CCS vs. anything else (for illustration).

[flogmedracula]

I'm a freshman at the College for Creative Studies right now majoring in illustration, and I love art school, but I hate Detroit. Mostly because you're pretty much limited to the one block worth of campus. So, for next year I'm trying to look for a new school, and I need some help. I was looking at MECA, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, and the Art Academy of Cincinnati just for starters, but I have no idea how they compare to CCS or each other. Any information on these schools or recommendations of schools in the East/Mid-West would be awesome.

[Storyboard Dave]

I'm a freshman at the College for Creative Studies right now majoring in illustration, and I love art school, but I hate Detroit. Mostly because you're pretty much limited to the one block worth of campus. So, for next year I'm trying to look for a new school, and I need some help. I was looking at MECA, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, and the Art Academy of Cincinnati just for starters, but I have no idea how they compare to CCS or each other. Any information on these schools or recommendations of schools in the East/Mid-West would be awesome.

Waitaminute here. Only one city block? While I'm glad to hear of you digging the Illustration department and all I'm a little stunned to hear you feeling as though you've only got one city block to explore. Have you even taken the time to wander through Wayne State University to look around a bit? And next year CCS officially moves into the Argonaut Building (a mind boggling 750,000+ square feet of space). Are you from the SE Michigan area? Do you have a car or friends that can take you off campus to go check out some of the cooler things in the area? If you live in the ACB, obviously you've got to wander off campus to get groceries. Now you might have a fear of wandering off the safer confines of the campus but that could be said of any major urban campus- one has to be aware of their surroundings and be responsible for one's safety. Yeah, I understand the workload's a heck of an adjustment from high school and if you really don't think CCS is your place, but to say that you're sort of confined to one city block seems a bit odd.

I know of a handful of kids who are from out-of-state and have no qualms of leaving the campus to get groceries, have a dinner, see a movie, go to a concert, and do all the goofy collegiate things that students are apt to do.

Is there something I'm missing here or is there more to the story?

[emifinan]

I'm not sure about the schools you've listed, but most art schools are located in not-so-great areas. I've heard horror stories from SCAD, MICA, and pretty much every major art school.

Detroit might not boast a huge "scene" like New York or Chicago, but it's still there. You just need to talk to the right people.

Off the top of my head I can think of some awesome things to do in Detroit :

DIA
Detroit Artists Market
John K. King Used + Rare Books (AMAZING)
Mexican Town
Eastern Market
People Mover (make it an adventure)
Heidelberg Project
Belle Isle
Arts And Scraps (this awesome store where you can buy a bag and fill it up with scraps, perfect for an art student to challenge themselves with)
CAID, they have events all the time
Motown Historical Museum
Campus Martius Ice Skating
shows at any of the tons of music venues
check out Lafayette Park and the architecture by Mies van de Rohe
Actually, just get a book on the history of architecture in Detroit and go check out the buildings, it's incredible

There is an amazing guide to the art and design places/museums/shops in Detroit and metro area
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/01/detroit-design-guide.html

I don't think it talks about much outside of Detroit, but you can always take the bus to Ferndale or Royal Oak.

Definitely go to Cranbrook. All Detroit public libraries offer free passes to Cranbrook, DIA, Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (which is really cool) also have free passes to all the other museums.

Take a bus to Ann Arbor. The Natural History museum is great and a perfect place for an illustration student to practice drawing dead stuffed animals. Also there are tons of craft fairs around Detroit and Ann Arbor.

I think Zeitgeist Gallery shut down but that was sweet. CPOP has shows, check them out they're the closest to the LA art scene as you'll ever get. Try volunteering for an organization or working at a soup kitchen. You'll meet fantastic people and gain creative influences. If you are really bored pop over to Canada. Nothing too fancy over there but they have some art gallery's worth checking out if only for the fact that it's Canada.

Go watch independent films at the DFT or Main theatre in Royal Oak.
Just getting lost in the Detroit Public Library is interesting on it's own.

Pick up a copy of those weekly detroit newspapers, can't remember their names, they list everything going on.

Train tickets to Chicago are super cheap. If you have a free weekend just pop over there and find a friend or friend of a friend to crash with.

The most important thing is be safe. Don't go out by yourself after dark. Don't do that in any city.

You're an art student, so I can't see where you'll have time to do all these things anyways :) And if you're thinking "well I already have" then maybe you should check them out again and see if you can get more inspiration. At least that's always my goal, in whatever I do, be it social or whatever, is to get inspired.

Good luck :)

[emifinan]

And I'll add that I have spent my whole life here and never felt like I was in danger.

The biggest thing I can stress is TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DIA! It's free for goodness sake! How many art schools have such a giant collection of art work in their front lawn? Go there every chance you get, check out the special exhibitions. Go to the events, bring your sketchbook and draw people, statues, and works of art.

And with the auto industry up in flames right now, this is probably the best time for an artist to be in Detroit. Talk to auto workers, get inspiration. Illustration is about visual story telling, and what better story is there right now that the great industry of the United States going bankrupt?

Detroit is also so fantastically culturally rich. Do everything you possibly can to capitalize on it's diversity. Talk to people, hear their stories. Read about the history of Detroit, get inspired!

[flogmedracula]

I've never felt in danger. The workload isn't too much. This is purely environmental. I find Detroit stifling. And there's no where you can go to be alone, aside from the DIA, but that's only open so long. I just don't like where I am right now. I'm just looking to find schools with an Illustration department as good or better that CCS's.