For over 50 years our local high school has put on their FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS to show case the students art work from the year.  This two day event is amazing - the talent is out of this world.  I am the parent chair this year, so the only posts I will be able to make for a couple of days will be short - but with photo's.

This event is followed by the Fashion Society's Runway Show!  I am very excited for that - Mimi's line is impressive!

PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL OF DESIGN

72 5th Avenue, New York, NY

One of the best address's in New York City!  Looking up we could see the million dollar apartments featured on the "Selling New York" television show on HGTV.  This explains the housing cost of $14,000 a year - real estate is real estate.
Parson's combined with the Eugene Lang Liberal Arts College and The New School to form Parsons The New School of Design in the 1970's.  The original school opened in 1896 when a group of artists wanted something more progressive than that of The Art Student's League.  Frank Parson was the first educator to suggest fashion and interior design as degree programs.  Frank Parson believed that art and design should be obtainable for all people not just the rich and affluent.  Parson's was also the first school to have a campus in Europe.  It was at their Paris campus that the Parsons Table was created.

A fun fact about the New School was that in World War II it became known as the University of Exile.  This is because between 1933 and 1945 the school sponsored 183 refuge scholars fleeing Nazi Germany.

Today's student applying must complete the "Parson's Challenge" which this year is "Explore something usually overlooked within your daily environment.  Choose one subject, location or activity"  Using any media or a combination of different mediums students need to submit 3 pieces of work with a 250 word essay supporting her/his work.

Wouldn't that be a great job to have in admissions!  You never know what lies inside an applicants shipment - sculpture or painting or digital!  This project is in addition to the portfolio which needs to have your best work, of course, and it should give admissions an idea of who you are.
SAT/ACT weigh in as well as your grade point average.  Parson's has it's own on line application but if you are applying for a duel degree with the Eugene Lang College, you need to use the common app.  We are not.

 Like all art schools, Parson's is very liberal but they have a goal of each student being a commercial success upon graduation.  This starts with a core freshman year - math, science, English with sewing only happening if you take a fashion elective that first year. Internships are strongly encouraged but not freshman year.  

All of the teachers are working their field - no one is a full time professor!  They are current with their expertise yes, but does this make teaching a part time job?  It does have it's pros and cons.  The campus lies together in a cluster in the city around 5th avenue.  The old building from "Project Runway" is no longer a part of Parsons.  Instead is a brand new eco friendly building.  It's completely sustainable and has solar power panels, rain water collection, all the wood is bamboo or reclaimed.  It is the first of it's kind on any US college campus.  The runway is formed in a large auditorium who's walls can be taken down in the back to include the classrooms behind it for extra space.  The fashion classes are here - as well as some dorm space.

One thing I found to be odd about Parsons - where was the art?  There were no paintings on the wall, no sculptures, no textiles.  I understand we were visiting close to finals but NO ART ANYWHERE?!  Maybe this adds to the feeling of Parson's being very industrial.  Even the new building with all it's design and scope felt industrial.  But more importantly, Mimi liked the school very much.

The "Welcome to Admissions" and the tour was separated by a couple of hours.  That was just fine by us on this beautiful day in Manhattan!

 First we walked about

Then we ate lunch at Le Pain Quotidien where I had a marvelous sandwich of prosciutto, pear, goat cheese, and figs on rustic bread.  The three of us shared a platter of hummus and baba ghanoush before our sandwiches arrived.  Mimi's order of  hot chocolate came complete with her own extra jug of dark chocolate in case she felt it was lacking!

And a little shopping - we are in New York!  

This store was especially fun - and it was almost all dishes!  I especially like the Manhattan skyline on the mugs, bowls and plates.  I am definitely going back store when I return for FIT this summer with Mimi and her brother.  The Manhattan skyline T-Shirt is perfect for my son's best friend in New Zealand!

I bought some coasters for Harriett in New Zealand.  Small and easy to mail, a little memento from New York.  Leaving New York in the morning for home.

Pam

PRATT INSTITUTE

Spring went back into hiding today - April snow?!  This turned into rain for our trip to Brooklyn, New York.  A part of me didn't mind, it's a good idea to see New York in a color it can wear a lot in winter - grey.
After creeping along in heavy traffic, we turned onto the Pratt campus and it was as if we went through the looking glass!  Beautiful tree lined streets, clean bright buildings, people strolling down the street - not honking their horns.  The heavy rain even turned into a drizzle!

Pratt Institute is a small private school on a 25 acre campus.  Five residence halls which can house approximately 1,600 students.  They don't use the common app, but their own online application with an essay explaining how you first got interested in Art/Fashion.  Admissions want a letter of recommendation and want SAT scores 510-620 or ACT composite range 23/28.

The school was founded by Charles Pratt with 12 students enrolled in fine drawing October 1887.  Five months later the school had 307 students ranging from painting and drawing to fashion.  The Pratt library was the first free to the public library in Brooklyn until 1940.

Charles Pratt started in Brooklyn with a Kerosene plant before turning to the arts and a great deal of the buildings are part of the original factory - and the engine here still works!  Mr. Milster, 77, the plants chief engineer has been running the old steam engine since the late 1950's and opens the plant doors to homeless kitties.  This group of cats are known as the Pratt Cats - and have free range on campus.  It's just a way of life in this community, and they are not overwhelming the space at all.
We arrived for our tour early so we walked around the corner to the recommended Luigis Pizza - 686 5th Avnue.  So good!
It's a window front to make your selection from a huge variety of pies with no place to eat inside!  Once you get your selection, pay, turn around and you're back outside!

  It was raining - we ate in the car.  If I was attending Pratt - this is where my freshman 20 would come from.  I want to try all the choices - starting with the fresh Buffalo Mozzarella Tomato Pizza!

Ready for the tour!

We left this new admissions building, The Willoughby Buiding, to tour the campus with Megan.  She is a senior who started Pratt wanting to a career in drawing and painting.  She took a class in metal work and sculpture - and she was hooked.  With this she made a great selling point - once a student takes a class in any different subject outside their major, they have access to those studios for the rest of their time at Pratt.  So even if Megan only wanted to play with metal sculpture from time to time, her key pass would always grant her access to the studios.  I get the feeling that the students are strongly encouraged to cross pollinate - I think that's fantastic.

The campus is a lovely combination of old and new.  The school has kept much of the original power plant in the exposed brick wall and wood floors, but the newer walls are clean and bright and sit so well with the old.

Mimi would be able to start with her major right away in freshman year with a few requirements - math, science, English to fill along the way.   Internships with major fashion industries - Donna Karan for example, are plentiful - a bonus of living in NYC.  

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the garden outside the library.  It's filled with fantastic sculptures - but don't get too attached to them!  The art is switched out on a regular basis.  In the fall the school brings in a troop of horses to the garden for the students to sketch and in the spring a wide range of flowers and plants.  I wonder if this has anything to do with an annual horse show and house and garden convention?!

I got an a strong sense of community here with the students, staff and campus.  Mimi had her portfolio reviewed and critiqued after our tour and had a good experience.  That's good! Her adviser who viewed her drawings made some very good suggestions and will be working with her throughout her application process.  Will all the fashion schools we look at do that I wonder?

One cute thing that happened was our student guide was giving us the tour of the gym and began talking about clubs the kids can join or create.  She and her friend started a salsa club!  So I asked "Do you dance here in the gym?"  She replied "Oh no!  I mean the kind with chips!"

Pam

TIP:

Don't put those college decals on your car too early.  Wait until they have completed their first year and want to go back!

Pam

Gearing Up!

Gearing Up!

Every fall the Corcoran School of Art and Design - associated with the Corcoran Gallery of Art, host a Art School Forum for students in the Washington D.C. area.  Our high school is about 20 minutes from Washington, D.C. so our Art Department extends an invitation for these schools attending the forum to continue showcasing their programs at our high school, and then extends an invitation to other area high schools to attend.

That is just some of the material we collected from the forum this fall!  The turn out is amazing - Art Institute of Chicago, Savannah College from Georgia, Pratt from NYC, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise from Los Angeles and Paris College of Art just to name a few!

The biggest nail biting moment is when your student is showing her portfolio to a representative from a school she greatly admires.  The reps were all so great, encouraging and with helpful critiques.  I was also pleased and impressed with how long they took with each students portfolio.  The forum is well attended as you can imagine (which you will have too, I didn't take a picture as I didn't know I was going to write about this journey!)  The kids waited in long lines, but were so respectful of the person in portfolio review process and gave that student a large buffer for privacy. 

 art school forum link  

Actually, this link will get you as far as our Walt Whitman's Art Department web page.  When I typed and clicked the link listed it took me to some strange place in Maryland.  You don't want to go some strange place in Maryland.  So, click on this trusty link above and scroll down to Fall Newsletter and there you will see the announcement for the Art School Forum.  It's every fall and open to the public if you are interested!

You will also see a link on helping students with their portfolio's and pictures of our high schools annual Festival of the Arts - which will be in less than two weeks from now!  This showcases our students art from the year and the final day is the Fashion Society's Fashion Show!  More on that soon...

How many high school students bags have a tape measures in them?!
Pam

Getting Started

This is me and my baby girl back in the day when she didn't care that she didn't have hair and is wearing her brother's baseball one piece outfit.  She cares now!

Fashion has become her passion.  She has taken classes on fashion drawing, sewing, is a part of the Fashion Society in her high school and found herself an internship with an upscale bridal boutique.  Fashion design is what my daughter wants to do in life so,
                 We are embarking on finding a Fashion College for Mimi!

Is this going to be different than applying to University of (insert your state here)?  Yes, I think it will be!  Do art and fashion schools require the SAT or ACT?  Sometimes.  Do they use the Common App?  Mostly no.  Each school is different than any other - with the exception that each program requires a portfolio admission.  You artists, always having to put your heart and soul out there for the world to judge.

We are going on a college hunt!  Here is our list:

Fashion Institute of Technology  - New York City
Parsons - The New School of Design  -  New York City
Pratt -  Brooklyn, New York
Rhode Island School of Design  -  Providence, Rhode Island
Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, Il
Academy of Fine Arts  -  San Francisco, CA
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise  -  Los Angeles, CA

                  and because we like to reach for the stars.....

Paris College of Art  -  Paris, France
International Fashion Academy  -  Paris, France
Parson's Paris  -  you guessed it, Paris!
Westminster  -  London, England
Kingston  -  London
Central Saint Martin's  -  London
Istituto Marangoni  -  London, Paris, Milan
Polimoda  -   Florence, Italy
Amsterdam Fashion Institute  -  Amsterdam (yup)

Impressive list!  We are not going to be able to visit all these schools, we do have to work and go to school.  But we will be investigating each school, finding out what they need and want from Mimi, and what is a good fit for her.   We will be visiting FIT, Parson's, and Pratt in New York City and I'd love a road trip to Rhode Island - but the best news of all - we are going to visit the schools in London and Paris!  Yes!

Come with us as we journey into this different world of art and fashion programs for your college bound child!
Pam