Strong Visual Art Programs at Non Art-Specifc Schools......Help

Looking for help/discussion re: this question (ideally program has sufficient resources re: painting). There is little formalized learning to be found. Ranking methodologies, few and far between, often include ridiculous things like “% of student body interested in art,” or are aggregates of other ranking lists. The usual suspects typically gravitate to the top: Yale, Columbia, Wash U, CMU and sometimes Brown (cool, but potentially masochistic to build a strategy around Yale/Columbia/Brown). Tufts/SMFA, Wesleyan, Cornell also get attention, but the Tufts<---->SMFA commute unappealing. Looking to avoid the large universities (e.g.California system, Michigan, Indiana, Texas, etc). Looking for other input & discussion. Any help?

Bard

Skidmore.

To: doschicos & circuitrider:
thanks!

I’d also take a look at Colorado College.

UCLA has a great and highly regarded art program! It’s tough to get into, but worth it for the location since LA has a big art scene. I believe Wash U also has a good program.

Art departments in the large University of California system are usually very small and have their intimate circle. So I don’t think their size should be a problem.

I was going to also say that art schools or departments at most universities are much more intimate than the larger departments (i.e. liberal arts or business) and that shouldn’t necessarily be a deterrent. But if you want a small school with a good art department, University of Hartford might be a good fit. It was too remote for my daughter (she liked a city school) but I thought it was nicely run. And they offered her a very sizable merit scholarship.

@redraiders NYU offers a BFA in studio art. The program is housed in an art-specific building and has a vibrant community, but you still take many classes throughout the college and can minor/ double major in other non-art subjects. D got her BFA in 2016 and LOVED the program. She continued on at NYU for her MA in Art Education (2017) which she was able to finish in 10 months. She is going to be starting her first full-time teaching position at at Public School in Brooklyn as a Sculpture teacher.

^^Although NYU is obviously a large university, the art department itself has approximately 50 or 60 students per grade on average. It allows for very close relationships among students and faculty.

Mason Gross (at Rutgers) and Tyler (at Temple) are also very strong programs.