<p>Hey, all. I'm thinking of transferring to an art school in California and would love any advice/info about the following schools:</p>
<p>1.) CalArts
2.) San Francisco Art Institute
3.) California College of the Arts
4.) Academy of Art University
5.) Art Institute of San Francisco</p>
<p>I know CalArts is very reputable, but what about the others? Any thoughts? Thanks!</p>
<p>I visited Academy of Art and it looks great. The thing is, it accepts virtually everyone into the school, so I’ve heard the first year is a “Weeding out” process.</p>
<p>Any opinion can’t replace a visit but…we visited CCA in SF/Oakland last year. They have the split campus with the shuttle over the bridge but both locations have their charm. There is A LOT going on there with visiting artists, exhibits etc. It feels very vibrant and current. What major are you interested in? There is an interdisciplinary vibe but you do have to choose a major and you probably would want to know more about the specific depts.</p>
<p>second drae
it is up to what you are looking for, like animation, furniture design, abstract painting, fashion whatnot.
if you want general fine art, I would loved to be able to afford to live and attend SFAI (no, not the other one, don’t trust those “art institute” family. there are legit ones with confusing names; SAIC, CIA, MIAD, Boston at Lesley, and SFAI)
AAU is bit like art institute far as I know but there were good reviews from some kid did fashion.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info so far, guys! I would want to major in film. Does that change anything? :)</p>
<p>totally!!
I think film people should answer, then they’d say usual. USC, UCLA, Chapman, LMU, and somewhere else I forgot.
you might want to say the word “film” in your thread title, otherwise film folks won’t know.</p>
<p>If you want art-y art-y, I’d still push SFAI. they got interesting alum list in their view book, I can look for it, it is somewhere in my pile…</p>
<p>how are you money wise?</p>
<p>Thanks, bears and dogs! I think I’d really like a small, artistic environment/community (which is why UCLA, USC, et cetera don’t seem as appealing as an actual art school). However, I would definitely need a lot of financial aid, and from what I’ve read, SFAI and CalArts are really expensive, right? :-/</p>
<p>Yes. VERY. and “good” aid for their standard is not affordable to common people (=us)
if you are Cal resident, smaller cheaper state school would do you good? funky adult kid poster named kmazza had earful totally biased OCD info but I don’t know what happened to him nowadays…
maybe you can search this forum.</p>
<p>this is from wikipedia, maybe alright enuff, doubt they all graduated, maybe just shown up now and then (esp. Courtney Love)
the ones I remembered from the view book was the Bart’s Bees chapsticks founder and Emily the Strange grahic novel artist. isn’t it weird art school???
if only it won’t cost 50K plus…</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Lance Acord, cinematographer</p>
<ul>
<li>Aziz + Cucher, artists</li>
<li>Devendra Banhart, musician</li>
<li>Gutzon Borglum, creator of Mount Rushmore (1927)</li>
<li>Joan Brown, painter</li>
<li>Kathryn Bigelow, film director</li>
<li>Emily Carr, painter</li>
<li>Enrique Chagoya, printmaker</li>
<li>Christopher Coppola, film director</li>
<li>Rinaldo Cuneo, painter</li>
<li>Ronald Davis, painter</li>
<li>Tullio DeSantis, American Contemporary Artist and Writer (1977)</li>
<li>Richard Diebenkorn, American abstract and figurative artist (1946/7)</li>
<li>Elizabeth Falkner, Accomplished Restaurateur & Author, Citizen Cake (Executive Pastry Chef) and Orson co-owner (Executive chef) (1989)</li>
<li>Karen Finley, performance artist</li>
<li>Jerry Garcia, member of the Grateful Dead</li>
<li>Robert Earl Davis,founder and band leader of The Earl Brothers</li>
<li>Jim Goldberg, photographer (1979)</li>
<li>Allan Graham, visual artist</li>
<li>Robert Graham (sculptor)</li>
<li>Percy Gray, painter</li>
<li>Don Ed Hardy, tattoo artist</li>
<li>Gale Harold, actor</li>
<li>Wally Hedrick</li>
<li>Michael Heizer, earth artist, sculptor</li>
<li>Marc Horowitz, artist/writer/filmmaker/comic</li>
<li>Penelope Houston, musician, lead singer and songwriter of The Avengers</li>
<li>Grace Carpenter Hudson, painter of Pomo people</li>
<li>Robert H. Hudson, sculptor</li>
<li>Philip Hyde (photographer)</li>
<li>David Ireland</li>
<li>Rea Irvin, art editor of The New Yorker</li>
<li>Debora Iyall, lead singer of Romeo Void</li>
<li>Emil Janel, Swedish-born, American artist</li>
<li>Spike Jonze, film director</li>
<li>Sargent Johnson, sculptor (1919-1923)</li>
<li>Alex Kahn, pageant performance artist, chief designer for New York’s Village Halloween Parade</li>
<li>Molly Katzen, author of the Moosewood Cookbook</li>
<li>Eduardo Kingman, master Latin American painter</li>
<li>Greg Kulz tattoo artist</li>
<li>Laura Kipnis, author, media critic, professor at Northwestern University</li>
<li>Ronnie Landfield, painter</li>
<li>Annie Leibovitz, photographer (1973)</li>
<li>Clayton Lewis, painter and sculptor</li>
<li>Mary Tuthill Lindheim, sculptor and studio potter</li>
<li>Courtney Love, actress and rock musician [10]</li>
<li>C. Cameron Macauley, photographer and filmmaker</li>
<li>Paul McCarthy (1968)</li>
<li>Darrell McClure cartoonist</li>
<li>Barry McGee (aka TWIST) painter/graffiti artist (1991)</li>
<li>Frank Moore, performance artist, painter, poet, essayist and 2008 presidential candidate</li>
<li>Errol Morris Documentary Filmmaker - attended in 1973</li>
<li>Manuel Neri, sculptor (1958)</li>
<li>Win Ng, co-founder of Taylor & Ng (1971)</li>
<li>Catherine Opie, photographer</li>
<li>Guy Overfelt, conceptual / performance / new genres</li>
<li>Mark Pauline, founder and director of Survival Research Labs</li>
<li>Ernest Peixotto, muralist and travel writer</li>
<li>Lourdes Portillo, filmmaker</li>
<li>Peter Reginato, sculptor</li>
<li>Leslie Kulesh, Artist</li>
<li>Jason Rhoades, sculptor</li>
<li>Jimmy Swinnerton, cartoonist</li>
<li>Stephanie Syjuco, (1991)</li>
<li>Leo Valledor, painter</li>
<li>William T. Wiley, Guggenheim Fellow</li>
<li>Griff Williams, painter, founder of Gallery 16 and Urban Digital Color</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>Aw, the aid is really bad at those schools? 
That’s really a shame…hmmm…</p>
<p>Hi,
If anyone can give me any information on AAU, I would truly appreciate it, I live in Michigan & am thinking about attending there in 2012.
Again, anything will be helpful.
Thank you!</p>