My Art School Experience + New Portfolio

<p>I dont know if you're interested - but I just wanted to share my experience with deciding on an art school for those that are going to be high school seniors this coming year.</p>

<p>I knew I'd wanted to go to an art school from the first year of high school and researched it, but for some reason I thought that SCAD was the best art school in the nation.</p>

<p>In some ways - untrue. Although it was named "The Hottest Place to Study Art" by US News, it's certainly not, in my opinion. I was OBSESSED with getting into that school, and getting enough money to go (60,000) and so I learned everything there is to know about it, and went and visited finally. </p>

<p>The campus is spread all over downtown Savannah - a GORGEOUS but... aging town (not really a college town). I'd have to take busses everywhere - and the dorms are in a converted motel 6, which in some respects is nice, but in others, kind of creepy. I convinced myself I liked it at first, but once I decided to be a bit more open minded, I discovered otherwise.</p>

<p>I'd applied to SCAD and KCAI (because those were the only schools my parents allowed me to apply to) and got into both - but I got the phone call from KCAI first, and found out I got 60,000 in scholarship. Immediately SCAD dropped out of my mind, and I'm glad it did because I don't think I would have even cared about KCAI if I got the call from SCAD first. (Later SCAD called and let me know I won the Francis Larkin McCommon Scholarship for 60,000).</p>

<p>Well - I visited KCAI and I really feel like I need to talk about it here, because it has BARELY gotten any mention, and it's a VERY good option for a lot of people that for some reason, can't get to the coasts.</p>

<p>It's a small school, about 600 students go there, but the quaintness adds to it's charm. Each student gets personal attention from HIGHLY respected professors. For example, the Graphic Design professor, Gray Brockett Horne, went to RISD and Yale, and is an International Rotary Scholar. The other went to RISD and is an Olympian. </p>

<p>The college was founded in 1889, so it has a bit more history than one might realize. It's campus is comprised of beautiful, old mansions, converted for college use, and its landscaped greenery in the most beautiful part of Kansas City adds to its allure. </p>

<p>It couldn't be situated in a better town, in my opinion. Just down the street, within walking distance is the historic Country Club Plaza, a Moroccan Themed Outdoor collection of upscale shops, it's sandwiched between two art museums - The Kemper Museum of Modern Art, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (and when I say sandwiched, it's RIGHT in between them .. like across the street) and the Kansas City art scene is impressive. Every first Friday of the month, artists open their galleries downtown, and the place is bustling with students, designers, and normal people looking to buy.</p>

<p>It may be in a "cowtown" in the middle of the nation, but I think its highly underrated as a BFA school, it's foundations program is top notch, and all of the students I met were very talented and motivated. So needless to say, I took the scholarship and will be attending in the Fall.</p>

<p>To help anyone whose looking to put together a portfolio, here's a link to my newest portfolio, that was awarded a total of 120,000 from 2 art schools.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.domino-effect.net%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.domino-effect.net&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>KCAI's website - <a href="http://www.kcai.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.kcai.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>email with any questions! I'd be happy to help.
<a href="mailto:ramzy@domino-effect.net">ramzy@domino-effect.net</a></p>

<p>I was very impressed with your portfolio! Do you have any feedback on what kind of art KCAI looks for? My daughter was encouraged to email some work to either the graphics or animation professor for feedback, but she has not yet done so.</p>

<p>ramzy, thanks for all the information, and your portfolio--Wow!!!</p>

<p>Nice job; you certainly do have an outstanding portfolio and are deserving of such a nice reward for your hard work, and talent.</p>

<p>One correction: </p>

<p>//....and the dorms are in a converted motel 6, which in some respects is nice, but in others, kind of creepy.//</p>

<p>I believe three dorms are in converted hotels, Oglethorpe House and two Motel-6 types, but I don't think they are "creepy"; however, the college has 3 or 4 new dorms built from the ground up by the college over the past 5 years.</p>

<p>Also, the town isn't aging; it's largely been revitalized and the restoration is significant, but I wouldn't call it a "college town." though I'm not sure I would like it if it was. You won't find a frat mentality there.</p>

<p>All towns are aging, it's part of life.</p>

<p>The work I saw on your portfolio was nice, I just felt the need to comment on one thing- could you reduce the number of popup windows? I got impatient with it despite being really curious, and only looked at a couple of pieces because of it. I would hate for someone looking to hire you to feel the same way and not give you the consideration you deserve.</p>

<p>Also, the size of the window does not adequately display the dimensions of the work and there is no means to resize the window. Scrolling is unfulfilling. But, the aspiring designer is young and will learn of such things. It is a very strong portfolio regardless. Conceptually, the student is yards ahead of his/her peers. There is a way to use coding that will load links into the same popup window so that you don't end up with multiples. Lateral navigation within the popup window would be a good touch as well.</p>