Just curious as to what happens in the foundation year? How grueling is it? What makes it so challenging? Is it possible to only take a few of the classes and spread it out over two years? Sorry if these are dumb questions. We aren’t completely familiar with how the Foundations year works at RISD (or any other art school, for that matter)–
I’ve got a freshman going through it now and yep, it’s grueling. There’s the practical aspects of what’s expected work-wise both during studio time and as outside work. Each semester there are 3 studio courses: drawing, design (2d design like graphic design and color theory), and spatial (3D art like sculpture, industrial design) that run from roughly 9am to 5pm with a lunch break. And then there’s BIG projects assigned outside of studio time and expected to be done as homework. Plus there’s two liberal classes - generally art history and another topic.
And to answer your question - no you can’t spread it out. Foundation year is meant to expose the kids to all facets of art to help them pick their major for sophomore year. Once they’re sophomores they enter their department and have specific tracks for their disciplines. RISD in particular is known to be more rigid about this - some other schools make it easier to switch to and from different departments and majors but all generally have a foundation year…
But at other schools the work load does NOT seem to be as huge as at RISD freshman year. My current freshman would do the math and realize there literally wasn’t enough hours in her day for the amount of time each prof would state they should be doing outside of class. So you need to be extremely focused and good at managing your time. They joke at RISD that you pick 2 out of the 3: do well in classes, sleep or socialize/other activities. Then add in if your student needs to do work study and/or wants to do club activities and it’s a juggle that’s harder than what I’ve witnessed at even some Ivies.
Then there’s the psychological aspects. There’s the tension between conceptual work and practical skill sets and where your student falls on that spectrum and how well they mesh or don’t with the aims of the professor and their classes. The profs aren’t mean spirited - they’re trying to push these kids and get them to really find themselves and their art. But that by nature will bring up a whole ton of self questioning of one’s skill set, art and aims in life. It’s ultimately what they’re going to art school for - but it can be a rough emotional ride especially if they’ve always been the ‘star’ artist at their high school and now they’re getting pushed in ways they never had before AND in class with kids all equally just as good from all over the world.
But with that said, my kid knew the rumors of how hard it would be and chose this school. So right now we’re sending care packages with chocolate and tissues and cheering her on to the finish line in two weeks. There’s been some bumpy spots, but she’s had some amazing experiences already and I believe the things she’s gone through will inform both her art and her life.
Sorry so long! But feel free to DM if you have more specific questions about the program.
ArtAngst-
Congratulations to your daughter for making it thru what sounds like an incredibly grueling yet (hopefully) satisfying foundations year at RISD!
Thank you for such a thorough response to my question. You’ve done a great job explaining how tough it is there the first year. Hopefully, it’s not that hard the remaining 3 years!
My daughter hasn’t had any formal art courses other than what she’s taken at her school, so we are assuming that probably isn’t enough to cut it at RISD–she’s very good at painting and loves typography of all things, but certainly most of her abilities are self taught.
We did receive a very fancy brochure (more like a book) from them, which of course has planted a seed in her mind as to what an amazing opportunity RISD would be. She has some health issues and needs a lot of sleep, which is why I wondered if they could spread the foundations year out over two years. She’s used to grueling schedules but this sounds like it might be on an entirely different level of intensity.
You mentioned other schools with lighter work loads…what are those and did you look at them prior to your daughter going to RISD?
Re the ‘lighter loads’ RISD’s among several schools that are known for their intensity of their programs (both good and bad!) but it often differs based on what major one is taking - ie animation at Ringling is its own special beast whereas another program there isn’t so intense.
So it’s hard to give you an example of a school without knowing more re what parts of the country you’re looking at etc. I’ve toured a bunch of schools with both of my kids (my youngest is also looking at art schools) but they had their own specific things they were looking for.
Has she attended any regional or national portfolio days? They’re a good place to get an overview of regional art schools and if they’re a good fit for her without having to visit them all.
Another option is an art department within a college. I teach part-time at in one and we are a LOT less intense than RISD. We’re not nearly as competitive to get in as some art schools but there’s also the nature of our student body - the majority of our students work and so there’s only so much outside homework we can reasonably give and expect them to be successful. We’re also a much smaller class sizes which helps in general if a student has an IEP or needs additional services.
Hope this helps and feel free to ask more - there’s also a lot of us on this board that share info re art schools and programs: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/
A very general rule of thumb is that you log about 3 hours per credit every week for a BFA. Just checked with my two kids (one at Pratt and one at SCAD) and in general that’s what they spend. Obviously a lot less time on papers and such and more time on studio but it comes to about the 3x ratio. That comes to about 55-60 hours per semester week (110-120 per academic year) for my oldest at Pratt and about 40 - 45 weekly hours per quarter (about 120-135 per academic year) for my kid in foundation year at SCAD. They did remind me that rules of thumb really aren’t very relevant because so much depends on the particular project you are working on.
Because RISD has Wintersession, that should be taken into account as well in calculating time commitment. While Wintersession is probably not relaxing, it is a different pace than the rest of the academic year.
This is in addition to their time in the classroom? I am amazed at how intense this is for them. I had no idea the hours were so crazy.
@Mimi2018 - total time, including contact hours (i.e. time in studio and classroom). Keep in mind that contact hours in a BFA program might be 1.5 - 2X the amount for a typical BA program. The BFA is a professional degree so the training is intense. You can get an idea of that just by comparing the number of credits needed to graduate with a BFA at a university program vs. a BA. The BFA should require a notably higher number of credits.
foundation year at VCUARTS is grueling and demanding and competitive. Each student is in essence competing for a spot in their desired major . More popluar majors like graphic design, sculpture etc have a limited number of openings each year. Now having said that, if the student works hard consistently and only submits work they are 100% proud of they should be fine. It really seems to weed out those not 100% serious about working in the field.