<p>I am thinking of taking up art as a major in college.</p>
<p>Currently, Williams seems to be a good place for that, as wikipedia has shown that quite a number of Williams alumni have gone on to be curators and directors of reputable museums.</p>
<p>As an international applicant, I am considering schools with need-blind financial aid. Amongst my other considerations are </p>
<p>Amherst (My impression is that their focus is on Music)
Wesleyan (Heard their Film major is strong)
Yale (The Art school of yale is supposedly good)
Harvard</p>
<p>Carleton
Darthmouth
Middlebury</p>
<p>Could anyone enlighten me on which schools has a strong art and/or film program?</p>
<p>Williams has the strongest Art History Program and the strongest music program. I am not sure which school is strongest in studio art. Williams is not strong in film. Wesleyan is very strong in film.</p>
<p>You might also consider Oberlin, Bard and Vassar, all a bit less selective than the schools you listed, with Vassar the most selective of this group.</p>
<p>I have also heard that Princeton is really trying hard to increase the presence of the arts on their campus, so a studio art interest might be an admissions hook there. </p>
<p>if art is your interest, do more research. there are better choices in art than the ones you've listed (exception being Yale) but you must know what direction you want.</p>
<p>Williams is nice. Very nice. But not the art school. The art building is huge and is roomy, almost empty because there are classes offered only certain days in certain semesters with small (really) number of students that could be anything but art major, more likely double major with bio or poli sci.
There are things puzzled me like, why PC not mac, why no silk screen, but again, it is not meant to be the art school.
If money is important and your grade/score is good and your concentration is on traditional fine art, and most of all, like to live in the beautiful place that is nothing but college in the vista, Williams is the dream school.
They would even pay for about half of the cost of art supply as well. And best thing yet, you can have your solo exhibition if no one claimed the gallery place anytime as you like. There is this notebook you have to fill in and that's that. Talk about dream.</p>
<p>
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I am thinking of taking up art as a major in college.
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There are two different kinds of arts majors: art history (where you learn about art created by other people) or studio art (where you learn to create your own art). It is not clear which type of art major you want to be.</p>
<p>Williams is very strong for art history, and is well known for producing art museum directors and curators. It is less prominent in studio art, and is not particularly known for producing artists.</p>
<p>At the moment, I would like a career in the art world, but not as an fine art artist. At the very most, a photographer or art director. A museum director would indeed be interesting, but would be a long ride up.</p>
<p>However, I do enjoy the creation of works too, just not exactly in the traditional aspects of painting. I have been engaged in photography. I am interested to try film, amongst the other new medias. Thus
I would see myself more interested on contemporary parts of art.</p>
<p>Artists i list as my favourite are Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Ron Mueck, amongst others.</p>
<p>Only reason I am not applying to a full art institute such as School of Visual Arts is the lack of funding and the fact that double majors with more practical subjects such as economics can be taken up, while also exploring my (perhaps undiscovered as yet) other interests.</p>
<p>So, which of the liberal arts school would be good for their art programs?
(both history and studio)</p>
<p>There is nice photo facility but it is hard to take class, more students sign up than the limit and no guarantee how much you wanted or needed. And again, it is not offered always. Had all equipment and huge studio space not been in use. I don’t know how much student himself could utilize that if not for your class.
Try Cooper Union, then. Tuition is free. Just have to pay fees and to live.
We went to see famed MASMoca and did not want to be rude to the friend that drove us there, but, compare to Dia Beacon, it was like,
“...Is this it?”
Couldn’t get to Clark but if you are in NYC, there are Met, MOMA, Flitz, etc, I don’t think you'd miss much if learning art H and job opotunity there is not your aim. Ron Muek had show at Brooklyn Museum, bit sad place but big stuff tends to go there for more room they have got.</p>
<p>For museum work Williams is one of the top colleges as revealed by the nomenclature "the Williams mafia" when it comes to currating jobs.</p>
<p>Tufts has an awesome currating program with an art institution in Boston. You should definitely check that out.</p>
<p>For photography I think the best school is Bard. They offer a masters in photography coadministrated by ICP: International Center of Photography.</p>
<p>They offer a year in NYC and many contacts, too, and it's a very long day but it is possible to leave and return to Bard in the same day to see a museum.</p>
<p>The Clark museum isn't the Met, but it's a very nice museum. Williams also has a very lovely museum, the Williams Art Museum, right on school grounds.</p>
<p>MASSMOCA is very po-mo; it has interesting things, but even the setting is po-mo. You love it or you hate it.</p>
<p>Bard also has a great studio art department in addition to the aforementioned photography. And they're also home to a fine curatorial studies grad program: CCS</a> Bard | About The Center for Curatorial Studies</p>
<p>Wnstn, Williams has a very strong art department, which covers both history and studio. The art history side is larger and better known (one of the best in the world) but the studio side also holds it own as, I think, one of the strongest studio departments in a liberal arts setting. There are a wide range of art classes with a focus on process – as opposed to pure theory. The faculty includes many practicing artists in several media. The areas of interest, though, are fairly traditional – painting, drawing, photography, print making. I wouldn’t say Williams is a destination for new media or film.</p>
<p>Williams also offers a dual degree in art history/practice so you can in effect major in both areas and if you like also major in another unrelated field, like physics or economics. The three world class museums in the area provides a lot in the way of handson interaction in the art world and there are some amazing internship opportunities.</p>
<p>My son (who gradutated from Williams with that dual degree) was also interested in medium to small schools with strong art history and art studio. His list included Yale, Brown, Wesleyan, Hamiton, Skidmore, Kenyon, Conn College.</p>
<p>WNSTN,
I may have misunderstood you. Most of the schools recommended here are need-blind for admission, but far from it for financial aid. In fact, most are need-based aid only, or at least primarily. Are you looking for schools with good merit aid that will also offer it to foreign students, or do I misunderstand what you're looking for?</p>
<p>momrath, just curious, what is your son currently engaged in after his degree?</p>
<p>proud dad, my initial list of schools i was considering offers need-blind financial aid for international students, which i would preferably need as my family can afford to pay some, but not all the expenses. it would cost almost 10 times more than my undergraduate law degree here in Singapore. (that is if i decide to stay and read law and not pursue art at all. currently serving my mandatory national service, that's why i get to fumble around with choices.)</p>
<p>wnstn, my son is is currently working for an architectural firm and plans to apply to graduate school in architecture later this year. The Williams career counseling office was very helpful to him in job placement and in internships during his time at Williams.</p>
<p>Re financial aid, don't get distracted by the "need blind" element. It's important but not the most important issue for internationals. What you want are schools that once they admit you "guarantee to meet demonstrated need." </p>
<p>Using an on-line calculator figure under normal (albeit general) circumstances how much need-based aid would your family expect to receive? Can you live with that amount? If yes, then continue with colleges that only offer need-based aid. If no, then come up with another list.</p>
<p>If you can live with what the on-line calculators tell you you can expect, then the next step is to look at interational admissions and determine your chances of getting admitted. Students from Singapore have a good track record at Williams. Being a rural community, Williams doesn't attract -- or matriculate -- as many Asians as some of the other big name schools or urban schools, so they often use internationals to increase their diversity figures.</p>
<p>at this junction, i would like to thank everyone who has offered advice!</p>
<p>in my impression now, there doesn't seem like a lot of schools that would offer aid to international students. for instance, i was looking at Tisch NYU's photography and imaging course, but it seems not much aid is given to international students at all. </p>
<p>I was reading another thread you replied in that reflected amherst's art department is close to non-existent. well that's good to know, for me to eliminate one school out!</p>
<p>Besides yale, williams and wesleyan which i will be giving a shot at, would any of these other schools have anything strong in their art program to offer?</p>
<p>Bard seems pretty strong on their photography department, but being ranked 37th by USnews, doesn't really make sense to go all the way to USA from Singapore for. </p>
<p>Tisch interests me, being more focused on media-inclined art than traditional art, while still being part of a university where other modules in other fields can be taken up. But funding just seems short. "It should be noted that the University does not generally offer financial aid to international students. "</p>
<p>Looking at Columbia in NY, "Though Columbia is not need-blind in its admission of foreign students, if you are admitted then we will meet 100% of your demonstrated financial need. ". Is columbia strong in its art history or visual art?
columbia has kara walker in its faculty... well, only name i recognise. saw her works at whitney when i was in new york.</p>
<p>All colleges have art departments so if your objective is to get a solid liberal arts education and major in art/art history then you can do okay at any rigorous institution. Personally, the only one on your list that I'd say is "destination" for art is Harvard, but since the others are fine colleges in their own right you might choose them for other reasons.</p>
<p>Specifically for art, among the ivy league I'd choose Brown over Dartmouth & Princeton and for LACs I'd choose Wesleyan and Hamilton over Middlebury and Carleton.</p>
<p>Good for you! It seems every year more top schools are instituting need-blind admissions for international students and some of those have even begun to replace financial aid packaged that include loans with scholarships. Unfortunately Bard, as suggested by mythmom and seconded by me, isn't one of them. I don't think Tufts is, either. I'd say of the two, Bard offers more financial support for international students than Tufts, but most packages will include loans of not more than about $5000 per year.</p>
<p>Don't be mislead by Bard's USNWR ranking. We all know how that's figured. Bard is SAT-optional so they will never score high by those metrics. I can tell you many kids accepted by top-ranked schools choose Bard for what makes it unique, not because of the rankings. The fact that many international students choose top-ranked American schools speaks more for the "status" those names bring in the student's home country or with their parents, instead of "fit". Choosing a school on "fit" is much more important. That's why my kids chose their colleges after being accepted by top-ranked LACs and U's. </p>
<p>WNSTN, I don't think any undergrad school could really compete with Williams in terms of your interest in contemporary art. MassMoca (which was founded and is run by Williams alums and which has a lot of synergies with the college) is the largest and arguably most influential contemporary art museum in the country, and the exhibit space is, in November, expanding massively with opening of the new Lewitt wall drawing exhibit. In fact, Felix Gonzalez Torres has some works on display there a year or so ago. the Clark Art museum, on campus, just opened a new, state of the art conservatory and is also one of the top museums in the country. PLus the college museum is also one of the best, if not the best, of any LAC in the country. The art studio building is absolutely enormous and no other non-art-focused LAC has a facility that can compete. IF you major in art history, which as has been well-chronicled is an incredibly strong program with the best connections / alumni group in the country, you will be required to take a few studio art classes as well, just as art studio majors need to take some art history, so the majors by definition are interdisciplinary. don't underestimate the importance of the three major museums on or near campus, as they provide all sorts of opportunities for internships and interaction with artists and curators. And North Adams is fast becoming a contermporary art mecca thanks to massmoca, with several large mill buildings that house artists year-round and a number of smaller galleries and exhibit halls peppered throughout downtown N.A. A really interesting example of how a fairly economically depressed town is in transition to an art-driven economy (still a long way to go, but watching the journey in some ways is even more interesting).</p>