<p>cheers wrote, describing a career move into architecture, "I pursued art through high school, thought I loved it and was headed for art school until, as a hs junior, I did a summer painting course at a top 20 university."</p>
<p>That's interesting. My friend the industrial designer (mentioned above) used to be an architecture student. Architecture was too tough for him. </p>
<p>Taxguy mentioned several schools with precollege programs in art. Yes, we live in good commuting distance from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, so we will keep that program in mind. </p>
<p>cricket wrote, "Proudly display masterpieces, and I don't mean everything, just things that you look at and say, 'wow this is good' or 'it really makes me smile to see this,' and maybe even frame some drawings or paintings." </p>
<p>We have a selected number of art works by our two oldest sons hanging from living room bookshelves now. We also keep files of, theoretically, EVERYTHING they have ever drawn--the joke among us parents is that all that stuff will be worth serious money someday when our kids are famous--so that we can observe their progress over time, so just how much they draw, and have a big selection of items that might go into a portfolio. All my children, but especially my second son whom this thread is about, occasionally ball up and throw away drawings that they don't think are up to their own standard. But they save a lot, so they are staying willing to try stuff and see how it turns out, without being so perfectionistic that they stop producing. </p>
<p>Little Mother wrote, "One question you'll encounter when college application time comes around is whether your S will want to go for a BFA or a BA." </p>
<p>I guess my wife had some kind of comparable issue when she entered a bachelor of music program. I'll definitely have to figure out, after much consultation with our son, what kind of college program fits well with his drive at the time. It may be that he will continue to be interested in enough other things, including soccer, that he will desire a university rather than a specialized art school. But I appreciate the heads-up to get us thinking about that issue. </p>
<p>lizchup wrote, "How old is your son? Another resource in Minneapolis would be the Minnetonka Art Center." </p>
<p>[Checking phone book:] That center, the Minnetonka Center for the Arts, is very well regarded in our town. At this time of year, when Lake Minnetonka is frozen, it is a reasonably short drive across the lake. When the lake surface is liquid, it is a longer drive on the twisty county roads that thread among the bays between here and there. That is probably our best local resource for finding a really good teacher for one-on-one instruction, according to what I hear, but we will have to try a little bit of everything. </p>
<p>Our second son is seven-going-on-eight, and it will be interesting to see how much he warms up to the idea of specialized classes in the next few years. For now, he likes to have plenty of time for solitary work on his projects. His favorite group activities, in order of decreasing time spent on them, are playing with neighbor kids in his brothers' company, playing with kids from our homeschooling support group (in the winter we rent a gym from time to time to play ball games together), and practicing and playing with his U-8 travelling soccer team. In other words, he isn't eager to join art classes at the moment--we have asked him--but maybe later he will accept instruction from some stranger if he has some problem that he can't overcome himself in doing one of his art projects. </p>
<p>I've really appreciated the great replies in this thread. I hope to let my wife read through all of it tonight after the kids have turned in.</p>