<p>My daughter hasn't quite decided if she wants to go to a stand alone art school, or a liberal arts college with a strong art program. She has applied and been accepted to Pratt and has applied to RISD, Skidmore, and Eugene Lang (which has a cross over program with Parsons). Does anyone know about the strength of the mentioned art schools and the art programs at the LAC s ?</p>
<p>A bunch of artists I know are applying to Skidmore ... apparently it has a GREAT studio program. I'd apply but New York is too cold for me!</p>
<p>My son currently attends RISD, and he admits that its liberal arts course offerings are very limited -- for example, there are absolutely no math, science, music, or foreign language classes at RISD. And the electives available in the humanities and social sciences tend to be strongly art and design-oriented as well ("Psychology of Color," "Influence of Japanese Culture on Its Art," etc.) </p>
<p>However, RISD does try very hard to overcome this limitation -- and seems to be succeeding -- through its formal association with Brown University. Except for freshmen, all RISD students are allowed to take courses at Brown (one per semester) to fulfill their liberal arts requirements -- at no additional expense. (Likewise, Brown students can take courses at RISD.) The program apparently works fairly well, as roughly 15% of RISD students take classes at Brown each semester. Proximity may have a lot to do with that, as Brown University is literally right next door to RISD, Some Brown classrooms are closer to RISD housing than some of RISD's own academic buildings!</p>
<p>Obviously, RISD's connection to Brown opens the door to a much greater variety of classes -- at an Ivy League school, to boot! -- than you would ever see at a stand-alone art school.</p>
<p>MICA touts in strong emphasis in liberal arts too. You should check out MICA.</p>
<p>Baltimore did not appeal to her, so she didn't even look inti MICA, although I've heard great things about it lately. How about Pratt? There foundation program requires alot of LA courses, more than RISD. Does any one know about the quality of the classes ?</p>
<p>My son considered the following:
Skidmore
Boston University
Syracuse
Alfred
Bennington</p>
<p>When she attended RISD, my daughter managed to take several courses at Brown, including language (Italian), history, and sociology. Most of these she took during the academic year (2nd thru 4th), but perhaps one or two also during summer. The humanities courses that RISD itself offers are taught well.</p>
<p>jasmom,
To follow up on your post, what were your/your son's impressions of the schools he considered- particularly Alfred and Skidmore? (which are mentioned on this forum quite a bit, but are not discussed in as much depth as other schools) My s is thinking along the same lines as the OP- seems as if there are quite a few LAC/artists out there! Thanks!</p>
<p>my daughter is a freshman at pratt in the foundation program (painting). she was quite impressed with the english course she took in the fall semester - very demanding. In fact they wrote at least 20 papers and read many books. She is loving Pratt and plans to take a language next year. They also have science (chemistry), math and other non art courses. They also have sports teams and a gym if that is important to your student.</p>
<p>KandKsmom,
My son eventually opted for NYU drama, however...up to the last minute, he strongly considered Skidmore, Alfred, and BU. For a NY State resident, in visual arts, I think Alfred can't be beat. Amazing support and post grad placement stats, great facilities. Downside is rural location. Skidmore is also known for very involved and caring faculty and excellent facilities and art instruction. Skidmore, for us, was considerably more expensive. However, it had the advantage of support for double majors. My impression was that academics were somewhat more rigorous than Alfred's. B.U. ... an interesting art program producing some very creative artists. Strong academics. Urban location. Offerred us some stong financial incentives. Hope that helps...</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your insights. Your response was just what I wanted to hear, as Pratt seems like a great place for my daughter for many reasons.</p>
<p>pratt has a pretty intense list of liberal arts requirements, i'm not quite sure what they are although it's easy to look them up on the website, but they definitely try to give their students a holistic education while focusing on their discipline of choice.</p>
<p>eugene lang is an AWESOME school and i'm glad to see someone else on cc applying there.. the nyc location cant be beat, even over pratt in hip brooklyn, and your daughter would have more of a chance for a well-rounded education there because not only are the social sciences-oriented classes at lang and the new schools open to her, she can also take math and science at cooper union, music classes at.. i forget the name of the jazz school, and her art at parsons. they gave me a ton of financial and merit aid, i'd be going there practically for free if i hadnt gotten into my first choice (barnard). there are lots of interesting quirky people from all kinds of backgrounds and from what i hear, parsons is very intense. and what better place to study art than new york city!!</p>
<p>You should read my "Overview of Vist to Pratt," which is found at the top of the Pratt forum. It has a lot of information that you should know.</p>
<p>Yes, taxguy I read your post awhile back and it was what got me hooked on this sight. Living in Maine, my daughter's school knew little about Pratt or Eugene Lang, so it was good to get another opinion. We loved Pratt. Living in Maine, we are used to run down brick buildings and my daughter really liked the idea of a campus. The art seemed innovative (not to mention the mattress @ $35 ! -See Sat. NYT- ) and she liked the size as well as the diversity, and she loved Brooklyn. I liked RISD too, but EXPENSIVE, with seemingly little money to offer and (I hate to make generalizations on one visit ) but I think I detected a slight air of unreality there. At Pratt they were very clear, 'If you want to be a painter, have another skill, because it's very hard to make a living at it' . Where at RISD our tour guide was convinced silk-screened printmaking was going to be her profession. The facilities there were the nicest we saw, though. I had tears in my eyes thinking of my daughter studying amidst all that beautiful Danish furniture !</p>
<p>I thought I'd jump into the discussion for informational purposes. My daughter is a freshman at SVA in NYC. They have an honors program that she is participating in and has found it to be very interesting and challenging. Though each class only meets once a week, she has four subjects instead of the usual two that you would find in most art schools. In addition, the work-load for each course is demanding with most requiring weekly term papers in addition to significant reading. The following is a quote from SVA on the program; students in the Honors Program pursue a more in-depth study of the liberal arts. The program takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of art history, philosophy, history, and literature as they relate to artistic practice. </p>
<p>Below is information on one of her first year courses:
Self and Other: This course will examine the large body of literature that attempts to define and locate the self. We will look at themes of inwardness, social responsibility, spirituality, patterns of consciousness and self-knowledge, as well as modern ideas of body, race and gender. Readings will include works by such authors as Ibsen, Dickinson, Dostoevsky, Schnitzler, Faulkner, Cocteau, Kafka and Sebold. Note: This course is open only to students enrolled in the Honors Program.</p>
<p>Ironically her biggest problem with this appears to be that the material is so interesting, it has left her with a sense of wanting more academically though she acknowledges that more academics would not leave her the time required for studio practice.</p>
<p>unsoccer-mom, I'm really curious about the freshman year course load at SVA. When you say "four subjects instead of the usual two," I assume you are specifically talking about liberal arts classes, since students take a total of 4 -6 classes/studios per semester at all of the art schools my son looked at. So when does your daughter take the art studios she went to art school for? Is the honors program sort of "front-end loaded" with most of the liberal arts electives in the first year or two? What classes is she taking freshman year?</p>
<p>She has a total of seven courses; four liberal arts courses and three studio art courses. Each of her studio art classes meet once a week for six hours. Her total in-class time is about 24 hours per week. In addition to class time in her art classes, she typically spends at least the same amount of time on homework. Her four academic classes meet for only 90 minutes once a week, but require 3-4 hours per week in homework for each class. It does appear that the honors program is somewhat front-end loaded with more liberal arts the first two years, but they do not have a lighter load in art classes. The honors program is a two year commitment with a second year international trip during spring break. For art classes she is taking a typical foundation year with two semesters each of drawing and painting and one semester each of 3-D (sculpture) and digital media (mostly illustrator and photoshop).</p>
<p>Her academic classes are art history, philosophy, history, and literature. Freshman year appears to have a more contemporary focus and there seems to be more look backwards for sophomore year. Beginning with the junior year they are able to take electives in their academics, however, I believe there is a seminar that continues to explore the subjects they have previously studied. Senior year in fine arts (my daughter's major) requires the completion of a written thesis presenting a your own artistic vision.</p>
<p>scarfmadness, does Barnard offer a studio art major ? My d says it wasn't listed in the catalog or website .</p>
<p>there is a visual arts concentration, but i only know one person who is doing it and she's a freshman so she doesnt know that much about it yet. i think it has to be in conjunction with another major (my friend is doing art history, which is an excellent department and very popular), but i'm really not sure; i dont think that many people do it because on the columbia website, the visual arts division refers to an mfa not a bfa.
there are lots of artists at barnard - my roommate's closet is full of paints and other supplies instead of clothes, and there's a really great student-run art gallery that is pretty intense. since studio art does seem to be available (by the way, architecture is a very respected major here at barnard), i would definitely suggest that your daughter look into barnard because it's a very stimulating atmosphere, artistically and academically, but you wouldnt feel like you were surrounded by people who were all doing the same thing (which i would think might feel suffocating at times). she doesnt necessarily have to go to art school to be an artist.. but i can see why she would desire that kind of preparation over a LAC, even one as fabulous as barnard. although new york IS the best city in the world.
try calling the admissions office, they are soooooo helpful and wonderful. i'm sorry i dont know more - i'm a women's studies major myself.</p>
<p>actually, i just found out that there is a visual arts concentration within the art history major, and it looks pretty good. barnard's gened requirements aren't too strenuous either, so your daughter can focus as much on art as she wants. here is the website: <a href="http://www.barnard.edu/arthist/visualarts/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.barnard.edu/arthist/visualarts/index.html</a>
dont hesitate to email the professor, everyone at barnard is so nice and helpful.</p>