<p>Hello, all! I am a rising prospie who is eagerly interested in Carleton!
I am also an avid artist from Chicago who is hoping to get a glimpse of an art scene at Carleton. I know that it's not the "artsiest" school in the nation without many hipsters or the "trendy" kinds (which is why I am so drawn to Carleton, I'm eager to leave the busy city life of Chicago). I have heard a lot about theatre and watched many youtube videos on an Accapella group of Carleton, but not much about visual arts. </p>
<p>1) So I am wondering if anyone knows about the resources and facilities of art at Carleton or just how appreciated and widely used they are in general. </p>
<p>2) Also, if my application were to present my big strength as Art/Art History, would you say it could hurt my chances? I'm worried that if I present too many art-related ECs, work experiences, summer camps, portfolios and such, I may not seem as ACADEMICALLY FIT for Carleton. It'd be great if the adcoms perceived my skills as something that I could contribute to the community, but what if they're like, "why don't you just go to some art school? "</p>
<p>Any thoughts, even one-word answer, are deeply appreciated!</p>
<p>Carleton recently purchased a building on the edge of the campus that used to be a middle school. I think they're making it into the new arts center. You can read about it here: Carleton</a> College: Arts Planning: Our Mission</p>
<p>As to your second question, Carleton "builds" each class, looking for diverse interests. Creativity, in whatever form, is highly valued at Carleton. Good luck!</p>
<p>I can say some things about Carleton's art department.</p>
<p>Carleton has some great art facilities, even without expanding into the Arts Union (the new building) yet. There are basics like drawing, painting, photography and sculpture, and things you don't find everywhere like woodworking, ceramics and metalsmithing.</p>
<p>There are a lot of art majors at Carleton, and a lot of people also like to double major in art and something else.</p>
<p>I've heard really good things about the drawing profs (Observational Drawing is a prerequisite for all of the art classes; or you can take Intro Sculpture which is the prereq for 3D classes). If you like contemporary/untraditional/abstract sculpture, you'll love Stephen Mohring, the sculpture and woodworking prof. Sculpture classes focus on plaster, welding/cutting and woodworking, and then you can branch off into other classes after intro. Kelly Connole teaches ceramics and metals, and she's really nice and challenges you. Carleton is one of only a few liberal arts schools with a metals shop, and it is awesome. If you want to try something new, take her metals class.</p>
<p>All in all, I think a lot of people take advantage of the art classes at Carleton (or maybe those are just the people I talk to, I don't know), or at least -want- to take them. One of the only bad things (sometimes) is the way they handle enrollment. At registration, you waitlist for a studio art class and fill out a form about your experience and reasons for taking the class and your major (preference is given to art majors and seniors). Then they let you know a few days later if you got in or not. Depending on the class level (obs draw versus advanced woodworking), sometimes they try to balance the class by year, and other times there are all seniors and art majors. If you don't get in, it's okay, but sometimes it can be stressful waiting, and also if you don't get in. But even though they encourage you not to contact them if you don't get in, show up on the first day anyway, and if somebody drops out (which is likely) you're more likely to get their spot.</p>
<p>Whew. That was a lot. If you have more specific questions about different facilities, let me know and I'll try to answer!</p>
<p>Thank you all very much for your comments! GerberDaisy, your reply was particularly elaborate... It made me even more excited about Carleton now than ever. So I think I'm going to decide that it won't hurt my chances and send in a supplement.</p>
<p>"So I am wondering if anyone knows about the resources and facilities of art at Carleton or just how appreciated and widely used they are in general."</p>
<p>I just finished reading the summer issue of the Carleton Voice and thought these two brief articles would help answer this a bit more. The first is President Oden's column addressing exactly this question. The second is an interview with the newly hired director of the Arts Union, Steve Richardson, himself an '86 Carleton Alum.</p>
<p>I've found the intensity of support President Oden has offered the arts quite remarkable. The button-down collar traditional academic look he sports belies a much more avant garde attitude about the critical role of the arts in campus life and promoting intellectualism. He's been incredibly outspoken in his vision for the new Arts Union and is probably its greatest champion.<br>
"Our aim, which architects and groups across campus are working to fulfill, is to shape a variety of learning spaces in which disciplines can work together to prompt the kind of inventiveness and creativity that we think are among the key educational currencies of the 21st century."
"...we will work to fulfill the inspiring vision placed before us by the Arts Planning Committee, a vision about the arts and their vital role in a liberal arts education."</p>