<p>Hi all. So I am a self-taught outsider artist. I was planning to submit the common app arts supplement, but then I realized I needed a letter of recommendation. Since I am self-taught and have not taken art classes, I have no where to obtain this letter. What should I do?</p>
<p>Are you in an art-related club or activities at school? (like painting a school mural, working on the yearbook, etc)? If you do, you could try asking your club sponsor/supervisor to write a letter for you.</p>
<p>The idea of the common app supplement is to showcase your talent. Colleges that accept this also want to have your talent validated by a professional or person of authority in this area. If you are drawing or painting nice pictures but never put them on display anywhere, they really can’t tell if this talent is worthy of being highlighted. Keep in mind that many students that use the art supplement are using it to showcase their music or art talent that they have been developing for years … with private instructors, state or national level competitions. If you’ve never gone public with your art or never shown it to someone to critique it, doing it for the first time in the art supplement would be unusual. The reason they want a recommendation to go with the art is so that they can tell if it is a deep talent that would benefit the campus community in some way (even as an artistic soul), or if it is a side hobby that you only do when you have time; if it’s a side hobby, it many not add to your application. Use the art supplement to distinguish yourself and to showcase your talent.</p>