Back to Basics BFA Degree a First in Art Schools

Fundamentals in classical fine-art drawing and painting instruction will combine with core liberal arts courses in the new BFA program from Founders College and Academy of Realist Art

Toronto, Canada & South Boston, Va. (PRWEB) May 29, 2007 -- You've heard about back-to-basics in reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Now the trend moves to college level education in fine art, with the new joint program to be delivered in both Toronto, Canada, and South Boston, Virginia.

We searched long and hard to find the right fit in an art school for our daughter, before we settled on ARA in Toronto. Now it's wonderful news that this great training will be available in the US, too -- and on a campus where there are horses, which she loves!

Those letters (BFA) will vindicate my ten years of work mastering this craft, making it clear that it's no simple hobby.

Founders College -- a new liberal arts college emphasizing an integrated curriculum of logically ordered courses that illustrate connections among ideas in each field -- will grant the BFA degree to art students enrolled at either location, on completion of both the ARA curriculum and selected liberal-arts fundamental courses from the Founders catalogue.

History of Fine Art Schools:
Instruction in drawing and painting shifted away from fundamentals (such as accurate proportion, shape, and tone, as had been taught from the Renaissance to the 19th-century Academies) by the middle of the 20th century, and instead emphasized unstructured creativity and expressiveness.

Although there have always been a few 'classical' art schools, the majority of college fine arts programs forgo the fundamentals taught at the private schools called ateliers or academies. ARA is the largest classical atelier/academy in North America, and one of the world's largest. Past graduates have received diplomas, but no degrees.

Now, the synergy of a back-to-basics philosophy of education and a mutual emphasis on building fundamental knowledge has brought Founders and ARA together to create the new joint BFA degree program.

Sample Students:
One young student at ARA is Nike Ard, home-schooled in Florida along with her numerous siblings. Says her mother, Penne, "We searched long and hard to find the right fit in an art school for our daughter, before we settled on ARA in Toronto. Now it's wonderful news that this great training will be available in the US, too -- and on a campus where there are horses, which she loves!"

Perhaps surprisingly, it's not only young people who want the new BFA. Retirement-age musician/composer/painter Donald Coakley intends to enroll because, as he puts it, "Those letters (BFA) will vindicate my ten years of work mastering this craft, making it clear that it's no simple hobby."

Enrollment and Locations:
Applications are being accepted for September 2007 enrollment. Students may choose between the Academy location in Toronto (an artists' Studio atmosphere, where academic courses will be delivered by Distance Learning) and the Founders College location in Virginia, where both programs will be delivered live in the beautiful landscape of the South Boston campus.

About ARA:
Academy of Realist Art (ARA) http://www.AcademyofRealistArt.com is a private fine art school in the classical tradition, modeled on the great 19th-century Academies. Located in Toronto, ARA offers a proven curriculum of step-by-step, self-paced fine art study in a group environment. Students can learn to draw and paint at ARA full- or part-time and during periodic workshops. Senior artist-instructors Fernando Freitas and Juan Carlos Martinez are both prize-winning contemporary realists. Living Masters and other art experts enrich the ARA curriculum with special demonstrations and lectures every semester.

About Founders:
Founders College at the Berry Hill Estate in South Boston, Virginia, is easily accessible from points north and south. It is within a one-hour drive of Raleigh-Durham and within a two-hour drive of Richmond, Va., and Greensboro, N.C. The College received degree-granting authority from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) in September 2006. For more information, visit http://www.founderscollege.com.

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