<p>Hi. I have a niece who is interested in going to the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco, a high school, as a visual artist. Does anyone have any information about the school or what the academics are like, as well as the art. I have not lived in SF for about the last 20 years and do not know the reputation of the program, and my brother knows little about art school. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>It’s my personal bias [i attend Lowell HS in SF] but …</p>
<p>I don’t really like SOTA [School of the Arts] for its arts program. Last time I checked [last year?] they had one or two painting/drawing teachers. The style taught at SOTA is very technical and traditional. But, if that’s what you prefer, I’d really recommend people to go there. Students develop really strong technical skills in rendering and coloring. Plus, juniors can take figure drawing classes. </p>
<p>Last time I went to a National Portfolio Day with my semi-abstract portfolio, I remember lots of portfolio reviewers ranting about the formulaic look of SOTA student portfolios [because they’re all observational classical-styled pieces… there wasn’t much variety between each of the SOTA portfolios… ] The portfolios were EXCELLENT though.</p>
<p>The students supposedly get ~2 hours or more each day in their art [music, sculpting… etc … whatever they’ve auditioned for …] so I’m not sure how much time that leaves for academics. </p>
<p>They do have a pretty high API score though… : [Ruth</a> Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, A Public School in San Francisco , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results](<a href=“http://school-ratings.com/school_details/38684783830387.html]Ruth”>Ruth Asawa SF Sch of the Arts, A Public School in San Francisco , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results)</p>
<p>The 2 main things I didn’t like about SOTA were
- very traditional/classical styled art. My art leans more towards an abstract or expressionist look.
- If someone is a multidisciplinary artist, they may not be able to practice both/all at SOTA. I paint, sculpt, play piano, and play violin.</p>
<p>I’ll go and see if I can get more information for you if no one else replies soon. ._.</p>
<p>It is a great school! just not one for me :[</p>
<p>Thanks ViTong. My niece actually lives outside the city, so has no other choice of art school. She draws and this is her passion. I appreciate your analysis. Thanks. Any other info would be great. As an aside, my dad (83 years old) went to Lowell!</p>
<p>Sorry, as of now, I still don’t have much new info. Has your niece visited the school before ? They do tours :]</p>
<p>And if she is planning to apply, does she know about the portfolio audition?</p>
<p>ViTong. Just wanted to thank you again for responding to my request about SF SOTA. We found out today that my niece got in to the school! She will be coming from San Mateo, so it will be quite the journey every day, but we are all really excited for her. Her area will be set design and other behind the stage theater stuff! I really appreciate your help!</p>
<p>hello phillyartmom. I just joined college confidential to ask questions about art college, but it just so happens i am a senior visual arts major at SOTA. My experience at sota included so many highs and lows, but that being said, it was a unique experience i would not trade for anything. first of all students must be self motivated, otherwise they will get lost among the hundreds of talented people. you will meet students who have performed all over the world or are already famous. As ViTong has mentioned, the visual art program excels at technical skill. The goal is to bring all students at the same technical level, so they can go on to utilize these skills in their own direction. As for ViTong’s statement that it is too classical, students at SOTA were accepted to UCLA Art, which is known as the center of modern art. Also, a more technical based portfolio will get you more money at art/design schools like RISD. That being said, students should be exploring different possibilities in art on their own time. As for ViTong’s statement about SOTA being not multidisciplinary, I completely disagree. SOTA is all about combining the disciplines. If you have the most talent in the bay area, why not combine them all? For example media, theater and music students collaborate to make amazing movies shown in media night. As for not being able to double major, that’s not completely true. Many majors at sota allow the option for a double major, such as Theater Tech/Musical Theater/Vocal/Theater. It is true that you cannot double major in music and art, they both require too much focus. In my sophomore year i transferred from visual to piano(which only accepts about 3 freshmen per year), but then I returned to visual because i found that performing was not my thing. But i continued to study piano on my own, and was even accepted to the SF conservatory pre college. Sorry for the long post, i wanted to summarize my 4 years at sota 
Hope this helps!!</p>
<p>In conclusion: If you think you child is self motivated, then they will succeed at SOTA. remember that even though everyone is amazingly talented, everyone has different views to bring to the table.</p>
<p>we have 5 visual teachers, 3 of which are professional artists in residence. Freshman year we have one of the teachers for foundation, then sophomore year we have a sculptor and photographer, junior year we have advanced painting and figure drawing, senior year we have AP art</p>
<p>Dray, how funny. I just asked if you were from a city on your post and wondered if you went to SFSota! My niece is the one going there and yes, she is self motivated. I think she is going for Theater Tech, but this may not be exactly right. She goes to a small school now where the kids take a lot of interesting classes and work to become fluent in Japanese, so she has experience pushing herself! Are you from the City? My niece is not, so there will be a lot of time getting back and forth to school. Are there a lot of kids from outside SF? Thanks for your information. I will pass it on.</p>
<p>@ dray45, thanks for correcting me. :]</p>
<p>I’m still glad I chose Lowell though. Did not have to wait until senior year to take AP Art. I was able to take AP Studio Art 3D in sophomore year and took AP Drawing in junior year… </p>
<p>Seeing as you’re a senior, I’m assuming you’re in AP art :D. Good luck with your portfolio and with choosing colleges ! </p>
<p>Now I wish I had applied to UCLA art… </p>
<p>@OP, congratulations to your niece :]</p>
<p>ViTong,
That’s great! Im surprised my school does not offer AP 3d >.>, because we have a whole year of sculpture…So how were your art classes? do you plan to major in art? I have a lot of respect for lowell, many of my cousins and friends go there. you guys work hard! </p>
<p>Anyways, phillyartmom: I live in the city, so I am very lucky. Only a 15 minute commute. I have many friends who even take 1hr 30 minutes to get to SOTA. They dont call it a magnet school for nothing. and to be honest i dont know much about theater tech. Their main thing is the annual musical which is huge… apparently they also have an annual fashion show. I can ask some techies if you need ^^</p>
<p>lowell and sota are completely different, but im sure she will have great experiences at either one! i am very excited for her :)</p>