About Us

As a judge for several Scholastic Art and Writing Contest categories: Senior Portfolio, Photography, Animation, Comic Illustration, and Short Film, I gained insight into both what other art educators regard as complete and thoughtful works as well as saw the artwork created by top creative students. It has also provided me with the awareness that the visual arts very often touch on the arts of film, stage, game design, creative writing, music, and dance leading me to expand my practice to work with these multi-talented young artists. Helping students find the right programs for them and then take their good applications to great applications is my passion.

I graduated from The Dalton School in NYC and my Art History class spent each Thursday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art looking at the works we were studying, an early experience that has shaped my love of art. I also grew up in a family of art dealers and artists giving me the business acumen and appreciation of the importance of treating the arts as a viable career. I received a BA in Philosophy from Haverford College and a minor in Art History from Bryn Mawr College, as well as a Masters in Liberal Arts from St. Johns College, all showing me the value of a multi-faceted liberal arts education. After 20 years as a consultant, helping clients find solutions for their unique needs, I decided to couple my combination of business experiences with my knowledge and appreciation of art to found ARTriculate. I love working with creative students who allow me to help them show admissions committees their multi-faceted talents.

Read my interview with Tungsten Prep, a tutoring company who has worked with a number of our creative students Finding the College Path that Unlocks Your Creative Spirit. 

Laura McFaden is a national award winning artist with over 30 years of professional experience in art instruction. She has taught 100’s of students both AP and IB art and in the process has worked with many to submit successful portfolios to the top art colleges in the country. She has also served as a Scholastic Art and Writing judge and has worked with her students to win Gold and Silver Key awards in many categories.

Laura loves coaching students to create strong art work for their portfolios to submit to highly selective colleges and helps many of our students develop their portfolios. She begins by providing thoughtful design challenges for students to complete in their Junior year (and before) so that they have a full body of portfolio-ready work for their college applications. This not only produces a cohesive and mature portfolio, it also greatly reduces the stress of preparing your portfolio and allows you to focus on the other important components of your applications.

Laura received her BA from Rollins Colleges and her MAT from RISD where she graduated first in her class. We are so excited to have Laura join us as a resource for our visual arts students. Follow her on Instagram (@art_with_mrs._mcfaden) where she posts both her work and her students’ work (with permission) to see her amazing talents and results.

Laura is a member of the RISD Alumni Association, Rollins Alumni Association, the National Art Education Association (NAEA), and the American Craft Council.