Hello,



My name is Crystal Brown. I'm a Canadian art student at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Luckily I'm going to Michael John Angel Studios as well, otherwise I'd already be in a mental ward. Reading all the ARC articles made me feel like I wasn't crazy to think that Modernist "art" is actually good, and it prepared me for OCAD. I dreaded going there, so much that on the first day (my birthday) I felt physically sick like I was going to faint and I couldn't eat anything. The work on the walls are so bad... beyond bad, which of course is great to them. My first drawing class there was the worst art class I've ever had. The instructor (Colette) made us draw from a video that had a series of chain reactions in it! So we all used a whole pad of newsprint and every sheet was a variation of kindergarten scribbling. I mean sure, if I was high on something, I guess I would have liked it. And as if that wasn't bad enough, she told us they would be among our best drawings! One of the students said, "I don't like to waste paper," then Colette said, "...art is about waste." And I was thinking, "Oh my God." Then in my colour and 2D design course, the instructor tells us to buy 12 brushes and I ask her, "What kind? Bright, filbert, round..." and she looks at me all confused and says, "Your scaring me with your knowledge, I don't even know what those are, just get what you want."



I can go on and on about the dumb things I see and hear on a daily basis at OCAD. As I mentioned, I go to Michael John Angel Studios (MJAS) and it's awesome of course. I learned more there in a day than I could ever learn at OCAD in 4 years! I feel so happy there, I feel at home and I'm improving week. But here's the bad part, the only way I can go there is by using my student loan which is for OCAD. I just happened to have enough money. So if I quit OCAD it's bye, bye MJAS too. So I'm trapped unless I can find a way to pay for MJAS and earn a degree some other way. We're doing these amazing Bargue drawings, meanwhile at OCAD we're doing things from grade 9. It's only been a month and I'm already trying to get out. I spoke to the dean and he's like, "You need to be more open, more patient..." Blah, blah, blah, same crap, different person. I've heard it all before, you know? They try to patronize me and tell me I'm too young to know what kind of education I need... yet I'm old enough to pay for it. I asked him if I could use the work I do at MJAS for credit and he said to talk to the head of first year studies who is none other than my drawing teacher Colette! Why do I get the feeling that she's not going to help me? I DESPERATELY NEED HELP! The last day to drop courses is November 5th so if I can't get help by then, I'm definitely trapped. Please, if you have any advice as to what I should do or if you can help some other way, that would mean lots to me.



Thanks,

Crystal Brown

this is the problem... the girl, not me is frustrated because the credited school is given her nothing. the non credited school is given her everything. she doesnt want to be bothered with the credited school because its a joke (but considered the place to be in canada)... but the student loans will be gone if she drops out... meaning she wont be able to afford the non credited school she prefers.



i've had a few friends... well any who've gone to a credited school, complain about the same things in this younge ladys letter.



being someone who has visited ara, i can see why she would prefer it to the other. while in ontario i passed on meeting with the teachers at ocad after meeting students, but i kept my appointment for the tour at ara... which was a complete joy and so helpful.



i feel sorry for these people.

ocad's considered a good school... with the exception of people who have complex question and tasks they wish to learn.



i wish that the people who hand out this money could atleast take alook at these private altiers and conisider that people never stopped wanting to learn this. they seem to have no problem giving money to a girl who wanted to video tape wax knives hanging store fronts(true story)... but for some reason, the answers a "no".



p.s gesture drawings? (might it have been the construct of the girl looking in the mirror at her ribbs?)i posted some cooked up drawings i did for light and dark practices... but i wouldnt post pics of just the gesture.. you know... for fear of being labeled an artist ahaha. besides, i could never leave a drawing at just that... just too premature to be worthe showing.

Bill wrote:

midnightpooper wrote:

ocad's considered a good school... with the exception of people who have complex question and tasks they wish to learn.



i wish that the people who hand out this money could atleast take alook at these private altiers and conisider that people never stopped wanting to learn this. they seem to have no problem giving money to a girl who wanted to video tape wax knives hanging store fronts(true story)... but for some reason, the answers a "no".



p.s gesture drawings? (might it have been the construct of the girl looking in the mirror at her ribbs?)i posted some cooked up drawings i did for light and dark practices... but i wouldnt post pics of just the gesture.. you know... for fear of being labeled an artist ahaha. besides, i could never leave a drawing at just that... just too premature to be worthe showing.

Could it be that the classes get better further on and the early classes are just more general ed?

We did some really far out things my freshman year (building boats only made of paper and duct tape that had to keep you afloat in the water in 3 days or a 15ft tower made of paper that stood on it's own). They were meant to get us loosened up and thinking outside the box. The school I went to was more about ideas and finished work than technical skill. If you want to be super proficient skill wise, it may be better to think about transferring.



Try to keep your mind open. If I had gone into my freshman year with a closed mind, I would have transferred or dropped out as well. And I sure as well wouldn't have ended up majoring in video and painting.



I actually think that that drawing class sounds really interesting. We had an abstract/alternative material drawing class that rocked. And I did end up doing some of my best drawing in it.



Just my 2 cents.