For those looking for a hands-on way to perfect their craft, or dabble in the arts or dramatics, major cities and towns offer workshops through the community colleges. These are normally paid for per-workshop attended, with the fee normally covering any supply costs. The price paid and the amount of commitment necessary is normally very minimal, especially in comparison to taking an entire semester or longer. Classes offered in workshops include traditional arts mediums such as painting and sculpturing, to more involved drama classes, where the group aims to put on plays in local venues or on a college campus. The classes may be as little as one day, to several months long, and often are offered in the summer months.
Community colleges offer a broad spectrum of focus in the arts, and are quite affordable in comparison to other state schools and universities. While they offer everything from graphic design to drama to drawing classes, the courses offered are normally foundation classes for continuing your education through higher learning. Most community colleges have accreditation that is accepted through state-run schools within the same state.
Offered as an alternative to the normal curriculum of colleges, trade schools, often called vocational or technical schools, offer a much more focused course load to the intended degree. These schools often focus on a particular art, such as graphic design or web design. Many acting schools fall under this category as well. The main draw of these schools is an accelerated learning program, with many offering three to four semesters per year, as opposed to the average two-semester school year. This typically results in graduation occurring between one and two years.
These are typically four-year programs with a wide area of focus that focuses on all of the arts. With this amount of focus in the arts, the curriculum is focused on whichever artistic path you may take. While art schools offer focus on everything from music to dance to theater to traditional art, the individual school is usually recognized for a particular field.
For example, The Juilliard School in New York City offers courses in drama, music and dance in addition to other courses, but is especially known for excellence in its jazz program. A place like the New York Film Academy is obviously going to focus on a career in film or theater and not offer other art courses. In addition to associate and bachelor degrees, many also offer graduate and doctoral programs.
State colleges and universities offer graduate and undergraduate programs in the arts. These programs are not normally as focused as the programs offered in art schools, with many general education classes being added to the course load. The level of education may vary drastically from school to school, so it is important to research any school before applying. However, at the right school, one can get a quality education in traditional art such as painting, sculpting or drawing, as well as theater and film dramatics, and computer related arts such as graphic design and computer animation modeling. The added benefit to pursuing an art degree in a state college or university is that you can choose to minor in another field unrelated to art.