Noah Bradley: Don't go to art school.

[Rognoll]

https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/138c5efd45e9

I don't know if any of you has read it, but noah bradley has recently made an interesting post. "Don't go to art school"
I know, it's nothing new. I've heard stuff like that many times already, it's just I respect this guy a lot and his experience with art school, doesn't differ from mine a lot.

What do you people think?

Don’t go to art school
The traditional approach is failing us. It’s time for a change.

I’ve had it.

I will no longer encourage aspiring artists to attend art school. I just won’t do it. Unless you’re given a full ride scholarship (or have parents with money to burn), attending art school is a waste of your money.

I have a diploma from the best public art school in the nation. Prior to that I attended the best private art school in the nation. I’m not some flaky, disgruntled art graduate, either. I have a quite successful career, thankyouverymuch.

But I am saddened and ashamed at art schools and their blatant exploitation of students. Graduates are woefully ill-prepared for the realities of being professional artists and racked with obscene amounts of debt. By their own estimation, the cost of a four year education at RISD is $245,816. As way of comparison, the cost of a diploma from Harvard Law School is a mere $236,100.

This is embarrassing. It’s downright shameful. That any art school should deceive its students into believing that this is a smart decision is cruel and unusual.

Artists are neither doctors nor lawyers. We do not, on average, make huge six-figure salaries. We can make livable salaries, certainly. Even comfortable salaries. But we ain’t usually making a quarter mil a year. Hate to break it to you. An online debt repayment calculator recommended a salary exceeding $400,000 in order to pay off a RISD education within 10 years.

Don’t do it.

Don’t start your career with debilitating debt.

Please. I beg you. Think long and hard whether you’re willing to pay student loan companies $3000 every single month for the next 10 years.
You’ve got other options.

You don’t have to go to college to be an artist. Not once have I needed my diploma to get a job. Nobody cares. The education is all that matters. The work that you produce should be your sole concern.

There are excellent atelier schools all over the world that offer superior education for a mere fraction of the price. Here are a few:

Watt’s Atelier
Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts
The Safehouse Atelier

There are more. Many, many more. And none of them will cost nearly as much as a traditional four year school.

And then there are the online options. The availability of drawing and painting resources is incredible.

Sitting at a computer I have direct access to artists all over the world. I have the combined wisdom of the artistic community to pull from at my leisure. For less than a few grand a year I can view more educational material than I would see at any art school. You can get a year of access to all of the Gnomon Workshop’s videos for the cost of a few days at the average art school.

With all of these options it can be a little daunting. So you know what? I’ve come up with a plan for you. Do this:
The $10k Ultimate Art Education

$500 - Buy an annual subscription to The Gnomon Workshop and watch every single video they have.
$404.95 - Buy Glenn Vilppu’s Anatomy Lectures and watch all of them.
$190 - Buy all of these books and read them cover to cover.
$1040 ($20/week x 52 weeks) - Weekly figure drawing sessions. Look up nearby colleges and art groups and find a weekly session to attend.
$2500 - Sign up for a SmART School Mentorship when you feel ready to get one-on-one guidance to push your abilities.
$2400 - Sign up for four classes from CGMA. Get taught by professionals in the industry on exactly the skills you want to learn.
Free - Watch all of these keynotes.
Free - Study other things for free. Suggested topics: business, history, philosophy, English, literature, marketing, and anything else you might be interested in.
$500 - Throughout the year, use at least this much money to visit museums in your area. And not just art museums. All museums.
Free - Create accountability. One of the great advantages to attending a school is the comradery. So use the internet to create your own. Go join a forum where you can give and receive critique on the work you’re developing. There are many different ones out there that can suit whatever flavor you prefer.
The rest - Materials. Buy yourself some good art materials to create with. Whether digital or traditional. Don’t skimp.

There. For less than a quarter of the tuition for RISD you’ve got yourself a killer education. You’ve received more quality, focused education than I think you’ll find at any art school.
Moving forward

There has never been a better time to be an artist. I’m inspired by the sheer quantity and quality of internet resources available to artists.

But I encourage all aspiring artists to think long and hard about their options. Student loans are unforgivable through bankruptcy and can wreck your financial future. Establishing a career while under the unceasing brutality of student loans makes an already difficult task nearly impossible.

Find another path. Art is a wonderful, beautiful, fulfilling pursuit. Don’t ruin it with a mountain of debt.

Disclaimer: I do not mean any offense to any of the educators at art schools. I have numerous professors who I consider close friends. This is neither an attack on you, nor your teaching abilities, nor the value that you provide for your students. I’m talking about the schools, not the artists teaching at them.

[Patrick Gaumond]

It's really hit or miss. There's no real way to know what you will get out of art school. Of course you can always just got for the more reputable schools or whatever since they are tried and true, but even then there are still people who don't recommend it (like noah)

I went to art school firstly because I imagined it being way more intensive than it really is, and secondly because I wanted to meet other artists who were just as into it as I was/had similar interests/ were like minded people etc etc. If anything that is the biggest benefit of going to a school, just meeting other people like you, sharing an experience with them and all that. The education itself really depends far too much on the teacher. It's hard to boil down art to a formula that you can apply to every single piece, and it takes real talent and passion to be able to give meaningful feedback to a student that actually helps them improve or see things in a new way that you cant necessarily teach yourself, and not just "lol more contrast, fix anatomy blah blah blah". Real teachers will also help you sell your ideas, not just your technical skills

Maybe I just got lucky with the teachers I've had so far, but most of them have been really talented artists who genuinely cared about your improvement and gave me genuinely good feedback on things that I rarely see other people point out.

I should also point out that I'm going to a public school, so the fees were never an issue, but time is invaluable and if you're not gaining anything from the time you've spent then its a waste, plain and simple. I can't imagine going to school in the states... so expensive

[Psychotime]

Despite this, he still does talks at art schools here and there. A few months ago he spoke at SCAD.

[Tyrus]

To that end, how does he feel about Conservatoires?

[Baoto]

I thought people went to art schools mostly to make contacts and gain exposure and stuff. Or at least the people I know do. From what I gathered so far, art schools in my area are pretty much self-teaching with a few benefits.

[ZombieChinchilla]

I'm going to a liberal arts school in the fall, and majoring in art. Although the money does make me a little anxious at times, I still think it's a good choice. My school has really great study abroad programs that cost so much cheaper than they would be if I were going to another country independently. Not to mention what Baoto said, through school I can get exposure and meet people and make internships. And my parents have been very supportive about it, and assured me that if, heaven forbid, my art career falls through and I have to settle for another job, I'll have a college degree to help me get a better paying job.

[darktiste]

I'm going to a liberal arts school in the fall, and majoring in art. Although the money does make me a little anxious at times, I still think it's a good choice. My school has really great study abroad programs that cost so much cheaper than they would be if I were going to another country independently. Not to mention what Baoto said, through school I can get exposure and meet people and make internships. And my parents have been very supportive about it, and assured me that if, heaven forbid, my art career falls through and I have to settle for another job, I'll have a college degree to help me get a better paying job.

I am sure without school you can meet people it a little harder for sure but if you have a strong portfolio they will just come to you and asking for help or they be helping you get better.There are many ways to find local artist like life class, exposition,forum,livesteam i don't have any other idea that come on my mind but i am sure there is more.And for the last point i want to talk about is that a degree is nothing compare to a real dedication.

[ChantalFournier]

You have to ask yourself if the people you meet at school are going to be the contacts you need in your career. If you are going to a school that's mostly modern crap, will the other students be as motivated as you are to learn anatomy? Dan Dos Santos once mentioned being in the same class as James Jean and how they were competing all the time, but what if there had been only people who splash paint at his school? I have met people in video game school that I still talk to to this day, but many of them are not useful contacts to me (they are in the 3D/technical side of things.) However thanks to forums, conventions and the IMC, I know many epic illustrators (and yes, they do know me as well.)

[Jeso]

I think he is right.. im in art school right now.. and i think im just wasting money and time. You can make contacts online in forums and stuff. Like.. right now i have a bunch of useless classes, like history, and water color and stuff.. and im always like.. "crap, i wish i could be doing some master studies on my cintiq, or practicing at digital painting or whatever" but no haha, im painting.. silly decorative art in watercolor, which i will never use in my career. So yea..

[Rognoll]

@Chantal You're totally right! I decided to get out of art school this year, since it was just as you said "modern crap" I've learned more in 6 months of intense self-teaching than in 3 years of a contemporary art problematics-oriented art school. Just want to make clear, I don't think contemporary art is bad, but it's just not my thing at all.
This kind of awesome communities are definitely the way to go right now.