Sijun Forums :: View topic - what are the best art schools in the country?

geoman2k · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:35 am

this has prabably been asked a lot before... but i'm looking for a list of the BEST art schools in america. the ones from which a degree will give me the best chance at a career in the art buisness. right now i'm going to Indiana Univeristy, but i'm starting to think that normal college might not be for me. i'd like to submit my portfolio to some of the best schools in the country just to see if i could get in.

thanks for the help
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Drew · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 11:06 am

Can you be more specific as to what kind of degree you're looking for? Different schools are good at different things.

geoman2k · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 12:41 pm

hmmm....well to be honest i'm not exactly sure. the main focus of my personal artwork is cartoons, the type of stuff you might see in children's books or movies. but of course i can do about any type of artwork out there. i'm mainly looking for a career that will be stable- my main concern about going to art school is what if i get a degree and can't do anything with it? i'm interested in just about anything involving art that can make me a decent amount of money if i work hard enough at it.

basicly i'd like to be more specific but i really don't know what i want. that is why i'd like to get in touch with some of the more serious art schools in the nation and see if i'm good enough for them. basicly i just don't want to get my hopes up by getting accepted to some crappy art school that will give me a degree that i can't do anyhting with.

i hope i've made myself clear enough
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Drunken Monkey · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 12:55 pm

You should spend years and years researching and deciding what kind of art it is that you want to do before taking off to a first school someone deems 'the best in the country'. In the meanwhile draw and practice what you think is cool on your own.

Just my .02c.
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Drew · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 1:13 pm

I hear you. It's pretty common to be unsure of what you want to do at your stage. You should be able to find a pretty decent list of schools with Google, or some other guys around here that are going through the same thing that you are might be able to help. It's been a while since I decided on a school so I don't really have a list handy.

However, I can give you some things to consider when you're looking at schools. First off, as with a degree of any kind, you aren't certain to get a job in your field right out of college. Those that hire artists tend to look at the portfolio more than the degree to see if you can do what they want you to do. Makes sense, right? I'd say if you're keen on getting a paying job right out of school, the Fine Arts are not for you. Illustration might be a better choice. Pick a school that makes sure people exit with a strong portfolio.

But, keep in mind that going to a good school will not make you a good artist any more than going to a bad school will make you a bad one. I've heard over and over again from people that go to all kinds of schools that the main thing is to work outside of class and learn as much as possible from other sources. That's the only way to get good, and is why professional level artists still go to life drawing classes and post their work here. If you're not willing to put in the time you will not do well. So don't sweat your choice of schools too much. Give it a lot of thought, but keep in mind that you are the most important part of the equation.

As for money, depending on the field you pick and your skill level and a million other factors, you could do fairly well. But I don't think illustration, or most other art fields are considered high paying. At least, the amounts that I have heard are not the amounts that I want to be making for the rest of my life. But, I'm willing to move to higher positions and will probably be starting my own companies and investing. Most people aren't willing to do that. Again, your success depends on you. I hope this was some help even though it didn't answer the question you were asking. Good luck with your search.

Returner · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 8:03 am

Thanks for that reply drew!

Gyst Hyu · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2004 1:48 pm

http://artschools.com/

a very good resource i have found helpful.
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Max · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 2:22 am

Drew: Thank you for these informations. Very helpful!!!

radical travis · Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 9:44 am

geo:

Key thing when finding a school - are their teaching styles and focus ones that are compatible with you? If you don't give a flying crap about the things that constitute many of their courses - wrong place to be, and you probably won't be able to handle it, or at least not get much use out of it if you do handle it.

See, the only thing to success is personal success, building up your art to the point that nobody can deny it is worthy of respect. A lot of people don't realize that a degree is worthless, literally, and that if you're not getting learning that helps YOU and YOUR art then you are getting nothing. This applies to other fields too, so many kids go to college, get a degree of some sort that they aren't in particular passionate about, and then wonder about the difficulty of getting a job. It's because they don't stand out as having built up strength at something, all they have is a degree that says they were in school 4 years, well so was everyone else. With an artist you show that strength in the portfolio and that's it. You either can knock people dead with the skills you've acquired (and possibly your creative aspects) or you don't. If you're going to school take the classes you know you need to make that killer portfolio.