The painting program at the Yale School of Art is rooted in the investigation of painting as a unique genre with its own complex syntax and history. The program encourages diversity of practice and interpretation, innovation, and experimentation within this conceptual and historical framework.
At the core of instruction are individual and group critiques with faculty, visiting critics, and visiting artists. Group seminars are also led by faculty and critics. The study of printmaking is integrated into the painting program; a student may concentrate in painting, printmaking, or a combination of the two.
39 credits in area of concentration, including ART 949, and 21 additional credits, including a minimum of 3 academic credits in courses outside the School of Art.
Provided that course and minimum requirements are met, students may elect to enroll in more than 15 credits per semester.
First Year | Second Year |
Fall | Fall |
ART 542/543 Individual Criticism: 6 credits Total minimum credits for Fall Term: 15 | ART 544/545: Individual Criticism: 6 credits Total minimum credits for Fall Term: 15 |
Spring | Spring |
ART 542/543 Individual Criticism: 6 credits Total minimum credits for Spring Term: 15 | ART 544/545: Individual Criticism: 6 credits Total minimum credits for Spring Term: 15 |
File Format
Portfolios are submitted online as part of the online application. The portfolio submission interface will allow you to label each image with a title, a date of completion, the materials used, and a brief description of the work. Please do not embed your name in the titles of your work and limit titles to thirty (30) characters. Digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below.
Portfolio Contents
Upload a total of sixteen (16) still images and/or moving image files. Only work completed within the last three years should be included, and at least half (8) should be work made in the last twelve months. In the review process, the admissions committee is concerned with scale and the tactility of the work. For this reason, paintings and drawings must be photographed showing the edge of the work. Paintings and drawings must not be digitally masked in black to the edges of the work. Three-dimensional works should also show the surrounding space and context. Do not include detail photos of work in your portfolio unless you consider them absolutely necessary. Under no circumstances should more than two detail shots be included.
Portfolio Formating
It’s critical that you do not format images in a presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, PDF). PDFs and presentation program formats are not viewable in our system; only the first page/slide will display. Do not include the title or caption in the image file, as it will decrease the viewable image area.
Media files as large as 5GB are supported, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your Internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time. Uploaded documents (such as transcripts) may contain no more than 75 pages.
The works in your portfolio will display in chronological order by year entered in the image data. This is an embedded feature in the system structure. For example, art #1 made in 2021, art #2 made in 2022, and art #3 made in 2024 will appear in that order. However, if you have multiple pieces created within a single year, you will be able to arrange the artwork in any order within that group of files.
Video files should be no longer than one minute in length. If you upload a video that is longer than one minute, it will automatically time out at one minute. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of sixteen files and should not be used as a method of showing examples of additional still images. Do not include titles or credits within the video files.
If you are primarily a video artist and wish to submit a longer video, you may post the video to your own Website and provide the link at the end of your statement. Note, however, that the admissions committee will not be in the position to review works of extensive length.
- Video: .3g2, .3gp, .avi, .m2v, .m4v, .mkv, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, .mxf, .webm, .wmv
- Audio: .aac, .m4a, .mka, .mp3, .oga, .ogg, .wav
- Slide: .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff
Please note that while the Slate application portal lists .gif as an accepted file type, we have found that it does not work well in the system. Please avoid using .gif files.
