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Hello! I really need more help deciding my next moves for continuing my BFA... either SFAI in SF or FIT in NY. I have lived in Cali for all of my life and do love SF, I have already been living here for almost a year now, but New York has been calling out to me even though I haven't been there before. The things I have heard about it-- that it is the place for artists, that it feels it has history such as Europe ( where I have traveled and love a thousand times more than SF ) I unfortunately recieved my acceptance letter from FIT a month late ( lost in the mail ) and dont think I will have enough money/ and running out of time to visit NY first to decide. SFAI is more of a conceptual school, preparing me for gallery work and just letting me be an artist. -But would going to school in New York get me more connections and opportunities for my BFA in photography?
SFAI - 16,000 tuition or so a semester,
FIT -after a year of residency at NY the tuition is 5,000 a year
I have some family in NY as well, artists and musicians, opera singer, and a friend going to the school now.
I have always felt so isolated here on the west coast never having close friends here my whole life, but my friend with the same problem moved to NY after living in the same town as me and now has many friends and connections for her career, new ones everyday.
What is the best thing to do, since I won't be able to visit NY first
Well if you have family and friends in NY, and you feel isolated on the west coast why not give NY a shot? In terms of BETTER for art school, I wouldn't say NY is head and shoulders better than SF. There are more opportunities in NYC but there are also more applicants for each opportunity. The competition is a bit fiercer here but the rewards are great if you can stand out.
NYC puts you a lot closer to the center of the art world, which is good in a career sense. LA, not SF, is really the place to be on the west coast from an art career standpoint.
it seems you have already convinced yourself for new york, rotodome is also right... not that sf doesn't have a great scene, but... the city to your south is where things are done.
Well, it would depend what you're wanting to focus on in Fine Art. If it's just abstract/post-modern than either city would do, NYC would probably be better as it's a better market for that crap, err I mean "art". If it's classical training you want, SF is better -- Los Angeles even more so, however I think the market is incomparable to NYC.
While I agree NYC has/exhibits all kinds of art and is a better place to expose yourself, but in terms of "studying", I don't think you need to be there necessarily. I've always thought one, particularly so with creative endeavors, to perfect your craft first than expose yourself. I've seen lots of so called artists just exposing themselves after school only to remain producing 'student-ish' work, repeatedly and they get stuck in that style if it can even be called a style. Just go visit the Chelsea area.
There's something to be said for art-world networking and faculty contacts that you gain in art school. That's a lot of what you're paying for after all. And I think this is why the NYC area is a very good place to go to art school.
why go to those in SF LA or NYC, when you can go to Savannah for the School of Arts there... and low cost of living, good weather, fishing.
that school is pretty expensive from what i remember...
also, savannah isn't on ny (or i guess sf)'s level when it comes to networking possibilities and job opportunities once you get out.
the art world is hard to make money in, IMHO and you need every opportunity that you can once you're out.
you could do all types of internships here. murakami had one a few years ago that i thought about. i still wish i had taken advantage of it. ny is an art hub for the world. savannah, while it does have a great school, is not.
But I am a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and Have had no regrets.
Vey health arts community in Pittsburgh
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