<p>Thanks for your thoughtful post. I couldn't have got this anywhere else.</p>
<p>I love this website.</p>
<p>starbright, I think you've been given a lot of good advice, which boils down to "if you want to be an Artist with a capital A, you must constantly make art, see art, talk about art!" The process side of being an artist -- the actual making -- and the thinking/talking side are interwoven so exposure to art and people who like to talk about art is essential.</p>
<p>If you live near a big city or a college town, then most likely there are museum courses that your daughter could take advantage of. Most of the major museums have programs especially tailored to teens and barring that, talented, serious young people will usually be welcome in adult classes.</p>
<p>Building a foundation of art history through seeing actual works is also invaluable as art is both creative and referential: everything has a precedent, an influence. </p>
<p>Take it from me as an art history major who had never traveled outside the US -- seeing the real thing versus looking at slides or book illustrations is like comparing lightning and lightning bugs. America has some wonderful collections, but something about being in Florence or Paris or Java, jumpstarts the intellectual and creative processes. </p>
<p>For a person with design leanings actually visiting a place where design reigns, where every gesture, every meal, every accessory no matter how humble is chosen for its aesthetic value -- for example, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Bali -- can make a huge difference in understanding the purpose of design.</p>
<p>So my advice would be to invest in travel wherever possible -- with the family or with teengroups. </p>
<p>I'd also probe further into your daughter's art department. Why do you consider it weak? Few classes, disinterested instructor, no advanced placement? Maybe you and she should meet with the art teacher and find out what s/he has to offer. I know my son had the full gamut in middle school and highshool -- excellent teachers, lazy teachers, overly intellectual teachers. Some motivated him, some paralyzed him, some bored him to tears, so I don't doubt your accessment. But I would think that a "great prep school" would be investing *something *in its art department. If not, maybe it's time for you as concerned parent to speak up.</p>
<p>Even if your daughter does decide to go to a "full service" college or university (as opposed to an art school per se) her portfolio and fine art resume will be a significant factor in admissions. Her highschool counselors should be made aware of this and if their art-inclined students are getting shortchanged, then you have every right to complain. Personally, I think a strong portfolio is an excellent hook at even the most selective colleges and universities. Colleges need artists just as they need football players and violinists!</p>
<p>Good luck and let us know how she does.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post. We are fortunate to have traveled a lot because of our work, and hopefully will continue. I just wish I had appreciated the opportunities for art exposure more than we have! We use to live in NYC and that was so great in that regard. </p>
<p>Since I started this thread, I have scouted out group lessons with little luck. I learned CC isn't available here without a HS diploma (we aren't in the US and things are different here perhaps). I did post an ad at a local art college. I also found four artists on the internet who offer private instruction and have experience teaching kids. I have been talking to all of them, and am thinking of letting my daughter try three and see how it goes. But I so wish I could invite you all over to ask questions and observe!! </p>
<p>Her HS is a small, private, and very selective school. They really excel at academics and sports. They have just one art teacher, near retirement, and this teacher is just now hanging out. Art for 8th grade is over already (a total of 8 hrs!). Grades 9 and 10 will be 15 hrs a year. There is definitely no AP. </p>
<p>It's an interesting idea about seeking change at the school. If this were say math, I know what they need and how it should be taught and I'd be speaking up if it was inadequate. As for art, I only know for sure it's not enough. I can't walk in and say 'why aren't you offering X! we need more Y!" since I don't know yet what X and Y are. I anticipate that even if I come equipped with such knowledge, it will fall on deaf ears. They offer prep for a traditional university route, but not one that is visual or performing arts.</p>
<p>starbright, with respect for your privacy, perhaps you if could indicate the general area where you live we could come up with some more specific suggestions.</p>
<p>My son was fortunate to have a father who is a practicing artist and a mother who is a museum fanatic so he was exposed to a bundle of art -- process and theory. He had a wide range of art instructors. His 8th grade teacher squeezed some remarkable drawings out of him. His 10th grade teacher, like your daughter's, was near retirement and already out to lunch, had them drawing their hands all year. His 12th grade IB art teacher talked so much he stopped working altogether.</p>
<p>The point that I think many high schools miss is that art talent and interest is a highly valuable EC that can push an otherwise academically qualified applicant over the edge at any selective university or liberal arts college in America. To me the trifecta is academics/sports/arts. You see this combination a lot with music, dance or theater as the "art" factor, but less so in studio art, which makes it even more appealing. </p>
<p>If I understand you correctly and you don't live in America, then you'll have a tougher time explaining this concept to the school administration. In Europe or Asia art is often a trade, but, really, in the U.S. art talent and accomplishment can make a huge difference in admissions, which, of course, is a positive reflection on the high school.</p>
<p>Thanks momrath. Your son has been very lucky! </p>
<p>I completely agree with you about art as an important EC. The thing is we are located in Canada right now. From this school only about 10-15% go to US schools (in comparison at a local public HS almost no kids would go to a US school). Instead, it's Canadian or UK universities, where ECs aren't relevant. It's also why APs are so limited.</p>
<p>You've got me searching now and my frustration is growing. I now see she'd be getting much much more art education (both hours and course selection) at the local public HS! I also can see that the course description of the one course she was able to take this year (a course description that sounds wonderful!), is not at all a reflection of the actual course.</p>
<p>Sigh.</p>
<p>"The point that I think many high schools miss is that art talent and interest is a highly valuable EC that can push an otherwise academically qualified applicant over the edge at any selective university or liberal arts college in America. To me the trifecta is academics/sports/arts. You see this combination a lot with music, dance or theater as the "art" factor, but less so in studio art, which makes it even more appealing."</p>
<p>Momrath and others-
We should start a group and hammer this into the high school administrations' brains!!! But I am not so sure that colleges as a general rule get the value either- case in point: recalculated gpas that exclude everything except math, english & science. I am so frustrated that D's HS did not get the importance of the art department, but even MORE frustrating is the fact that the National Art Educators Association doesn't seem to advocate for their own area of study.</p>
<p>Sorry, I really don't want to hijack this thread from OP, but what you said really struck a cord with me that has been boiling my blood for all of D's hs years.</p>
<p>In reply to paying3tuitions's post-- </p>
<p>Actually, I had no problem enrolling (as a 16yr old) in adult life drawing sessions (using models) at my local community center. They just gave me a parental permission form to sign, and now that I think about it, I don't think they ever collected it...</p>