Anyone ever gone to art college?

[Christwriter]

Tonight I did a search for art classes in my area and came across the website for the Art Institute of Dallas, immedately above the website for the Art Institute of Houston. I explored the sites until I found the courses for a Bachleors in Media Arts and Animation. Then I started drooling.

So I'm courious...if anybody went through a similar program, how hard was it to get in? I already know it is VERY expensive, but I don't know how strict the reqs are for getting in--as in educational and skill level, not money (if Daddy has no problems with his little girl going to an art college--or if I can ease him past them--he'll try to buy me via the course).

And if anyone thinks art college is a bad idea, give explinations beyond the usual "not needed". I KNOW it's not "needed" to be able to draw...but a little direction and correction is what I WANT right now.

CW

[Alaina]

If all you want is a "little" direction, then maybe art school would be a bit too extreme for you. It's usually for people who plan to spend their lives doing art as a career.

Maybe search for community colleges in your area. I took art classes in a local c.c. (which were free for all high school students in the district--you might want to check that out, even though you're not in high school anymore) and that was just enough instruction to help me begin to define my skills.

[Psiogen]

I'm in my senior year at Cooper Union. I think it's been pretty useful. It's also been very free--thank you Peter Cooper! I don't know how representative Cooper Union is of other art schools, cause it's an anomalous little institution. It's made up almost entirely of really hardcore contemporary art types, which I don't think is the case at most places.

Anyway, I think the important thing to understand about art school is--you will not always agree with your professors and fellow students about art. Don't fall into the trap of either conforming to the art school mindset, or simply rejecting it as worthless. It's just a useful angle, a starting point, something to add to your toolbox.

[Soap Soaperson]

Art school IS expesnive. ;_; Wish I could afford it. I don't know how keen my parents are of letting me spend my hard-earned public university scholarship on an art major, but it's what I wanna do.

I think Alaina was dead-on with what she said.

[Cortland]

CW,

I spent four years studying art and graphic design at a small state college, and I think your most important question right now, before you enter college, is what you plan to do once you leave? Whatever education you get should be preparing you for that eventual career, and your profs and faculty should show an interest and concern in that. If you major in Media Arts and Animation, bear in mind how fiercly competitive that field is and how hard you're going to have to work to get ahead. I feel sorry for the other students in my classes who didn't even like graphic design, but signed up becaue it looked easy enough.

Anyway, that's my two cents. And remember too that your major isn't locking you into one field for the rest of your life, either. Bill Amend, (who draws Fox Trot) got a degree in physics.

[LAGtheNoggin]

As we say in the UK; A Bachleors is for life, not just Christmas.

It's a life choice. If you're going in with the aim just to do something new, you may do alright, but really, it is a life choice; Future jobs and everything. You have to enroll with the thought that this is what you want and it's going to be a lot of work to get it.

I think Jaster summed up art college quite well; "Anyone who thinks art college is easy deserves a kick in the face."

Other than that, ask around, get advice, visit the college and good luck! ^.^

[Christwriter]

Well...doing art as a career IS kind of the idea.

The main reason I haven't applied for colleges yet is that I couldn't think of any of the careers as something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and the only point of going to college, beyond learning new stuff, is get a piece of paper that says "I can do this job". That was the first thing I ever read that was a goal I could work for.

I know I need to go to college and learn something to survive in the "real world" job scene. But I've been coasting for two years because I never really wanted to...it was something I would do, but at the absolute last moment because spending the rest of my life filing papers or legal motions is not attractive, and I've never been able to do anything without working up a good head of enthusasim for it first.

Hard work...anything worth doing is hard work. I'd expect the same out of art college that I would out of regular college.

Oh...and Alania...this came out of a search for art classes in the area, like I said before. One college here was offering classes, and I'd feel very...weird...going in for art lessons and not anything else. And it wouldn't be in what I wanted, anyway. Traditional media only, and I could get those lessons from my mother for free.

EDIT: Sudden thought. There aren't ANY feilds worth doing that are not highly compeditive right now. At least...not the big money makers, none that I can think of. Seems like whatever I do, I'm going to be fighting fifteen other people for an entry-level posision.

CW

[Mr.Bob]

I just started one! (Fees are the same as any other college)

[Toxic]

My art teacher wanted me to consider applying to RISD, which is the Harvard of art colleges or something like that...

Yeah.

[Ruxen]

I'm in an 'Art' school right now, though it does double as an Art and Design school. I'm doing Design right now, I did try out the art end last year and didn't find it to my liking. There are a few things I can tell you about the truths of art school and what you can expect if you're going into a fine arts institution. I've see the pattern and it's pretty much similar between all of them, keep in mind there are exceptions and different views and professors but this is the majority of today's art institutions..

- Never take what your Fine Arts professors say about the content of your work as anything else but difference of opinion. Art Profs will look at your work and they have a mindset of post modernism that they expect to see, if they don't see post modern they don't see art. Take their content critisms and stylistic critisms as a grain of salt.

- Don't expect to be taught anatomy, composition or anything like that unless you're taking a class that says quite clearly Idealistic Anatomy. Those things are more a part of Illustration and Design then they are of Fine Art. Most Art Profs can probably show you how to draw according to idealistic proportion and persepective ect. But you have to squeeze it out of them first.

- Do not conform to be whatever the Fine Arts scene wants you to be. Being an artist these days seems to be more and more focused on shocking people by doing something they don't usually see, to me that's not art it's mindless pandering. Hold on to your beliefs and your views of art and your belief in yourself and you'll come out twice the artist the confromists will ever be.

I decided to give up on the Fine Arts program after half a semester of post modernist talk. I got tired of not doing what I want and discovered what I've wanted to do all a long was Illustration and Design, a program that taught me proper perspective, anatomy and touched a little bit on foreshortening and composition. It's a lot of hard work as Design majors and Illustration majors these days are in a race to beat eachother and see who will stick to it and who will drop out. Design is by no means easy it's hard and it's a lot of work but to me it's worth every minute.
I think the best advice I can give you if you're thinking of going into a Visual Arts field is to take a couple courses at a community college if you really love art after that try out a semester at an Art Institute with maybe one Design course, you can compare the two courses for yourself and see which one you'd like to go into better. Whatever Bachelor you get won't hold you down in terms of what you want to do, but it's a heck of a lot of money to get that darn piece of paper.

[LAGtheNoggin]

I just started one! :D ("Fees" are the same as any other [Dutch] college)

I thought you guys didn't even get fees? Or am I thinking of Sweden? And I thought it was really hard to get into uni's over there?

Meanwhile, back in the land of Blighty - *prepares self for future University payment via the rectum* - This's going to hurt in morning. A lot. But at least I don't need to work hard to get there! Need to work like fsck when I do though...

[Mr.Bob]

I just started one! ("Fees" are the same as any other [Dutch] college)

I thought you guys didn't even get fees? Or am I thinking of Sweden? And I thought it was really hard to get into uni's over there?

Meanwhile, back in the land of Blighty - *prepares self for future University payment via the rectum* - This's going to hurt in morning. A lot. But at least I don't need to work hard to get there! Need to work like fsck when I do though...

Standard university fees do exist but they are not too high (around Є1,400 per year). Plus the government hands out very generous student grants (non-repayable babee!) to Dutch nationals.
If it isn't enough, individuals can also request a loan in addition.

Accessibility isn't that hard as there are plenty of educational institutions dotted about the country. All you need are decent enough high school grades (I'm not aware of any course that really needed super-powerful-look-at-me-look-at-me-I-am-either-a-brilliant-genius-or-have-no-social-life scores

[War]

Aye, it's bad enough for us British nationals but we really make you foreign students pay.
YOU'LL ALL PAY!!!

Incidentally, I dropped out of university. I'm currently looking at reapplying to do Illustration. A wee bit different from Aerospace engineering.

[Toxic]

Aye, it's bad enough for us British nationals but we really make you foreign students pay.
YOU'LL ALL PAY!!!

Incidentally, I dropped out of university. I'm currently looking at reapplying to do Illustration. A wee bit different from Aerospace engineering.

I found it hard to believe an artist as good as you was interested in studying aerospace engineering. Good for you!

[LAGtheNoggin]

Aye, it's bad enough for us British nationals but we really make you foreign students pay.
YOU'LL ALL PAY!!!

Incidentally, I dropped out of university. I'm currently looking at reapplying to do Illustration. A wee bit different from Aerospace engineering.

I found it hard to believe an engineer as good as you was interested enough in illustration to actually study it. Blimey!

Then again I'm kinda' used to Cambridge students, every single one of them has dropped their art or hobbys (unless their hobby is school) in favour of an education at Cambridge, I have no idea how they can stand that kind of all encompassing grind, but they do.

Do you have a 'net link to your illustration course, War? I've got to start course hunting and that one might be a very big possibility.

[BERSERKERCREW]

i'm going to F.I.T. now, suprisingly inexpensive (except for the books )
but it's a pretty awesome school nonetheless.
it's also 65% female.

[Toxic]

i'm going to F.I.T. now, suprisingly inexpensive (except for the books )
but it's a pretty awesome school nonetheless.
it's also 65% female.

FIT is part of SUNY, right? I go to San Jose State, which is only $1500 a year for tuition, $7000 for a room, and damn expensive books. Hooray for public education!

[Christwriter]

I decided to give up on the Fine Arts program after half a semester of post modernist talk. I got tired of not doing what I want and discovered what I've wanted to do all a long was Illustration and Design, a program that taught me proper perspective, anatomy and touched a little bit on foreshortening and composition. It's a lot of hard work as Design majors and Illustration majors these days are in a race to beat eachother and see who will stick to it and who will drop out. Design is by no means easy it's hard and it's a lot of work but to me it's worth every minute.
I think the best advice I can give you if you're thinking of going into a Visual Arts field is to take a couple courses at a community college if you really love art after that try out a semester at an Art Institute with maybe one Design course, you can compare the two courses for yourself and see which one you'd like to go into better. Whatever Bachelor you get won't hold you down in terms of what you want to do, but it's a heck of a lot of money to get that darn piece of paper.

Actually, the cirriculum for Media Arts and Animation seems to be geared more towards 3d computer animation than Fine Arts. Some of the later quarters had classes in Storytelling and Storyboarding, doing 2d animation, Color Theory, Introduction to Microsoft and Macintosh (which, mercifully, you can place out of) and a few others. The earliest classes are mostly work for drawing, which might have the problem of overly critical teachers (I have a low opinion of anyone who critises someone's work on the basis of style and content instead of skill and asthetical pleasure)

I'm defenately going to work towards this, now.

*goes to re-read the course discription*

CW

[Justinpie]

I majored in English with an emphasis on writing, which (as far as I can tell) is exactly like Art School in that many works overanalyzed as genius are really just mediocre, and truly great works go unnoticed. In addition, the works in the "Genius" canon seem to shift around depending on when it's being presented - it's almost like a slo-mo version of "In or Out".

[Sopheia]

Well, if you want a reaaaaally good art education you should go to Russia. They may be post-modern sometimes... but I have a couple of friends who studied there, and they did a lot of diverse courses with many different techniques... you learn everything... impressionism, expressionism, anatomy, flowers, landscapes, post-modernism... it's all about technique, rather than style. If you go to the Dutch art thingie... it's less technique and more about 'finding your own style'. Of course, I would have absolutely NO idea how a foreigner would get into a Russian university...

Also, last time I checked, English fees for European Union residents are quite remarkably the same as in Holland. (Hehe, I'm planning to go and study at the University of Southampton next year). It's about 17000 euros annual fee (if I'm correct )... But you're right Mr.Bob.. life in England is more expensive... (but you earn more too )