<p>Has anybody heard anything about the summer program at UArts in Philly or the VCU Arts Summer Program in Richmond?</p>
<p>My d loved Uarts precollege last summer - see previous thread under Mica precollege 08</p>
<p>School of Fashion Design on Newbury St in Boston has a high school prep fashion design program that runs on Saturdays during the school year and also July and August summer sessions. It is open to students 14 or older - I believe. They touch on both the basics of sewing and fashion illustration and some other topics such as color, textiles etc. </p>
<p>It is a very nice introduction to fashion design for teens who are contemplating this career path.</p>
<p>Artmom,</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip - I'll look it up. My daughter might be interested in this.</p>
<p>my d is a junior at hs and intends to take up film..she has not done much art in hs as no courses were offered after middle school.she will be attending the pre college program at risd this summer and we were wondering how much this would help with her portfolio and if she worked hard will the rec letters for the teachers help when she applies</p>
<p>Tojolove: yes to both of your questions, with one little condition - it hinges on how hard she is willing to work.</p>
<p>Generally any mature and motivated student - largely regardless of talent - will suceed at a precollege program. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, there is no one there to push them. No one tells you how to structure your day, when to do your homework, when to not go to the mall, hang out with friends, go to the studio until curfew, wake up and get to class on time, do your laundry, and the list - sometimes called "personal responsibility" - goes on and on. The fact of the matter is that a lot of kids aren't ready for it, but a lot are. Those who are will do well. Those who are not will either take a few weeks to adapt, and will eventually succeed, or will complain and complete bad homework assignments.</p>
<p>Unlike school for the rest of the year, the quality of a students work depends on their homework. Class, depending on the teacher and major, will generally be devoted to crits and experimenting a bit. Homework is where the real work is produced - and by real I mean "portfolio worthy." The "bad" thing is that the motivation and maturity to spend serious time on homework is precisely where those who "are ready" and those who "are not ready" are separated. It's a very clear separation between those who want to do well and those who want to have fun, and teachers recognize it easily. They will write recs for those who work hard and want to improve and having a rec from a professor is a huge plus - although not all teachers at pre-college programs are professors in their respective universities. </p>
<p>So will a rec help? Definately, but think about what exactly a rec will be saying about a 17-18 year old artist. They most likely aren't going to comment on her supernatural and innate ability. If she has that, it will be visible in her portfolio. A rec is going to say that she worked hard in class and wanted to improve. Not every kid has that. That might be more valuable than anything, especially at art schools.</p>
<p>RyanMac thanks for the pointers..i think when i show this reply to my d it should do the job better than if i had told her to stay focused and work real hard and try to gain as much from the experience considering she is flying out nearly 7000 miles to do this and missing 6 weeks of high school which she has then to catch up on to maintain her grades..much appreciate the detailed reply</p>
<p>the School of Visual Arts Pre-College program is amazing! it's a really great way to get to know Manhattan. plus, they have great facilities and do a good job uniting the students.</p>
<p>my mom teaches at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA), and she says that SMFA has a great program for students who want to dabble in every form of fine arts.</p>
<p>My daughter is a junior in the combined degree program at Tufts and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Most of the teachers at SMFA are excellent and the great thing is that it's a self-directed program. My daughter
is mostly interested in painting and drawing, but has explored other areas such as video, animation, web design and instrument building. The number and variety of courses at SMFA are impressive. My daughter participated in several summer arts programs during high school. She spent several weeks at the summer program at the Putney School in Vermont. I think the instruction there was excellent. They even offered blacksmithing. The year following Putney, she went to the Parsons program in Paris. That was an amazing experience. They had drawing and painting classes all over Paris and visited
most of the major art museums. She learned a lot and it really helped prepare her for art history classes in college. The only negative was that they didn't chaperone the students that well, and some of the kids got into minor trouble.
My daughter loved it though.</p>
<p>My d went to Paris with the Oxbridge Academic Progam. She took French and another class that explored the city. The students went to the Opra, many museums, artists studios, churches, etc. Davinci Code came out later and she realized that she had visited many sights from the book. It was a wonderful lesson in history. They had a quite a bit of freedom after classes. remember Europeans have a different view about independence than Americans. In fact, they encouraged the students to explore the city and eat lunch at the cafes to interact with the locals but the program was very strict about curfews and no alcohol (American age applied). My d reminded me that while she was out on the metro and 10 or 11 in the evening, it was still daylight. Second d went to Uarts in Philly, also a wonderful experience for similar reasons in another great city and without the extra expense $ exchange. Both summer opportunites allowed d's to spread their wings before the college experience, lifetime memories for both.</p>
<p>Do you know of any scholarships for Art Institue of Boston? My daughter wants to go to the summer classes in July but I don’t have 4,000 dollars and the school says they have none for that program. I am trying to look other places like her high school and the state of Maine for help. If anyone has any info on summer financial aid for pre-college I would appreciate it.</p>
<p>My daughter got a scholarship for pre-college at New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester. She loved every minute of that program, and got a merit award to the school in case she decides to go there. She needed a letter of reference from her art teacher and transcripts and was good to go. It’s one of the most affordable of the summer programs that I’ve found.</p>