July:
I have to ask why you seem so certain that an art school is really the best place for your daughter. The best advice I have received from professional artists and illustrators is simply not to stop creating art. I am also often told that those looking for more 'formal' instruction would be wise to find an artist that creates the kind of work (or style, technique, etc.) that the student is interested in, and offer to work for this artist as an assistant.
It's funny that an academic artist would tell a prospective student that their work isn't really art--most academics are adamant that art cannot BE defined; that we don't know--and can't claim to know--what art is, or isn't.
Rather than attending an art college, your daughter might be bettr off finding an artist, or several, who are already creating similar work professionally, and learning from them how to make a living as an artist.
I attended a local college's commercial art program, but the field of commercial art changed so much right after I graduated, that I have done very little work in that field. My instructors hated the kind of work I enjoy most (fantasy and imaginative art), and also my preferred techniques (airbrushed acrylics).
Almost ten years after graduation, I finally decided to begin showing my work at local shows; now, five years later, I am showing my work nationally. I'm not yet making a living as a fine artist, but I believe I am on the right track, and will soon be able to do so.
Tell your daughter to follow her own dreams, and not to worry about what someone else says about what art is, or isn't. However educated, those are still only opinions--nothing more.
Best of luck to you both,
Keith Russell
Synthetic Sky Studios
Science Fiction Fine Art
syntheticsky@hotmail.com
artkc.com/russelk.htm
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