Cal Arts Movie Shortsmom Getting Ready for Son on Leave

The commencement terminate of our west coast art school bout was California Institute of the Arts, or Cal Arts Valencia. It's nigh a 60 minutes away from the LAX aerodrome, requite or take traffic. The skilful news is that yous are mostly going in the opposite direction of traffic, but accept that lightly, because even "no traffic" does not mean that there are no wearisome spots.

We left from Torrance and it took an hour and half each way, and I would, having grown up in Southern California, consider the traffic to be light.

Once you make it at Cal Arts, you go through a guard stop into the parking lot. It's set in suburban sprawl that feels recent and very much like Orange County tract houses and commercial developments. The school itself though, is an oasis of creativity.

My daughter, Grasshopper and Sensei, has mixed feelings about Cal Arts since she is looking for a very specific art schoolhouse experience. She wants a foundation year; Cal Arts does non offer one. She wants to study Industrial Blueprint. Cal Arts does not accept this major. She's interested in film; perchance animation but non character blitheness necessarily. Cal Arts has the about competitive Graphic symbol Animation plan that is a feeder into Pixlar and other coveted blitheness studios.

And so why Cal Arts for her? It was the school tour that sold her. She loved the vibe of the school. She loved the Artistic Animation program that is animation meets fine art. She also likes a school where kids are committed to their school experience and willing to collaborate. Cal Arts has that in spades!

For near the kids in the room, though, Character Animation is what drives this school. Information technology'due south not a surprise considering that Roy and Walt Disney founded this schoolhouse as a collaborative space putting all the creative arts — dance, music, interim, fine fine art, film, blitheness — under 1 roof. But Character Blitheness is quite difficult to get into.

Applying to Cal Arts Graphic symbol Animation

I liked how our tour guide — a ascension senior — gave a pep talk to anyone considering applying to Character Blitheness. She herself is a costume designer, but she won a coveted spot as an intern for Disney Imagineering. It's not hard to come across her rocking a presentation of her ideas though!

Original drawings of the Animal and other Disney Characters

Kickoff the stats. 800 to grand students apply for 65 Character Animation spots. Note that 80% of those accepted are transferring from another art college or art program! That leaves only xx% of high schoolhouse seniors. Besides, transferring students do NOT get credit for their fine art classes though they can get credit for humanities and science classes, both APs and from college.

Since Cal Arts does not have a foundation year where all freshman have the aforementioned classes that include drawing fundamentals as well survey all the creative offerings of the school, Cal Arts expects Character Animation majors to come in with serious drawing skills. They recommend Life Cartoon classes; lots and lots of practice drawing the homo figure!

Other majors at Cal Arts practise not crave that same high level of drawing skills. Also, the other majors are not equally competitive to get into.

Cal Arts is one giant continued building. My daughter liked that. It's heavily air conditioned confronting the rut of the Southern California desert which she also liked. All classes and functioning spaces are connected on four floors which makes for a lot of interaction betwixt students and faculty. Pets are likewise allowed though non in dorms, the library, or the cafeteria. Dorms are nearby but not continued to the pedagogy spaces.

Cal Arts as well offers performance and showroom space outside of Valencia, in Los Angeles which is helpful for those seeking employment. They own a theater called Red Cat in Los Angeles which is mostly used for visitors but students can perform at that place likewise. And there is always that connexion to Disney, including the myriad of companies under that one brand including movies, animation, music, and publishing.

They besides take the globe's only operational modular theater. It's a infinite where iv x four squares can be moved up to 10 anxiety loftier on hydraulic lifts making for ending permutations of the performance space. While it makes for creativity in the interim section, it can also be used for the arts.

Cal Arts seems to have active alumni who take an interest in mentoring and helping students. This feels different from other art schools that nosotros visited where the alumni vibe is that students need to "pay their ante."

All in all, Cal Arts has an astonishing Character Animation program that is virtually impossible to get into. Students applying here should take a very articulate thought of what they want to do post college, and what they want to get out of the school. With that in listen, the heaven is the limit. There are many, many opportunities for those willing to walk through open doors. A highly motivated, creative collaborator would be almost at home here.

Room A113 at Cal Arts: the door and the significance

I had no idea of Room A113, only some of the kids on our bout did. It wasn't a kind of test … it'due south more of an within animation joke. Some cry when seeing this seemingly bland door; others are in awe. Annotation that this door and the rooms behind it no longer house animators. That doesn't seem to lessen the appeal though.

All in all, Cal Arts is a strong program for creatives of all types who know what they want. My approximate is that the dance section is the weakest. Graphic symbol blitheness is definitely the strongest. I'm not certain well-nigh how the other programs stack up against other schools but you tin can await that upwardly.

In that location were a few stiff consistent messages that Cal Arts conveyed. I is: No Censorship. They are determined about not censoring inventiveness. Their only rule seems to be that students tin non paint on doors or door jams merely that is only because clever arts in the past have hidden doors to classrooms in years by with optical illusions that caused freshman to miss their classes.

There is also a message of Cutting Edge. This is not an art school fixated on traditional anything. They are all most breaking boundaries whether that is in acting, animation or dance. I think that might be a California thing; this idea of breaking free from tradition.

I noticed a fair amount of nudity stemming from their cutting edge + no censorship policies. This is a very freeing place to be, but if total liberty scares yous, this would not exist the right fit for y'all. For instance, my sister-in-law went here for i year but she transferred to UCLA's graphic design program from Cal Arts Fine Art plan. She'south a very talented artist, only a conservative and more traditional kind of person.

They have the student films of director luminaries such as Tim Burton!

For my daughter, this is a good fit for her in terms of creativity and freedom. It'due south not the perfect fit but it would exist a practiced place for her. In any case, our relatives in California promise she will land here so they can see her more often!

p.south. More about Art Colleges from our college tours:

Visiting Pratt

Visiting School of Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)

Visiting California College of the Arts

Top Fine art and Pattern Colleges

Applying to Art School: School of Visual Arts

RISD Pre-College Program

Visiting Westward Coast Art Schools & Foodie Stops Nearby

Applying to RISD: Communication from Antonio Peters in Admissions

Tips for National Portfolio 24-hour interval

Xtreme Calendar week at Mass College of Art

MassArt College Visit

and some fun stuff …

If y'all are visiting New York City, here are our inexpensive foodie finds.

Our NYC (Cheap) Foodie Finds

45 Art Gifts for Seriously Arty Kids (by my arty daughter)

Art Competitions for Kids and Teens

Our Art Gift Kits for Arty Kids

10 Inspirational Art Books for Arty Kids

Best Toys for Arty Kids

An Arts Studio of One'south Ain

My books:

BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN'Due south BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 is a volume that I created to highlight books written by authors who share the same marginalized identity as the characters in their books.

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Source: https://www.pragmaticmom.com/2017/10/visiting-california-institute-arts-cal-arts-valencia/

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