A Note on Art School
Who Needs It?
We’ve grown up in a society in which a proper education is seen as a necessary precondition to a profession. Nurses go to nursing school, teachers go to teachers’ college, doctors go to medical school and lawyers go to law school. Thus, it stands to reason that the place those aspiring to be artists go is art school. I dispute this reasoning. Sure, there are people who will want to go, and if they have the time and tens of thousands of dollars and are into that sort of thing, they can fill their boots. But art school is not a necessary precondition to becoming a professional artist. It’s utility in that regard is limited at best, and a detriment at its worst.
There are things art school can do and do well. It can teach you about art history, about various techniques and mediums and about creating in a studio environment. It can offer you the opportunity to try out other forms of art, such as sculpture or printmaking, or craft such as ceramics or textile work. It can be a place to meet great new friends who share your passion and love for the arts. And it can teach you all the lingo so you can talk the talk, so to speak.
Of course, it’s not the “can dos” that lead me to the conclusion that art school is completely unnecessary to becoming an artist. It’s more in the “can’t dos” and “don’t dos”. First, it can’t give you the ability to create if you don’t have it. You can study till the cows come home, but if you haven’t got the talent, art school isn’t going to give it to you. Putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t change the fact that the pig is still a pig. In fact, many very well — regarded art schools don’t even bother requiring prospective students to submit a portfolio. Let that sink in. The very institutions that claim to create artists don’t bother to assess whether their incoming students have ever picked up a drawing pen or a paint brush or if they can draw a straight line. Maybe it’s just me, but I would think a “small” thing like a modicum of talent might be a relevant consideration. Perhaps they’re interested in something other than art, like, money.
Along the same line, art school can’t give you passion for your work and the creative process. You have to have that already. It’s something that comes from within your own heart and soul (although, on that note, it takes just one overly rigid or bitter instructor at one of these institutions to destroy your creative passion forever).
And now for the “don’t dos”. After reviewing several art school catalogue offerings over the years, I was absolutely astonished to learn that course offerings on the business end of art are glaringly absent, as are courses on sales or marketing. Odd considering the whole idea of becoming a professional artist is to be able to create art as a profession, i.e., to be able to make money by selling art. Art school won’t teach you how to market your work, aside from maybe how to prepare the traditional portfolio (not terribly useful in today’s increasingly online world). It doesn’t bother to give a passing mention to how a prospective artist might price their work or set up an online gallery and website. It doesn’t provide a class on record keeping and basic bookkeeping for the professional artist (the nasty Tax Man is going to have a field day with some of these graduates someday).
So, for tens of thousands of dollars over several years, art school can give you some art history, instruction on techniques and media, and allow you to play around with other forms of creativity. It can maybe help you make friends. Those are all things that, with a little discipline and a little creativity, you can get on your own for little or no money at all. You can study art history and the old masters, techniques, mediums and all that the same way I did. Through self — directed study at the local library. You can check out books for free and learn to your heart’s content. And if you don’t feel like trapsing across town to go to the library, there’s the wonderful world of the internet, just bursting with knowledge for you to consume, from museum and historical websites to free, yes free, online university classes.
If you want to try other forms of expression, you can just go try them. You don’t need a professor to show you. And as for making friends with similar interests, well, join an arts co-op or an artist run centre for free or a nominal operating fee. Not only will you meet like minded people, but you might even get to show some of your work in the bargain.
In short, aside from the “college experience,” art school can’t give you anything that you can’t get on your own. Ad it won’t give you anything that will be useful to you and your art in any practical sense, not how to create your work, not how to tune into your deepest emotions and bring that to the canvas, and certainly not how or where to try to sell it when it’s done. If that sounds like your cup of tea, go ahead, and enjoy, it’s your time and money, but it’s certainly not going to make an artist out of you.
An exceprt from How to be a Successful Artist, Keep (Most of) Your Sanity & Make Some Money ©Carl Parker
