The Art School Experience I Never Had

Last month, I visited the Ringling College of Art & Design as a guest speaker and judge. I wanna tell you guys how it went!

This whole trip started when I got an email a few months ago from the ILLEST team; a student-led group who organize events for the illustration department at the College. Every year, they bring in a professional artist to judge their annual illustration exhibition (including pals Devin Elle Kurtz and Kangaroo Hole: Deb JJ Lee) and I was honored to be selected this year.

Along with judging, I also offered to do two lectures and portfolio reviews. I jumped at the opportunity, not only for the chance to do more speaking events, but also because Ringling is in a gorgeous beach town in Sarasota, Florida. I originally wanted to turn it into a whole family trip with my husband and toddler.

But as we got closer to the dates, and as my baby fully leaned into his chaotic toddler era, it became clear that traveling all together was going to be a torturous idea. And so, we decided that it would be best if I went alone. It felt like abandoning my husband, abandoning my son, and escaping to a beach vacation without them. But despite my protests, my husband convinced me. We knew it was good for my career, and honestly, I needed a parenting break. So I said yes!

Arriving in Sarasota, I felt something I haven’t felt in a quite a long time. That little spark of the old me; the version of myself that existed before I became a mom. Obviously, I love my baby more than anything, but it was really nice to have a tiny pocket of independence again and to feel like to cool old version of me. I was excited to have a few days where I could just be myself, walk around a beautiful town, and not juggle a million things at once. Oh, and to sleep in. That was really important.

I flew in late in the day and spent the night finishing some last touches on my slides, and exploring the downtown area. I stayed at an Airbnb close to the college and because Dallas is extremely unwalkable, I took every chance to walk around. Even though there were lizards EVERYWHERE you step and I am so scared of them. AHH.

The next morning, I headed straight into a creative writing class where I was invited to do a quick drop-in, and I did a little Q&A with students (a mix of illustrators and authors). I tried to share as much as I could about my own writing process. One student told me they had presented my work the week before, and got excited when they found out I was coming, which was really cool to hear.

After that, I spent SIX hours doing portfolio reviews in the library, meeting a dozen or so students and trying to impart some semblance of wisdom on these already talented youths. My voice was hoarse after this, but I couldn’t rest yet because….

In the evening, I gave my first lecture! This one was a drawing demo plus a deep dive into my career journey: the highs, the lows, the pivots, and all that good stuff. Kind of similar to my Career Journey video!

I wanted them to know that most career paths are not straight lines and it’s is okay to pivot again and again until you land somewhere that feels right.

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The next day, I explored the town with some of the ILLest crew. :)

We went to the Sarasota Art Museum and saw works from the Golden Age of illustration and advertising, plus a kaleidoscopic exhibit from Lillian Blades that was absolutely breathtaking. (And of course I grabbed a ton of artsy swag because I absolutely cannot resist a museum gift shop.)

Then we returned to the college, where they gave me a full tour of the campus.

I need to stress that I didn’t have a typical art school experience. I went to the American University of Sharjah for one semester, which meant foundation Math/English classes, one art history course, and a very basic drawing and design class.

Then I transferred to Ceruleum Ecole d’Arts Visuels, which was incredibly small. My graduating class was ten people, and only five were in the illustration department. We got amazing one-on-one time with teachers, but the school had very limited resources.

Walking through Ringling felt like I was in Disneyland. Their library was insane; They had an ENTIRE WALL of art-of-animation books, and several bookshelves JUST FOR POP UP BOOKS.

Printmaking studios with every machine imaginable, both digital and analog. Huge workshops. Electives in everything you could dream of and things to experiment with. I was overwhelmed by how much you could learn.

I felt kind of jealous.

At Ceruleum, we had no electives. It was a a very unique set-up; The schedule was fixed like a school day from 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday, two classes a day, lunch in the middle, with no flexibility. I was in the illustration department and desperately wanted to take animation classes to add to my skill set, but I wasn’t allowed. Seeing Ringling’s setup made me realize just how much I missed out on.

I was surprised by how much I loved being in school again after so long. I loved interacting with the students, learning about their projects, hearing their questions, guiding them through their portfolios. I loved meeting the faculty. They were very cool and accomplished and I immediately wanted to learn from them.

It made me realize that I want to be in this sort of environment; maybe as a student someday, maybe as a teacher. I would absolutely love to pursue a master’s degree at some point when my son is older, although I know how expensive that is and maybe a little foolish? I know that maybe I could get just as much out of workshops and classes.

But teaching is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about! Since starting my mentoring and consulting sessions, I’ve realized how much joy I get from helping artists grow, and I felt that at RCAD as well.

While on my tours, one thing that bothered me, was how homogenous the faculty was. Although very talented, they were mostly old white men, which felt especially jarring since it didn’t reflect the incredibly diverse student body. I had a few WOC students even tell me that their ideas about diverse stories had been brushed off or ridiculed, which was very upsetting to hear. And many mentioned that they weren’t learning up-to-date information about the current industry, which again didn’t surprise me as this is a consistent issue I’ve heard from many art school grads. In an industry that is always evolving, especially with the rise of tech, social media, and horrendous AI, it’s so important to have advisors who are in the know and can help their students adapt as well.

I would be curious to hear from you guys if you had a positive (or negative) experience in school and whether they prepared you well for the ‘real world’ of running an art career.

After the campus tour, I gave my second presentation, which was much more business-focused. I talked about the importance of multiple income streams, my productivity systems, how I approach my books creatively, and the things I would do if I were starting fresh out of school. Basically, I wanted to give students the practical guidance I didn’t get when I was their age.

The next day was my free day! I explored Sarasota, went back to the beach, visited the Ringling Museum, wandered through the Center for Asian Arts, and soaked up as much beauty as I could in 2 hrs.

And then came the exhibition! The ILLEST team did such an incredible job! They’re students, ten or more years younger than me, but the event looked like it had been put on by a professional gallery staff. The theme was a fairy garden and they executed it so beautifully.

Before flying in, I had to judge the student exhibition. There were around 160 entries from the illustration department, and I had to narrow them down to 30 that would be framed and displayed in the gallery. It was so much harder than I expected since these students were incredibly talented. And even tougher was selecting the top three winners (@feldgoat, @diegoisdrawing, @kadinkreates, go check them out!).

On the last day, we had a celebration brunch and then I flew back home to a toddler who actually didn’t miss me at all (to my sadness and relief).

It was such a wonderful trip. I had so much fun, and I loved connecting with the really awesome ILLEST crew. (Robin, Sam, Abby, Crystal, Daniella, and Zeta). Being at an art school campus reminded me of what I missed in my own art education, but it also made me excited! Maybe one day I’ll go back to school, who knows!

OK BYE!