Hello all, my child is a talented oil painter and she’d like to go further into painting than her high school and local private classes offer. We’re looking at various programs – RISDY, Chicago, MICA etc – but I’m wondering about the level and quality. Art classes for teens at our local universities have been mixed. Seems horrible risk to spend $4000 plus and not get a quality program this summer. Any experiences/suggestions?
@lisaM1970 I don’t see art questions show up in this area very often even though it is the logical place. You may be better off asking here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/
At the top art schools in the country, like RISD, MICA, you will get a quality program. It’s not summer camp.
Here are a few other suggestions:
https://summer.gwu.edu/arts
https://www.ringling.edu/PreCollege
http://www.nhia.edu/community-education/youth-programs/pre-college-summer-program
Most residential summer programs these days, art related or not, tend to run about$ 1,000+/week. Some offer merit scholarships and need based aid but it might be a little late to apply for that. Check each program.
You might look at Maine College of Art (MECA) in Portland. 3 1/2 week program. My D attended last summer. About 70 students, well-staffed, small interesting city, great facilities. The schedule tries to mimic an art school experience. She ultimately choose a LAC studio art major, but MECA was a very positive experience for her.
D did pre-college at Ringling. It was pretty intense (like Dos says “not summer camp”).
4 week residential program.
She loved every minute. And her art ability took major leaps–it made me a believer.
The intensity shows what art school is actually like and I figured at the time that the money was well-spent especially if she decided she did NOT like art on a 24/7 basis (heck! I could spend a few thousand now to save thousands more!). At the time, if you passed successfully (and you went to Ringling) then you earned college credit for the time spent (so your money came back to you in small part).
Yes, worth the money to see how kiddo liked the art school vibe. Mine continues to love art but decided to go to a a more traditional 4 year LAC over art school. The summer program also helped in developing some great pieces that were included in the art portfolio sent to colleges which I think did help in the admissions process.
D definitely came home with portfolio pieces she wouldn’t have otherwise.
best thing for our D about summer intensive (Cooper Union ) was living it each day , several hours per day for four weeks. Its a great testing ground to see if they truly want to “work” and stand hours on end making art, discussing etc.
Our daughter (rising HS junior) is just finishing the precollege program at Maine College of Art (MECA). She has absolutely loved it. It was relatively affordable ($3K) and she has had an intense art school experience for 3 weeks. I don’t know if she will decide to pursue art school or a liberal arts degree, but MECA was a great experience for her.