I’m a mom just checking out the many options that could be in my 9th grade daughter’s future. She’s a pretty good student, with interests in art (esp manga — I know, I know) and natural sciences.
She’s fairly shy, anxious and not very thick-skinned, so while I would love for her to look at some colleges that have excellent art programs I don’t want to steer her toward a highly cut-throat, competitive program. I took a few art courses in college and dread her facing a harsh critique.
She’s fairly unfocused right now and says she has no idea what she wants to study or do, but she has always loved art and it seems to be her native language (unlike, say, math), so I’d like to make sure she goes somewhere that will offer a wide range of art courses if she does want to pursue art. Bonus if it has a good environmental science program which she also likes, but I think art is really her thing.
I’m looking for a small school, too. I think she would flounder and be lost at a big school. She’s chosen to go to a small charter school for high school rather than our larger local public high school. I’m looking in or near North Carolina (where we live). I think she will want to stay close to home. Any suggestions?
Check out MICA, of course. My D1 opted not to go there but we really got the feeling that it’s a very supportive environment. Dedicated art colleges in general aren’t large with the exception of Pratt or SCAD. Most take in a class of around 400 students or smaller. Not close but still meeting some of your criteria, I also recommend MCAD in Minneapolis which is a small but vibrant campus community and the kids get LOTS of attention (because the student:teacher ratio is so good). @luvmiballerina is from SE United States and has a son there in his foundation year.
Your daughter is still young and a lot of maturing happens in a couple years. Definitely take her to a national portfolio day next fall so she can begin to see what that’s like. Warning: none of the schools will like her manga (they’ve seen too much of it and it’s a style that isn’t the artists individual voice). Also, if you can afford it have her take additional art classes somewhere or even a precollege program in the summer after she completes her sophomore year. Those programs are serious portfolio builders.
My D1 was manga-crazy till she decided to get serious about art school right before junior year. Nothing focuses you like trying to get into your dream school with merit aid so you can actually attend there!
Crits are part of the process. I don’t think they make a school cut throat. To me cut throat would be if students sabotage other student’s work. However, I do think presenting several projects per class and having crits done by fellow students and the professor are the norm for art school.
Being able to hear criticism and using that to become a better artist is essential to the process. If your D wants to be successful in the art world she will have to develop thicker skin. Even in commercial art, her work needs to meet the client’s expectations. In fine arts, artists need to make submissions to gallery shows and can face rejection there. And of course they vy for gallery representation. Even once your work is exhibited you need to be able to stomache people off the street making comments. It’s not for the weak of heart.
Most freshman will be just as fearful as her. D is now a senior at NYU and can handle crits much better. I think she feels good enough about herself as an artist that she can listen to crits for what they can teach her. She no longer views all criticism as a denouncement of her being an artist.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m not really sure she will want to pursue an art major, but I think she will probably want to take some art classes. She may go into enviro science or something else entirely. I’m just thinking ahead and want to sort of get a list of schools that we might think about visiting over the next few years. I’m sure MCAD is great, but way too far away for her unless she had a really good friend who was going there and I doubt that. I have a younger daughter too and I could see her going across the country, but not my older one. My older one might make it as far as SCAD, but I’m not sure. I’ll put MICA on the list. She may want to stay in-state or at least w/in easy driving distance).
I know crit is how it is done, but I think some schools have a reputation for being tougher and more competitive that way than others. Cut-throat is probably a bad term. “Competitive” is really probably what I’m trying to avoid. It might be that she’d be better off at a small college that just has a good art department rather than an art school. I’m wondering about Warren Wilson’s art program or maybe Guilford’s. UNC-Asheville might be good for her too. She’s super un-focused right now (and that’s fine with me in 9th grade!), but I’m getting a little anxious about finding a good fit for her since she’s such a unique kid.
I will put NPD on my radar, but I don’t think she’s ready for that yet either. She needs to build up a portfolio and I don’t want to push her on that. I have mentioned contests like the Scholastic ones and she is very much NOT interested in that (my younger daughter is all about it, though). This kid is very non-competitive in all aspects. She doesn’t like games with winners, sports, or even video games that keep score (likes things like Minecraft and the Sims instead). She just kinda likes to float along and be creative and work on her own or with friends cooperatively. I’m looking for a school that would work well with that kind of spirit. She’s really into CosPlay and ComiCons right now, and fairly geeky that way. Def not Greek-y (ha!).
Perhaps look at Sewanee. One of the “My Sewanee Story” videos on Youtube features an art student.
It’s a small school in a gorgeous, southern setting, with an incredibly nurturing faculty. The FYP program enables a significant number of freshmen (about 1/3 of the class) to start a class 10 days before the fall semester begins, and get to know each other in small groups.
Sewanee is one I have thought of, but I think it has more of a preppy (for lack of a better word) culture than would suit my kid. She has bright pink hair at the moment and cringes at the thought of wearing fancy clothes (such as a dress), but is all about cosplay and dressing up like anime characters. She’d probably be more comfortable at a hippie school like Warren Wilson. I’d just like a really good nurturing, non-competitive, art program with a lot of different disciplines. UNC-Asheville is on the list, too. I think it may have more of a geeky culture than Warren-Wilson, but I think we will look at both. Both have enviro science and art, too.
@Sweetgum - Even if she’s only mildly interested in Art at this point, going to NPD as a sophomore would be very helpful. It could be what turns her off completely from pursuing Art further - OR it could turn on some lightbulbs. As @mamalot said, the representatives will not be particularly receptive to the manga (my S was the same at that age and he’s now a junior Painting major who is currently finding a passion for screen printing), and if she’s like most artists her age, many of her sketches will have objects/characters isolated from a setting. She will get some terrific pointers on what to develop if she DOES want to go further in Art. Going to NPD as a sophomore will give her an idea of what to expect going forward and will put her at a distinct advantage over those who “discover” they want to go to Art school in their senior year. Seeing all those schools in one place can also start to give her an inkling of all the different types of programs out there, perhaps get her thinking about what kind of environment would be a good fit for her - w/o the pressure of “OMG, I need to make a decision about my future right NOW” - even if it turns out that Art is not for her. Don’t let her be too concerned about not having “finished” pieces to show. My S took his sketchbook - which at that point still had some of his middle school stuff in it. Talking to all those representatives who took art seriously was the first time he truly felt that studying Art in college might be a viable option. I think for younger students - who have NO idea what they want to do after HS - NPD can make art seem like something “real”, rather than something I just doodle at and has no “value”. I know AAC (Art Academy of Cincinnati) is too far for you to consider, but it is very small and nurturing. They have been very understanding of my S’s issues and are also very encouraging when it comes to students tailoring their studies for their personal interests.
I’ve always felt that youth should be exposed to art and art classes when young, so that they can test out what they like and don’t, long before going or not going to college. Find an art league type school around you and have your daughter pick some classes. An art league offers many different kinds of art classes, for both youth and adults, and is taught by professional artists. Classes are typically offered once per week, and some have workshops offered that last most of the day. You definitely want her to take drawing. Our local art league offers everything–drawing painting sculpture cartooning textiles and probably manga. My three children all started at such schools when they were about five years old, and one of them continued taking multiple classes there until she became a professional artist.
My take on National Portfolio Day is a bit different. My now-professional artist was completely turned off by the idea of attending one in high school and never went. But she had already decided she would become a professional artist and how she would get there.
My D attended the summer program after her junior year in HS at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and it was such a great experience for her. Most art schools offer some kind of program like this so check in your area if you don’t want her to travel far. The program was two weeks (which was a perfect length of time) and they immersed the students in different art classes (illustration, portfolio prep, ceramics, etc.) She was nervous living away from home for the first time, and at first felt overwhelmed being around other really good art students, but that soon passed and she really enjoyed herself, learned quite a bit, and made some great pieces for her portfolio. Everyone at the school was very supportive and encouraging. She made a lot of nice contacts and really grew as an artist (and as a person too.) I’d suggest a summer program if you have the funds. We actually used some of her 529 plan money which is allowed since she received college credit for it which was great! And I’d also suggest NPD but instead of standing in long lines at Pratt and RISD, have her go to the smaller, lesser known schools where she can get a lot of feedback from different admissions people and use it to strengthen her portfolio.
My son as a 9th grader sounds a lot like your daughter. He’s now a senior and has definitely matured quite a bit in terms of both his artistic expression and ability to to take constructive criticism of his work. He used to draw mostly superhero figures. His HS art teacher would have to push him to produce work that wasn’t “cartoony” and outside his comfort zone. He’s taken art every year in HS and the students would have to critique each other’s work. At first, he’d get hurt by any negative comments, but over time he learned to accept constructive advice.
He attended NPD this fall in NYC and it was crazy crowded. It would have been a big mistake to take him there when he was younger. It may be a better experience in other cities, but some of the reps didn’t give him much time after waiting in line for hours. We had previously attended a local portfolio review event in NJ by SVA and it was a much more helpful and positive experience - about 30 students and 5 reviewers. He got a lot of great feedback and specific recommendations for what they’d like to see. Some students had lots of finished pieces and others showed up with just sketchbooks. Irregardless of their experience, they all were given time and consideration. This type of setting may be better suited for your daughter than NPD to get some thoughtful, professional advice. I know other art schools hold similar regional reviews - Pratt had one in Philly that we considered attending - you’ll just need to check their websites. Also most art schools welcome you to schedule individual in-person reviews of your portfolio if you’re visiting their campus.
In addition to summer pre college programs, you may want to consider a “portfolio bootcamp” My son attended one at Tyler (Temple’s Art School) - three Saturdays in March - and produced 4 great pieces for his portfolio.
My son is now a soph @ Tyler. He was also big into manga/anime during elementary & middle school. He went to his first NPD as a hs soph & it opened his eyes as to what he needed to work on. He was able to dramatically change his artistic style by the time he was a hs senior.
If your daughter isn’t sure about art school I would suggest looking at smaller colleges that have a good art department. Many schools like that don’t require a portfolio for admission.
I also agree with what’s been said about crits. My son had a lot of trouble with this during his freshman year, especially when it came to giving critiques of his classmates’ work. Fortunately he has a older cousin who graduated with an art degree who was able to give him some pointers on how to handles crits. For what it’s worth he said most art students have difficulty with crits at first.
Thanks for the feedback. She is so unfocused on college right now, but as a mom I’ve got it in the back of my mind all the time. We won’t be able to do a summer program this year, but a friend of hers is doing one at UNC-SA that I think might work out well next year. We’ll get the report from the friend after this year and hopefully they can attend together next year. I think that would give her a good taste of it.
Hi @Sweetgum ! Your daughter honestly sounds a lot like me when I was a freshman in high school. Throughout my life until about junior year of hs I was very anxious and sensitive, definitely not thick skinned. I’m going to be a sophomore in college. I’m majoring in international relations/asian studies and minoring in art. Throughout high school I had every intention of going to art school. However, as I grew in my high school I realized I had other interests I wanted to pursue in addition to the arts. I started out drawing ‘manga’ artwork up till sophomore year of high school till I got introduced to different styles. Personally, what I have found is that drawing manga often gives a very good base to develop your own style as an artist. It is true as stated art schools will not be very impressed with the ‘manga’ style but your daughter is young and will grow into her style and find her right medium.
What I recommend is taking an art class(s) in school and outside of school. I did a special program with a local art school where I would go to an art class on the weekends taught by an actual instructor. At the end of it I had a portfolio piece ready. If there is an art league or any local universities that offer high school weekend/summer programs I highly recommend those. They really open up your eyes on style, pursuing art, and getting help to develop a portfolio.
In addition I also read that you said earlier your daughter is into cosplay and scifi. I myself am also a cosplayer/seamstress and frequent anime/scifi conventions. If she ever attends conventions there usually is an area of artists selling their works. I HIGHLY recommend she talks to the people there. Many of the people have gone to art school and have a wealth of knowledge about pursuing art as a career.
If she’s not sure about art schools I also recommend maybe looking into smaller LAC too. I suggest taking a look into Loren Pope’s book Colleges that change lives. It has tons of LAC schools throughout the country that provide students with nurturing environments. I also maybe would recommend Salem College in Winston-Salem I have a friend there and she absolutely loves it! She’s similar to me a bit shy in the beginning and into anime/cosplay and she feels like she found her niche there. As someone also stated earlier Laguna College of Art and Design is also a good match! My other friend is there for animation, the class sizes are small, and the area is very safe.
Feel free to message me, I’ve been the student that really wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do! The way you described your daughter sounds exactly like me back in high school!
