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The Creative Student's Guide to Orlando Art Education and Careers

...for students of art, design, fashion design, photography, film/video, advertising, interior design and other creative fields.

Visit our Complete Directory of
Orlando Art Schools and Art Colleges!

by C.J. Gustafson
ArtSchools.com Contributing Writer

art schools in Orlando Originally an encampment during the Seminole Wars in 1835, the soldiers who stayed named their settlement Orlando in honor of a comrade who was killed while warning them of an impending attack. Over 180,000 residents live in a 100.9 sq. mile area, where average temperatures range from 49°F to 92°F annually. The greater metropolitan area of Orlando also takes in four other counties, including 47 square miles occupied by Disney World.

Known as a tourist center, Orlando boasts such attractions as Universal Studios, the Kennedy Space Center, Sea World, and Walt Disney World, the most popular manmade attraction on Earth. These attractions provide interesting case studies for architecture students and those pursuing animation, film and graphic design careers.

Art Museums and Galleries

art student in Orlando Other arts attractions include the Orlando Museum of Art, which houses an extensive collection of works by American artists including Georgia O'Keeffe, Childe Hassam, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein. The Cornell Fine Arts Museum and the Great Art for Real People Gallery are other popular spots.

The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art is the world's most comprehensive collection of the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany. And at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, approximately 200 pieces of the works by the Czech American sculptor are on display. The museum grounds include a studio, two galleries, a chapel and a three-acre garden. A tour of downtown Orlando is also worthwhile. Visitors can take in the art displays of the Orlando Visual Artists' League, and Thornton Park's "Third Thursday's" event offers additional arts exposure. Buses, shuttles, and trolleys are among the convenient transportation options for exploring the many art venues at hand.

Orlando also has many smaller galleries where local artists work and display their art. Art du Jour has a wide variety of original artwork from Larry Muench, Mark Muench, and many other local artists, and Art Space has been garnering a great deal of attention from art enthusiasts.

Additional artist's resources include Create magazine, a quarterly print publication geared toward central Florida's advertising and creative production community. Orlando City Beat.com is an online site with a wealth of information on the arts and entertainment scene in the city.

Art Schools and Programs

fashion design schools in Orlando In addition to the galleries, museums, and other arts-related resources, there are several colleges and schools in Orlando that offer degrees in the arts fields. The International Academy of Design and Technology - Orlando, and the University of Central Florida are some of the schools that offer Marketing and Advertising degrees, Fashion Design degrees, Interior Design degrees, Graphic Design degrees, art studio degrees with a variety of emphasis areas, and training for photography careers.

There are also individual artists and schools that offer certificate and personal enrichment classes in the arts. The Crealdé School of Art is a favorite with local art enthusiasts, and is open to visitors as well. The art center includes a sculpture garden and several galleries and offers classes in photography, painting or pottery.

The nearness of Disney and Universal Studios attracts top talent from drawing, animation and design careers. Pam Henn, for example, spent two years drawing "Belle" in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" film. Now she has her own studio, The Art Room, which caters specifically to teaching art to locals and visitors alike.

The local tourist attractions provide employment opportunities in other visual arts careers as well. A 2002 study entitled "The Arts: Looking at the ARTS in Central Florida" conducted in the Orlando Metropolitan area found that in the four-county Orlando area, over 2000 people were employed in art-related careers. While one may assume that Disney was responsible for many of these jobs, the study showed that 60% of arts-related employment in Orlando was in businesses with four or less paid employees. Of those, nearly 30% were independent artists. The Orlando area is home to over 25 architectural firms, half as many advertising agencies, and numerous other businesses related to the arts.

For most people, Orlando brings to mind theme parks, space centers, and tourists from all over the world, but the locals know that there is also a thriving arts community and plenty of educational and employment opportunities for visual artists in this city of The Mouse.

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