I’m not sure where to ask this so I’m starting here. My daughter, a sophomore, is very into fine art (mostly drawing and painting) and wants to study it in college, but also feels called to teach (and we think she’d make an amazing teacher), so she feels that a degree in art education will be a good goal for her. She is torn between wanting to go to a larger public school (we’re in Virginia) with sports, Greek system, etc. and going to an art school. From the research I’ve done so far, it looks like she can accomplish her degree goals at either. I’d much rather her go to an in-state public school from a financial standpoint. We can afford art schools but I feel like it may be…overkill?..to invest that much in her education when she really just wants to teach art in a K-12 range. She’s not a great student, but should have a decent portfolio, which I am hoping could help her get into a school like VCUArts. That school, I feel, could give her kind of the best of both worlds. I have a college freshman, so I’ve been through the whole college app/selection process, but this Art thing adds a completely new element with which I’m not at all familiar! Would love any guidance/experience any of you can share!
One thing to bear in mind because I’ve BTDT with my own child…D was initially looking at art schools (many with graduate teaching programs) and one large university that had the option to continue on and get her teaching certification. She got into her dream stand alone art school and decided to go there and then possibly pursue graduate studies/teaching certification at a state university that has a great rep and is much more economical. BUT fast forward to junior year and a couple of internships and work study jobs with children made her realize she did NOT want to be a teacher.
But even before she started college my gut was telling me that in her mind it was the ‘safe’ way to secure employment as an artist. She’s not wrong. And ironically I teach part-time in a college art department. But it didn’t seem like she was paying attention to all the ways she could get a job in the visual arts. But what do I know, I’m mom! Luckily her college professors have been highlighting and giving them networking opportunities to realize all the ways she can support herself with a career in the arts.
BUT with that said, my kid got lucky and had a big chunk of financial aid for the art school she is at, so will leave with some, but manageable debt.
So sorry if it’s rambly…but I guess my point is if she really loves art and that’s her passion, help her find a school that gives her those opportunities and meets your needs financially but also will expose her to additional ways of making a living IF she changes her mind re teaching. She can always attend a different school for the graduate portion of her MA or MFA (& that’s fairly common and encouraged).
Virginian Art student here!
If your D is interested in art education, though is still considering other options, I really would suggest VCU. Not only is the art ed program there great (I’m still a HS senior but I know many people in the program and have teachers that have graduated from that program), but she will also have the rest of the university available to her in case she changes her mind.
I would also suggest looking into Mary Washington as another university option for art ed, I’ve also heard great things about their program.
Additionally, if you guys live near the Richmond area, I would highly suggest looking into some art ed volunteer opportunities so your D can get more experience with it. The Visual Arts center, the Children’s Museum, and the VMFA all offer programs that she can participate in.
Hope this helped!
Thank you both. I do think that she’s just as passionate about teaching as she is about art, but is also somewhat interested in nursing. This is also why I think a traditional university is a good call for her, because people do change their minds about what they want to do–often! @preraphaelitefan, I agree that VCU would be a really great fit for her–IF her portfolio can get her there, since I think it’ll be tough with her grades (unless she really steps it up, but not holding my breath…) She’s a B student at best so she may end up with right around a 3.0 for HS. Not sure.
@g8rmomk8ans My D also wanted to be an a teacher from the onset…and initially in HS it was “what subject do I want to focus on to teach?”
By junior year of HS, the answer was Art. With that decision made, I encouraged her to get her BFA in studio art first in order to be really focused on the field she wanted to teach. Art education is essentially a double major and she would not have had the same “art” opportunities as an Art Ed undergrad . The opportunities for studio art majors were much greater in terms of required art classes, studio access, honors programs, faculty access, etc. Plus by training as an artist first—and seeing herself in that light—she would have other options available to her career-wise and would get more experience if she wanted to pursue a studio practice (in addition to teaching).
With the BFA completed, she could then get her masters in art education. We live in NY and masters degrees are required for all teachers within 5 years anyway, so it was easier to go into the field with that requirement satisfied. She pursued a 10 month accelerated MA Art Ed program—so in 5 years of study, she had a BFA in Studio Art (Sculpture concentration) and an MA in Art Ed.
Happily, she was hired by a NYC public school in Brooklyn before she even graduated to teach sculpture K to 8 the upcoming fall. She is now in her 2nd year there and loves it!!
Good luck to your D.
@uskoolfish my Ds art teachers told her the exact same thing re majoring in art first/getting the BFA. If you don’t mind sharing, where did your’s complete her masters?
@ArtAngst D attended NYU for both her BFA in Studio Art and her MA in Art Education. The program was a perfect fit. (Not particularly popular on CC, but an incredible program for the right student. D turned down Pratt to attend.)
In considering programs for her masters, NYU and SVA were the only NYC programs that offered an intensive program to get your art ed masters in one year. All other programs would have taken a minimum of 2 years. My own experience as a teacher made me believe that real learning happens once a teacher gets their own classroom, so the sooner she worked, the better. Plus, if she wasn’t employed that second year, she would be giving up $64k in earnings. So either program would have paid for itself once you work that second year.
Given the choice of those two programs, NYU was her clear first choice. First, NYU has a highly ranked national program in Education. And second, she received almost $25k in scholarship money. Part of that was made available because she had her BFA from NYU.
My advice if you look into programs is to see how many credits the program requires and how long it takes to complete. So not only were the classes spread over 2 years in other programs, but some required 45 or more credits vs NYU’s 33 credits —for the same certification! ( SVA required 36).
D got a job offer by April, before she finished her degree or passed her certification tests. She’s working at a k to 8 public school in Brooklyn teaching sculpture.
@uskoolfish thanks so much for all that info! I’ll especially tell mine to pay attention to the credits per program, I can see how that’ll make a big difference in cost plus how quickly one gets certified and working. Congrats to your daughter!
@uskoolfish Thank you for this! My daughter is interested in pursuing this same ed/art path. She went to NYU’s precollege program last summer and initially felt she wanted out of NYC (she grew up nearby) but it is looking more and more like Tisch might be great for her.
@chemmchimney The studio art program is through Steinhardt, not Tisch. Film, interactive media and photography is at Tisch.
My daughter taught ceramics at the Steinhardt pre-college summer program for several years. Last year the pre-college (4 week art intensive program) discontinued ceramics because of on-going scheduling issues with undergrad/ grad classes. She missed being there very much. She did the program when she was in HS, too.
We are also from nearby (Long Island), but D loved being part of the art scene in the city.
@uskoolfish Thank you so much for sharing her track! You make some great points and the way your daughter did it all makes a lot of good sense. Congrats to her for doing what she loves!
My DD wanted to be a math teacher. She majored in math and got a Masters in Secondary Math Education.
If she ever decides not to teach, she has the math background.
I would assume it is the same in Art.