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ISSUE 16

So You Want to Go to Art School…

OUR FAVORITE COLLEGIATE ART SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES

BY Allison Meier

Recently, one of the most famous artists in the world made a pronouncement about art school. And she was right. Yoko Ono said, “You don’t have to go to art school to become an artist.” But for those students who can’t conceive of an artful life without an artful education, ArtDesk has selected these nine schools as first in class for bachelor’s and master’s programs.

Person seated at a worktable in a large open art studio, surrounded by desks, tools, colorful artwork, and posters displayed on the walls.

Rhode Island School of Design

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

Every RISD undergraduate begins with the same studio courses: an intense study of the basics of drawing, design, and spatial dynamics. From there, students choose from an array of majors, like architecture, ceramics, glass, painting, and graphic design, all supported with resources such as glass furnaces, computerized looms, and metal workshops. Alumni include Kara Walker, Shepard Fairey, and Dale Chihuly.

Front facade of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's MacLean Center building, with purple flags above the entrance, a U.S. flag at the center, and pedestrians walking along the sidewalk.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

SAIC is associated with the Art Institute of Chicago, so students have access to a major art museum with its collections of impressionist and American art. Based in downtown Chicago, the prestigious school has an interdisciplinary approach to art, whether it’s illustration, arts journalism, fiber arts, or photography. Alumni include Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Gorey, and John Chamberlain.

People gathered on the steps outside the Yale School of Art building.

Yale University

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

This stately Ivy League university has a highly competitive art school that dates to the 1860s. In the 1950s, faculty members like Josef Albers emphasized the importance of process over product, a challenging studio-centered approach that endures today. Among its selective programs are painting, printmaking, photography, and sculpture. Alumni include Richard Serra, Kehinde Wiley, and Eva Hesse.

Group of students gathered in an art studio, standing and sitting around large drawing sheets spread across the floor during a group critique or discussion.

Pratt Institute

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Works by artists like Mark di Suvero and Santiago Calatrava rotate outside Pratt’s assembly of modern and nineteenth-century architecture in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill. Organized around the idea of “poetic pragmatism,” the college aims to find a balance between theory and hands-on practice. Alumni include Betsey Johnson, Mickalene Thomas, and Félix González-Torres.

Red brick Savannah College of Art and Design building on a city street with trees, bicycles, and pedestrians.

Savannah College of Art and Design

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

Larger than most art schools, SCAD has satellite campuses in Atlanta, Hong Kong, and France. SCAD offers cutting-edge studies in immersive reality, design for sustainability, and the business of beauty and fragrance. Many successful cartoonists have graduated from its sequential-art program. Alumni include José Parlá, Eleanor Davis, and M. Alice LeGrow.

Exterior of the California Institute of the Arts building, with the school's name displayed on a blue wall beside a landscaped walkway bordered by trees and shrubs.

California Institute of the Arts

SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA

CalArts was founded in 1961 by Walt Disney as an alternative to academy-style schools which did not address the real-life demands of working artists. The new John Baldessari Art Studio Building was named for one of CalArt’s many influential teachers; Baldessari instructed his students to “make no more boring art.” Alumni include Mike Kelley, David Salle, and Carrie Mae Weems.

Cranbrook Academy of Art by James Haefner

Cranbrook Academy of Art

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN

The experimental spirit of Cranbrook, which began as an arts colony, guides its approach to arts education. Instead of a curriculum with set courses, students are self-directed, studying in small groups under one artist-in-residence. Disciplines range from painting and print media to metalsmithing and photography. Alumni include Nick Cave, Harry Bertoia, and Charles and Ray Eames.

Contemporary glass academic building illuminated at dusk beside a landscaped lawn and city street, with light trails from passing vehicles and additional campus buildings in the background.

Maryland Institute College of Art

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Established in 1826 in Baltimore, MICA is among the country’s oldest art colleges. It continues to orient its curriculum on the front line of art, with undergraduate majors such as interactive arts and game design, and innovative graduate programs ranging from social change through design to community activism through art. Alumni include Jeff Koons, Amy Sherald, and Lesley Dill.

Students creating a large-scale print on an outdoor pavement surface.

Virginia Commonwealth University

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

The Sculpture + Extended Media program at VCUarts is among the best in the country. A state-of-the-art wood shop, foundry, metal-fabrication shop, and other top-tier resources support the experimentation encouraged in the curriculum. In 1998, VCUarts Qatar opened in Doha, as part of a mission to engage with the development of the gulf state. Alumni include Tara Donovan, Teresita Fernández, and Diana al-Hadid