Why Art Schools Keep Closing

HI! I am absolutely blown away by the response to this video and all of the incredible comments. I have deep, deep gratitude for everyone who responded. However, this has gotten to a point where I actually don't know if i CAN respond to each of you anymore so here are some OTHER ways to connect! If you resonated with the end of the video about building a ~*~new art world~*~ that is not classist/pretentious and focuses on supporting each other's creativity rather than competition. In that case, I want to invite y'all to join the Persistent Bloom Discord Server! Here is the link! discord.gg/8MCVYUkQQZ ALSO Discord might not be your thing, that's cool! I have an email newsletter over on the platform Substack! melmitchelljackson.substack.com/ which is free to join or you can subscribe for monthly exclusive content and creative prompts. Let's keep the convo going, build community, and make internet friends. Maybe even... turn our anger and resentment into collective power. ⭐ - Mel

I wish getting in debt at 18 was illegal

Most artists (including myself) don't make a living from it. Why bother with the massive expensive art school when can learn art skills without that huge expense?

I was once told if you are a great and talented artist but bad at business and marketing, you will fail, but if you are a mediocre artist but an amazing business and marketing person, you will succeed. I have seen this over and over again in the business of art.

Paying this and not even GUARANTEEING a job after school is so dystopian. I truly dont understand why I didn’t go to a community college for school. I def drank the kool aid

Too expensive when they teach you that you shouldn’t even want to make a living from your art, because that’s so bourgeois

These tuition costs nowadays is complete crackpipe

for all you art students right now in art college: YOUR GRADES ABSOLUTELY DO NOT MATTER. YOUR PORTFOLIO WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT GETS YOU A JOB.

I went to the American Academy of Art in Chicago in 1971-1974. The tuition was around $1000 per year. In today's money that is $9,000. I worked to pay the tuition. I was able to spend 37 years working as a graphic artist and oil paint as a hobby.

"why do colleges keep investing in over-the-top construction projects?" because it's alllll speculative real estate investment, baby! there's very little more profitable than real estate - education certainly isn't more profitable than it! your tuition is just their starting capital.

I’m a self taught artist and always love wanting to go to art school, but it was way too expensive but now I just click on YouTube and there’s some great instructors and great artist that I could learn from and I just want to say thank you so much for your videos. You’re awesome.

I graduated from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1970. It later became CalArts. At that time the mythology was that you were somehow supposed to work a 40 hour week in the studio, whether anyone was buying your art, paying your bills for you, or not... the model for this was all the admittedly great abstract expressionists in New York who spent all their time in the studio or in the Cedar Bar, or in LA, Barnie's Beanery. Needless to say, this left a glaring question unanswered ..."What did they live on?" They were doing this before they were selling. We were all bewildered by this but had no answers..and felt very guilty because we couldn't put that off,,,. until we discovered.......THEIR WIVES SUPPORTED THEM! These women pretty much all worked for the NY Public schools, and they supported these guys asses for years, and got NO credit. The art world is FULL of lies about money. The things that they did teach about money were mercenary in the extreme. For my four years, I basically got a full ride, something I deeply appreciated, and made it possible for me to be there. But this lying about the realities of surviving while an artist is an old story and is still going on. The best advice I ever heard was... " learn a skill you are at peace doing and get a part time job, and do your own work In your own way, in your own time, either that or learn to write grants and get really good at it." My advice is for shows.... don't frame stuff. It will bankrupt you. Find ways to present your work without investing more money in having a show than you can make back unless you sell every single piece. You are totally right on. The way the art world operates at the higher levels is really repellent. Making art is the voice of the heart. It should never be treated like a 12 year old child being sold for sex. In the face of all this grubby sordid world, both I and my husband are in our 70s and we are still doing our work, it is the best and truest it has ever been. It makes us happy. Even if we put it all on our funeral pyres when we die, we have done what we are called to do, and are happy.

My partner went to cranbrook for his masters. About 150k in debt, hasn’t been able to even get a job in art or grants or any programs. Was the poorest kid in the school, realized how elitist the art world is.

That's indeed criminal .... far far far worse than Medical School. Cheaper to get a plane ticket, a work visa, and go live in Europe for a few years while young. After a few years apply as a temp resident to Oxford or Cambridge or one of the premier Art schools ..... it will be 10x cheaper & 100 x better. There are no rules in Art. Status quo Art profesores are simply inhibitors of and detrimental to art. Famous artists become so when they paint like themselves (their own style) and not like someone else whose name is already known. Problem is, we don't live in the big ancient civilizations' thinking & grandeur. They (Ancients) valued art, science, learning, and knowledge. Built outstanding architecture, made advances that we use today. Our culture values nothing but the acquisition of gold. (Money) Rock pet fetish.

College in general is too expensive...

Thank you for your insight. I'm a Graphic Designer based in Los Angeles. In 2009, I couldn't attend Cal Arts due to financial constraints, so I chose to study at CSULA, graduating with under $10,000 in debt. Today, I'm a Graphic Designer in the fashion industry. I once believed that missing out on the art school experience was a setback, but I've since realized it wasn't necessary for my success. Your perspective reinforces that one doesn't need to attend an expensive art school to thrive in this field. Thank you for that reassurance.

There’s a reason everyone looks so fondly back on their college years. College feels almost like a utopia. A community living together, eating together, and learning together in a small walkable city while working towards their dreams and passions parallel to each other. There’s literally no reason this experience should be so gatekept and kept behind financial walls. This should be how we build communities in general. There should be college campuses you live on indefinitely for little to no cost.

Not an artist myself, but I'm lowkey mad things are this bad in art schools and the art community.

The RISD BFA cost is insane....what in the hell, buy a house at that point

“ And, truly, artists and creative people - we want to know paths to freedom, not to prestige.“ - I love this quote.