.”
Art schools from across the U.S. were invited to guide students through their college-enrollment journey, EPCC said.
EPCC said a total of 19 colleges and universities attended, and some were local like EPCC, UTEP, and New Mexico State. Others traveled far like the New York Academy of Art, Parsons School of Design in New York City, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.
“This is my first time, and I’ve heard a lot of great things about the creative community here, that the students are organized and really passionate, so we wanted to be a part of that,” Rheagen King, admission representative at the Maryland Institute College of Art, said. “I grew up in Kansas, and I got the same opportunity at a similar event like this when I was in high school, and that’s how I found out about Maryland Institute College of Art, so for me, it was so beneficial. This is the perfect opportunity to be in their neighborhood and look at their work, chatting with representatives in person is so transformative.”
“This opportunity is exciting, because you get to show off your artwork to many colleges, and the one-on-one talk is very important,” Bel Air High School senior Karol Martinez said.
“I’m excited because it seems like artists do not get a ton of respect and job opportunities, so this is really cool to be able to show these colleges. I hope to stand out with my art and be as true to myself as possible, and hope to speak to New York colleges, and inspired by New York City and what it has to offer,” fellow senior at Bel Air, Diego Olivas, said.
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