Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom of senior applying to art schools here - make sure DD attends National Portfolio Days throughout the spring. She needs a good sense of where she stands artistically with peers, and how she can improve her portfolio. If she’s really good, she will qualify for merit aid.

+1. Thanks for this tip.

Maybe I’m off the mark, but I’m getting the idea that a non-U.S. school might be a poor fit for your daughter.

Non-U.S. colleges tend to be best for very stable, sober, high-stats students who don’t want sororities or tailgate parties and who lack the kinds of awards and extracurricular activities that very selective U.S. colleges want to see.

They tend to be terrible for students who suffer from serious depression, anxiety or executive function problems, because they hold costs down by skimping on support services, and they may cope with loose, government-imposed admissions standards by working hard to weed kids out. They don’t hold the students’ hands; they hammer at the students’ fingers till the weaker students leave.

I think you’d be better off having your daughter skip college for now and get her into a pottery apprentice program, or send her to the cheapest public art program with a dorm that you find.

Here’s a guide to pottery apprentice programs:

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/pottery-as-career

If your daughter’s challenges are as serious as they sound, avoid blowing a lot of money on tuition. Try to put as much money as possible into some kind of trust or other arrangement that will help your daughter get by if she has a hard time earning a good living.

Anonymous wrote:Mom of senior applying to art schools here - make sure DD attends National Portfolio Days throughout the spring. She needs a good sense of where she stands artistically with peers, and how she can improve her portfolio. If she’s really good, she will qualify for merit aid.

+1. Thanks for this tip.

Mom of senior applying to art schools here - make sure DD attends National Portfolio Days throughout the spring. She needs a good sense of where she stands artistically with peers, and how she can improve her portfolio. If she’s really good, she will qualify for merit aid.

Alfred University inUpstate NY has a really good glass and pottery program with a liberal arts setting.

There's an art school in Sweden that has an English-speaking track--may be free or cheap if you get in. Name escapes me, but you can Google.

Above poster again...a little more thinking led me to home staging...another business that might be suitable for a part-time entry level job in high school.

Hi! Glad you are finding the suggestions useful. With a little more Googling I was able to find U.S. potters who offer apprenticeships. Also some pottery-related jobs in Vermont. I have ties to Vermont which is why I've looked there - their economy is very favorable to small and "indie" businesses. In Virginia, I found a website -sylviegranatelli.com - which shows some bio info on recent apprentices (these are young college grad women who already have developed a personal aesthetic).

I've also found there is a DC Design Center in downtown (designcenterdc.com). See if any professionals or institutions there might resonate with your child and then help facilitate a visit or Zoom call or whatever might give insight. The way I got into my local Design Center was due to a complimentary interior decorator consult offered through my city's high end shelter mag. Doing this appointment taught me that the upper middle class was just on the borderline of the clientele. I had just enough of a WASP background and polish to get through the free consult in a believable fashion and then went home and had a laugh about $6K loveseats and Lucite panels impregnated with pieces of bamboo.

Over the years, I've known people slightly who have gone into the arts (a comic book colorist, several graphic designers, a combination musician/music teacher/cabinetmaker, etc.) but do not have specific knowledge in the areas your child is interested in. If your child has a high school art teacher or an extracurricular art instructor they might have ideas.

I do think if approached correctly, it could be very fun to meet with arts professionals to get career advice and to experiment with what might be low paying but enjoyable developmental jobs. I left the first university I attended (with straight As) because it was socially a bad fit for me and that made me attuned to how many freshmen actually flunk out of schools they were confident were a good choice as a 12th grader. The financial cost of these mistakes is daunting compared to taking a year off to try low-paid but relevant work.

I love the Indigo Girls reference! Whether a BA or BFA is worth it is a complicated subject but I believe college is valuable for many because it trains people how to learn and gives them a chance to socialize with more like-minded people than they might have found in high school. I enjoyed the second university I attended and eventually went on for an MBA. But there is no question in my mind that there are big issues with the price paid for most colleges these days for the value derived. Large amounts of student debt are best avoided. I feel this is especially important when considering a field with an uncertain or known lower financial return. That's why I support a working gap year vs. a risky Year 1 at a costly school. [The only RISD grad I know became a graphic designer at American Eagle headquarters and then Dick's Sporting Goods (internal corporate catalog/web/store/advertising design).]

I don't know of specific trades to recommend but do recommend that an interest in high-end retail interior design be looked into thoroughly. From what I've seen, the upper middle class no longer patronizes interior decorators like they did in my youth. Instead they DIY with the help of TV shows and books. Working with high income customers is a very people and sales oriented profession. The closest analog I know of is high end Realtor work. There is plenty of that real estate work in the immediate suburbs of DC, and that requires a lot of office work, property visiting, working with repair and maintenance contractors, etc. Perhaps this might be another avenue for your child to pursue - part-time real estate sales assistant. Just choose the agent and territory wisely.

Again, best of luck as you help your child find a solid path towards a career.

Anonymous wrote:So, I suggested an internship above and I'd like to riff some more on that theme...I think US society is fairly impractical in how it matches high school students with schools and we rush kids into expensive programs that may not suit.

If my child wanted to pursue an art career, I'd first expose them to various art businesses to see if they'd like to be an entrepreneur, a gallerist, a company employee, etc. Or let them set up an Etsy shop or rent tables at a few local art fairs. I recently met a young college student doing her first craft fair - pottery.by.stef on Instagram. Would your child like to try that?

Take a look at laimaceramics.com. That was the first thing that I Googled that was suggestive of a direction you could head by finding something similar but more appropriate for your child's specific needs. If you could find the right professional for your child to shadow, you might gain important, life-goal-clarifying information for both of you.

Regarding interior design - would that be high end residential or office? I would be concerned that this is a hard job market to break into but I don't know for sure. In my area, there is a "Design Center" that is a wholesale multi-company furniture and building materials showroom. Individual interior decorators have offices there and shop for their clients there. I found out about it through my local high-end shelter mag. You might have luck finding a similar place and helping your child find an internship or just a shadowing opportunity.

Best of luck.

OP here. Thanks for your thoughts. DCUM at its best right here. The genius of crowds at work. Will suggest several of these options. Re: expensive programs that may not fit. See, I think we ask too much of college. Should it be a trade school? Should you, as the Indigo Girls sang simply: lie prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper and I was free? I think - and we are squarely middle class - it’s 4 years to focus on developing- and likely its real benefit is it offers an immuno-therapy to divorce.

What about a program like VCUArts? As a public institution, costs are much lower than SCAD or RISD. They even have a three-week summer program and 2024 includes ceramics!

https://arts.vcu.edu/academics/pre-college-prep/pre-college-summer-intensive/courses-and-faculty/

So, I suggested an internship above and I'd like to riff some more on that theme...I think US society is fairly impractical in how it matches high school students with schools and we rush kids into expensive programs that may not suit.

If my child wanted to pursue an art career, I'd first expose them to various art businesses to see if they'd like to be an entrepreneur, a gallerist, a company employee, etc. Or let them set up an Etsy shop or rent tables at a few local art fairs. I recently met a young college student doing her first craft fair - pottery.by.stef on Instagram. Would your child like to try that?

Take a look at laimaceramics.com. That was the first thing that I Googled that was suggestive of a direction you could head by finding something similar but more appropriate for your child's specific needs. If you could find the right professional for your child to shadow, you might gain important, life-goal-clarifying information for both of you.

Regarding interior design - would that be high end residential or office? I would be concerned that this is a hard job market to break into but I don't know for sure. In my area, there is a "Design Center" that is a wholesale multi-company furniture and building materials showroom. Individual interior decorators have offices there and shop for their clients there. I found out about it through my local high-end shelter mag. You might have luck finding a similar place and helping your child find an internship or just a shadowing opportunity.

Best of luck.

Thanks so much…concern is such a tough market. Trying to find a trade that fits. Dyslexia has meant very few virtuous cycles in traditional school.

Hi, I posted above. Thanks for sharing more info. For some reason your post reminds me to ask if you've considered Bennington College. They do have info about financial need on their site. Vermont is full of handicraft pottery and glass entrepreneur businesses...what about seeking a gap year with internship? Just a thought.

OP: interest is in Interior Design. Gift is pottery.

My brother and sister in law attended grad school in the Mackintosh School of architecture within the Glasgow School of Art.

They enjoyed their time there, got good jobs in NY and now have their own firm.

The adjustment to the climate was pretty brutal and housing was an adjustment from the US. They have always enjoyed the UK, have family in London etc., if they hadn’t had that affinity it would have been a harder transition.

This may not be helpful, but I thought I'd try so you at least get a response. Have you looked at any Canadian schools? Also, my background is in automotive - we get transportation designers and color/material/finish designers from College of Creative Studies in Detroit and Pasadena Art Center. These jobs pay well right out of school and the students usually continue their other art interests on the side as freelancers (drawing, sculpting, jewelrymaking) to whatever depth they desire. Perhaps it would help if you specified the media your DC is interested in?

Rising Junior, gifts are in the arts. RISD and Savannah are too pricey. Anyone attend Glasgow? What were your DC’s experiences?

They argue excellent job placement at design firms worldwide. Thanks in advance.