<p>Do you hav to move to CO if you get the job or how that work? I went to see Colorado College which was nice in its own way.
Some of out tribes are big supporter of CO state schools (Boulder, esp) I don’t now why. If you have to move there then you’d be a resident, right? whole new opportunities would open up ! (or not?)</p>
<p>BandD…this is the guy!..S always wanted be an artist but couldn’t really articulate why or (and still can’t) say exactly how he sees his future… but he saw this a few years ago and he took me to his computer to see the video and said…" this is it… how I feel watching these sculptures move is how I want people to feel when I make something"…I guess he means the equivalent of feeling “shock and awe” combined with a certainty that it is beautiful.</p>
<p>I can hear that Pittsburgh is calling you if not Dutch coast land…</p>
<p>Bears… a boy at D’s school was very inspired by this work. He is going to UMich to some engineering/tech + art program next year because of it. He tried to do something like this for his senior project, but had to settle for a more traditionally moving mobile, since the “gearbox” or something was too difficult at his level.</p>
<p>irony is that BMW who make cars run on fossil fuel made this commercial that put him on the international stage. He have been doing this quietly forever. I often wonder how many times this sort of thing happen and do inspire so many kids otherwise did not know what to do with this fuzzy feeling they can not articulate but in there for sure.^famkid
Lucky ones they are if able to meet a mentor, teacher, got parents or community with resources.
How many would be Picasso, da Vinci, Theo Jansen go undiscovered, misguided, lost.
There was this line in movie Amadeus, Salieri cries about why he is able to tell the genius when he is only just hard woking mediocre, I totally get it.
Feeling is here, eyes are here (well, sort of) but can not will not ever do it myself, which makes me harsh critic and bitter as a person but then, just plain break my heart when young kids who want/ could simply won’t able to do it because of the circumstances that often none of their own fault.</p>
<p>that brings down to this bit of news last night (early today)</p>
<p>I met so and so ( his old art HS #1) in Union sq.
em… RISD
what? donno, better be, got like, 100 brothers an sisters or somethin’
yeah, but he got promoted! now at one that’s on Madison!!( fancy food joint the kid works)
why? WHO wants to meet YOU? </p>
<p>Thank you RISD for making this happen, I am sorry ever badmouthed you, now you are gonna find reincarnated Maxfield Parrish or Andrew Wyeth in brakedancing innercity youth.</p>
<p>here is the winner of last year’s $ 250K, good story.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37662[/url]”>http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37662</a></p>
<p>Ok Bears- broken bearsanddoglish not withstanding- I completely do not understand post #406. It appears to be good news, which I would love to understand… So can you give it another go? Its just you generally have the most interesting insight into life and art, and there will be a hole in my life if I dont understand this piece of news…</p>
<p>You met someone in Union Square with some connection to RISD? What does the number of siblings have to do with anything? What did he get promoted to? Who wants to meet whom? You? What did RISD make happen. </p>
<p>I wait patiently for translation…</p>
<p>sorry switters that’s what happens you lurk too much and loose track of time and who knows what.
it was sort of continued from my kid’s MCAD report talking, the way how he usually answers to my questions.</p>
<p>Every Saturday, he would come to my job after Cooper class so I could feed him at least one square meal ( office has better kitchen than our home) then I would keep working he would go home or meet friends nearby Union square where he usually bump into someone he knows.
So he met this kid from his old HS - the best painter - whom made it and will be going RISD. I asked if he got enough grants, my son answered better be, since the boy has many siblings and all usual hardships. The boy have been working to buy his stuff but now promoted to be in this fancy cafe not so far from our place, I suggested let’s go see him and leave pile of tip but of course my kid told me no way.</p>
<p>I have seen the boy’s works at the school shows. It is really amazing, but then the boy is this brakedancing pants falling typical inner city kid, really something to add to the RISD class.
I do worry a bit though, don’t know if he even visited. Getting in is one thing, staying in and getting out with degree is another…
Who am I to patronize but it is almost given at those public voc tech schools, “College” usually means somewhere you’d take subways.</p>
<p>oh finally…I get to say…he has chosen Carnegie Mellon! Much agonizing by son over the value of art education…much worry…his dad is abroad so also much skyping…</p>
<p>Feeling lots of appreciation for husband…very supportive and understanding about this expense that represents, literally, the first decade of his working life… for someone who went to night school, supported a widowed mom and 3 brothers since he was 12, and really knows how to pinch a penny. He congratulated S on getting an outside scholarship (takes a chunk out of the tuition but just a chunk), getting into all these good schools, etc. and making a thoughtful choice and taking into consideration the financial impact. However, being who he is, husband also laid out some conditions. If you have read my earlier posts they will not surprise you. </p>
<ol>
<li>take 2 courses in spanish lit or do study abroad in spanish speaking country.</li>
<li>stay physically active–some sport/ride bike/frisbee club or take pe</li>
<li>contribute $xx (details are still pending) either through working in the summers, taking out a loan and look for more scholarships or any combination to pay for books, supplies, spending money.</li>
<li>be a good son (call mother once a week and acknowledge us when you are famous).</li>
</ol>
<p>Only three things will result in us cutting off financial support in the next 4 years.
- any body piercings
- any tatoos
- getting someone pregnant</p>
<p>Son agreed to all of these pointing out that the last part is easy: he is allergic to most metals, is scared of needles and even more frightened of babies. </p>
<p>I am sooo happy and relieved…not just about the school choice which I think is the right one, but to see a both father and son think about what this will mean for each of them.</p>
<p>WHOOT WHOOT WHOOT !!!
now I can stop lurking… (well almost)
move over Theo Jansen, Che(?), Andy Warhol, Roberto Clemente, Joey Pigza who swallowed the key…
Pittsburgh is now officially Hot.</p>
<p>Yeah fammom and son! And Dad too! Very uplifting to hear how you all came together in this process. Your son is very lucky and I’m sure he is going to be soaring.</p>
<p>Finally I can report…</p>
<p>After our visit on Thursday S has decided on RISD. I know there hasn’t been much love for RISD here but for many reasons it is the right choice for my son. This is the last school on his list that I though he would end up attending. We included it just “to see”. It was actually one of the first schools he ever saw. He has a friend a year older than him whose Dad wanted him to study science, yet he is an amazing photographer. I had just heard about the Brown/RISD dual degree and thought I’d take the boys on a trip. We left Providence at the end of that day with my son saying he would never go to an art school 
It’s almost two years later and what do you know.</p>
<p>S visited RISD in between that first visit and this past Thursday. The head of the ID department talked with him for half an hour and gave him a tour of the building. He left feeling it was is top choice for ID but I told him to keep his cool because we most likely couldn’t afford it. When they came up with enough FA for us to be able to send him I was pretty shocked. </p>
<p>He had a great visit on Thursday. When we arrived we went straight to the ID building and found two seniors working on a gallery installation. They were very gracious and warm. They answered all of my son’s questions and one of them offered to show us around the building again. When we were leaving the building we went back to talk to the young man in the gallery and he gave us a gift of one of the geometric sculpture/forms he had been making when we walked in. He told us he had a friend who was a glass blower who was helping him turn these forms into glass.</p>
<p>We went on to the lecture/presentation which was long. Too long. But they sure did give a great presentation about career services. I think they were trying to convince all of the parents it was worth sending a kid to art school.</p>
<p>After that we took the express tour to the dorms. This was important because my son hadn’t seen them on his last visit (only accepted students are allowed to see inside the rooms.) The freshman live in what is called the Quad, a group of buildings built on a hillside street surrounding a courtyard. The main dining hall is in this facility. Each of the four dorms had studio space for homework and rooms to hang out and socialize in. My son said the rooms were the biggest (doubles) he had seen at all of his college visits so far.</p>
<p>After the dorms we used the key code they gave us to explore all of the other buildings on campus. The painting building was pretty impressive. I saw two huge studios where most of the students were working on large scale paintings. I was very surprised at how much space they have. On the top floor of our last building we came upon the glassblowing facilities. Two girls were quietly working together forming some pieces. My son said he wished he had asked the kid who had given us the geometric form to send us a picture of the glassblowing experiment. When we walked down the hall a kid popped his head out of a studio and said “hey…did so and so give you that (referring to the sphere I was holding)” I said “you don’t happen to know anything about the glass version of this do you?” He said “come in…my friend here is working on it.” We got to see two versions of the results. They were super cool. We felt very lucky.</p>
<p>The food was pretty good. In the bookstore cafe S had bruschetta on the most delicious sourdough bread with cheese melted on top. For dinner they were serving a locally grown and sourced meal in honor of earth day. I had some mussels and clams in marinara sauce and blueberry bread pudding. I did hear some girls complaining that there were flowers put out for the event just to make things look better than they really are on regular days. During dinner we asked one of the students who had been on the student panel to sit and talk with us. He also was very helpful and open.</p>
<p>Our last stop was an opening at a gallery in the admissions office building. It was a Senior Furniture Design and Photography Show. The work was fully realized and very sophisticated. The kids were pretty sophisticated too. I worried that there was a bit too much of a touch of elitism in the air. When we stepped out of the building there was a full rainbow arcing across the sky and some girls were jumping up and down squealing about it. I asked my son if he thought it was a sign. He said “There are no such thing as signs, only coincidences.”</p>
<p>On the drive home he said he was pretty positive that he wanted to go to RISD. I asked him to wait a couple of days and read over the syllabi and requirements of the two schools (CMU as well). In the meantime I fretted, starting to feel that CMU would be a healthier place for him to go to college. So many of the kids at RISD spoke about how they were stretched to their limit, turned inside out and upside down. One even said he thought he had gone crazy by the end of 2nd year but had now come through it. My impression is that CMU is a more grounded, steady place. I still kind of have a little regret. But in the end my son told me that the deciding factors for him were the RISD foundation year (at CMU the ID students do a dedicated design only foundation), Wintersession, the positive impressions he has of the ID building and facilities and the mood in the quad (to him it felt like he would make a lot of friends there).</p>
<p>This morning I had him lick the envelope with the check and put it in a mailbox. It’s done. Thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. I don’t know what I would have done without you all out there sharing the experience.</p>
<p>My husband calls me Densha Otoko…a character from a japanese TV show who spends a lot of time getting advice on his love life from his friends on an online forum: </p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Japanese Dorama DENSHO OTOKO Ep.02 Pt.3/5](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RhMSE9_tXQ]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RhMSE9_tXQ) </p>
<p>“you don’t go for ramen on a first date!!”</p>
<p>Congratulations on all these great decisions! </p>
<p>Drae - if you have any specific questions about RISD I’d be happy to answer them. Just PM me. My artist is a freshman this year.</p>
<ol>
<li>getting someone pregnant</li>
</ol>
<p>Son agreed to all of these pointing out that the last part is easy: he is allergic to most metals, is scared of needles and even more frightened of babies.</p>
<p>Heheh…let me tell you, from the perspective of a 25 year old guy (I have no kids)…he might be afraid of babies, but not of women, and sometimes kids don’t even get thought of after half a case of cheap beer (crazy young kids and their Coors Light) and some dancing with a pretty girl! </p>
<p>Lol jk…I am sure he will be fine. Even still, maybe “dad” should make sure the drawer in his room always has condoms, and gives him the old “don’t be an idiot” talk!</p>
<p>On a seperate side note, after registering for classes today, I ended up 1.5 credits less than I budgeted for the fall semester. That saves me about $2,000 on tuition.</p>
<p>So my current total due to the school for my freshman year is only $1260!!!</p>
<p>Now I can just worry about the expenses outside of school, and I can always eat peanut butter sandwiches to keep costs really low</p>
<p>Congrats Drae…thanks for the detailed rundown of your decision also. It was a lovely description but it is too bad that CMU didn’t work out so we could meet and do the pancake thing as suggested by BandD.</p>
<p>I am not so sure that CMU is any more laid back…S found that the students were also complaining of continuous work…seems to be part of foundation everywhere. I, on the other hand, loved RISD and Brown and all that charm…S said that he wanted more conceptual and was intimidated by the hill–hates physical exertion! </p>
<p>Awbacon…great news about how you have cobbled together a financial plan…perhaps you have mistaken your true gift…you may want to think about a backup plan as a financial analyst…LOL. </p>
<p>Thank you also for the advice…dad took care of that side quite a while ago given S’s early and intense love interest. Dad has been pretty Latin about the whole thing…can’t decide if he is more worried that son doesn’t need the protection or whether he is actually using them…needless to say DD is in for a fundamentally different final condition when it is time for her to go away to school --piercings and tatoos --he has no double standard…but if there is a cloistered all girls school that is known for its premed program…he will fill out the application himself. </p>
<p>Will soon be starting a new thread…what does an art school student take to college? Awbacon already started with the fundamentals…thanks!</p>
<p>I don’ know why I feel like crying… lost pancakes? ending of lurking with steroid era?
all here boys going separate but somehow most fitting each ways?
It have been some incredible journey, thank you all. Good luck a ton.</p>
<p>greenwitch, glutenmom, how you doing? last one is the rotten egg !!</p>
<p>yes…the pancake breakfast is only now in our imaginations. But I can see in my mind those boys jumping from bed to bed. It still makes me very happy. I do wish they could all meet and have a good laugh at us.</p>
<p>awbacon…I knew you could do it. I could feel your spirit through the interweb. congrats!!! Thanks for the young man advice. The girl/boy ratio sure did not escape my awareness on our visit the other day. </p>
<p>I showed that list of conditions to my son. He got a real kick out of it.</p>
<p>D has finally decided!!! </p>
<p>All this searching, visiting, studying, pondering, and kvetching and she has finally come back to her first love, MICA. I’m very relieved it’s over (for now) and not at all surprised it turned out this way. It’s been quite a journey, and she’s now come home. She will be happy there and not too far away - which could be a curse for me if she wants things shuttled back and forth - but then, I get to see her more often too.</p>
<p>No need to go on a MICA splurge here, it’s not perfect, but it is the best place for her right now. She’ll be in their hybrid BFA/BA program, and let the naysayers who want her to go the LAC route be damned!</p>
<p>And I can get one of those snazzy orange tote bags too. Also, MICA has a thriving parent group - just in case I’m bored with only one at home next fall. </p>
<p>P.S. I’m with you about the piercings and tattoos. D is attracted to the tattoo idea but I’ve forbidden it. I just think kids are doing these very permanent things too young. That, and it’s the leading cause of Hep C and can also cause burns in the presence of an MRI machine if iron oxide is used in the ink. Piercings can be even worse. Any mouth piercings allow mouth bacteria to enter your blood stream and can lead lead to inflammation of the heart valves. Possibly fatal!</p>
<p>Sorry for the intense imagery at such a happy time. Congrats to everyone!!! Bears, will your son be going to MCAD? So far, we are all very far flung.</p>
<p>More good news… after visiting Pratt with us last weekend, my brother-in-law gave D a great piece of advice for her art school years, and beyond:</p>
<p>“Guard your inner artist like a virgin on prom night, not like a ho at a bachelor party”.</p>
<p>Hahahahahahaha, keep the faith everyone!</p>
<p>It’s late and I just flew back from Boulder Colorado – what we do for our children. I think the job interview went very well and I’m cautiously optimistic that with this job the second to the last piece of the puzzle falls into place and the kid can go to MICA. Therapist, Dad, and I really think she would benefit from a gap year – but she has her heart set on going in the Fall. </p>
<p>Catch is I won’t find out about job until after next Monday (no worries, the job will be here in NY, not in colorado). So I think we have to take a leap of faith and send in the MICA deposit… or??? If this job doesn’t pan out we will have to use PLUS loan… ugh. </p>
<p>GAcK. Keeping fingers crossed. We will have one more pow-wow with the kid tomorrow after school.</p>