Herron School of Art and Design will host National Portfolio Day on Saturday, giving prospective students a chance to present their work to art and design schools from across the country accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The event runs like a college fair, with students meeting representatives from the schools they choose and looking for the place they fit as an emerging artist.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Eskenazi Hall, 735 W. New York St. Students can register in advance through Herron's website.
Students meet with faculty tabling for various schools and receive feedback on their portfolios, along with information about programs and financial aid.
Elise Velikan, an admissions counselor at Herron who graduated from the school and organizes the event, said the day is "a great way to serve student artists."
National Portfolio Day serves prospective art and design students, and it also raises a broader question about where
A Herron representative reviews a student's portfolio on a tablet during a previous National Portfolio Day at Herron School of Art and Design. (Photo courtesy of Herron School of Art and Design)
creative skills belong on campus and in the job market. Velikan argues the path to career success is widening to make room for creativity alongside more traditionally "practical" skills.
Skills learned at Herron already travel into IU Indianapolis' technical programs, Velikan said. Dentistry students enroll in metalsmithing and jewelry courses to practice hand skills, and biomedical students take painting courses to manage stress.
"We're offering a human touch and a skillset that cannot be replicated by technology. Those skills are going to become increasingly marketable as AI takes over other areas," Velikan said. "I think sometimes people feel like they have to give up their creative side to pursue something that they think is more 'practical.'"
Employers appear to be moving in the same direction. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 ranks creative thinking among the five core skills employers say workers need today, and among the skills employers expect to grow fastest in importance by 2030.
Velikan has a clear message for the IU Indianapolis community: "If you want to create, there is room for you here at Herron." Nonmajors can develop creatively through the minors and electives Herron offers.
"These skills can be everywhere in society," said Isaac Vincent, a furniture design major. "It's important to realize how much art is always surrounding us and to recognize the beauty and value of it."
Vincent and Ash Keebler, a printmaking major, are both freshmen at Herron, and both attended National Portfolio Day before they were accepted.
"It was the first time ever really showing anybody except family any of my pieces," Vincent said. "I got a lot of really good feedback about my pieces and [how they] showcase different skills."
"If more people acknowledge that creating is artistry, a lot of people themselves would realize that they are also artists," Keebler said. "Science is art. English is art. Writing is art ... Just to create is an art."
National Portfolio Day at Herron, and the students who attend it, represent a rising generation of artists redrawing the lines of creativity in the workforce.
Sarah Pinckard is a political science major and legal studies minor at IU Indianapolis and a writer for The Campus Citizen. She is passionate about human rights, civil liberties and civic engagement, with special interests in immigration and gender equality.
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