VON ERLENBACH KUNSTSCHULE.

About Us

Team

Team

Concept

Concept

Strengths

Strengths

FAQs

FAQs

Team

Concept

The path to your portfolio – the most important points
    • A readiness to commitBuilding up a portfolio for an application to a college or university usually takes a lot more time than you may think. This is because, for the first time, you will be considering yourself and the question of who you are. This has nothing to do with academic thought or with tasks that you have been assigned, but rather with the issue of how you see the world and what your artistic, design and creative contribution should be.The lowering of Germany’s school-leaving age by one year has increased the demand on candidates to demonstrate solid orientation and to be able to formulate artistic and independent portfolio pages that satisfy the requirements of a university or college application.
    • Motivation and enthusiasmIn our portfolio preparation course, we work together. We provide motivation for you to produce brave and unusual work and we endeavour to inspire you to perform creative tasks. We do expect, however, that you bring some of your own enthusiasm and that you are able to integrate motivation into your own work. We will motivate you – we won’t coax you!
    • Putting demands into perspective and removing fearsA lot of students who attend our portfolio presentation course arrive with one very big demand. A demand they have placed on themselves. That’s a good thing, but it can often cause unnecessary fear – the fear of not being able to fulfil one’s own demands. We can help you to place your demands at a level commensurate with your current situation and slowly to build on this with continuous work and with the enjoyment derived from that work.

Strengths

Our concept

We seek sustainable success, which in our view cannot be achieved with a quickly made portfolio. Our experience shows that preparation of a good portfolio takes time, engagement, the development of personal strengths, endurance, and discipline. Therefore, our classes are based on the following cornerstones: the systematic and comprehensive preparation of course participants, needs-based and targeted classes, fostering and challenging students through continuous learning and further development of oneself, diligent work and the practice of endurance.Our goal is the elaboration of the individual character of every participant without losing connection to reality, engagement, and the ability to look beyond one’s own life.

Internationality

The course participants enjoy an international atmosphere of classmates hailing from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, China, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Island, Japan, Canada, Korea, Columbia, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, New Zeeland, Norway, Austria, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Serbia, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Check republic, Tunis, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela… and of course from the whole of Germany.The diversity of our course participants entails distinct ideas and experiences encountering each other, ensuring active exchange and contributing decisively to the shaping of one’s own personality.

Our Success

The Von Erlenbach art school is proud to be one of the most successful art schools in Berlin. Over 90 percent of university applicants who have gone through our courses are invited to sit exams with over 80 percent gaining admittance. This rate has remained steady year after year. Considering that the average percentage of accepted applicants in German art schools constitutes 5 to 15 percent, our success speaks for itself and suggests our portfolio course to be one of the most promising options for those preparing for higher education.

Our Lecturers

Our tutors and lecturers are active artists with solid training and experience of working in various professional arenas. This immediate, everyday practice allows them to speak frankly from first hand experience of working in various creative professions while bringing current trends into classes.They support every course participant in learning the foundations and in independent work with great engagement and passion.

Our Relationship to the Universities

With the help of previous graduates we are in continuous contact with many academies and universities. Contemporary graduates who previously participated in the portfolio course are today’s students in various specializations and are also university professors. Due to this we have a very good network and are well informed about news and current trends in the universities.

The Studio Atmosphere

Our classroom is a former factory floor, with the south-facing windows facing a garden. We use the garden for working and relaxing in the open-air during the warmer seasons. The classroom is found in the back-yard and allows for a very concentrated working environment in the middle of the city.

The City of Berlin

Berlin is an art and culture metropolis, not only for Germany, but Europe as a whole. Here the biggest art academies and universities foster an excitement within the arts. It is a city where international artists meet and the most important cultural events for all creative fields take place. Here the creative industry is building its center, and we are in the middle of it all.

Central Location

The Von Erlenbach art-school is located in the district of Kreuzberg, central to Berlin. The school can be reached conveniently from any part of town by public transport. The nearby Bergmannstrasse provides course members with a wide variety of restaurants, bars, beer-houses and snacks-bars; everything for the well-being of the body or to just satisfy a little appetite in the meantime.

FAQs

When does the semester start?

With the turn of the year 2022/2023, we have changed our course system. Now we have portfolio preparation courses that can be booked in 4-week units. It is possible to join a course at the beginning of each month. Cross-entry is possible after consultation with us.

Will one month be enough to create a portfolio?

We can only judge this individually and only assess it when we have seen the work you have done at home up to the start of our course. If you have worked very well, you will achieve very good results with only a few courses. At the academies, it is assumed that an applicant should take six months to a year to work on the portfolio.

Do I have to hand in a special application or pass a test?

With the new course system from 2023, we will accept all interested parties. However, after your registration we will clarify with you by phone where you stand with your work and what you need so that we can adapt well to your requirements.

Do I have to pay for the course in advance? Is it possible to pay in installments

The course has to be paid for in advance. There is no possibility to pay in installments.

When does the course start in the morning?

The course starts at 10 am. We put great stress on punctuality.

How long can I work in the evening? What about weekends?

As a matter of principle, we only work in the rooms of the art school during the specified course times. Outside these times, work must be done at home.

How can I prepare best?

Through passion, discipline and a lot of work.

Is there perhaps an information pack or book about your school?

You can download books on the different area of studies as PDF files for a small charge on our website.

Do you specialize in anything particular? Or do you cover everything?

We prepare equally for the different areas of studies with great success. A specialization is made through the contact to the different universities since they tell us what special requirements there are for the portfolios. We can equip you with everything you need for a successful portfolio. However, in the end you also need a bit of luck.

Do you know a lot of lecturers from universities?

We know lecturers and professors at many universities and regularly send our students there for meetings.

Do I have to provide the materials myself or are they included in the course fee?

Paints, binders, paper, etc. are not included in the course fee. Appropriate materials must be brought along.

Am I covered (e.g. after a linocut accident)?

We have industrial injury insurance. However, you should also be covered yourself.

Do you speak English?

Kathrin understands English but doesn’t speak English very well so far, I myself understand and speak English. Our lecturers, who normally teach on Fridays, usually speak English.

Is there a kitchen?

There is a small kitchen with a big fridge and a microwave to heat up food.

Are drinks and food provided or do I have to bring my own?

Food and drinks have to be brought by you. Proper cooking is not possible.

Is it possible to join your course without wanting to prepare a portfolio or wanting to study?

Ever year we have artists who just want to intensify their artistic work without wanting to apply for university. You should know, however, that the level of our course is very high and that we don’t take any amateur artists or hobbyists

Is it possible to just have fun and learn something with it?

Certainly.