Featured Online School

The Art Institutes offers real-world education programs in design, the culinary arts, media arts, and fashion. Here you'll get the competitive edge to succeed as a creative professional - in your field of interest! Online programs also satisfy a need for budding creative professionals.

Featured Online School

Earn your Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication degree with a concentration in
WEB DESIGN!
Click here to learn more.

For almost 70 years, Harrington has focused on preparing leaders in today's interior design industry. You can be one of those people. Click here to learn how!

Explore your artistic creativity with all that technology has to offer. Click here to learn more.

NYFA offers workshops in Filmmaking, Digital Filmmaking, Acting, Producing, Editing, Music Video, Screenwriting, 3D Animation, and Movie Camps as well as Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking. Click here to find a location near you!

Related Sites: Career Training; Web Design Schools; Game Design Schools; Online Schools; Continuing Education; Bachelors Degrees; Masters Degrees; Online Graduate Schools; Top Graduate Schools; Working Student

The Creative Student's Guide to Washington D.C. 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
Arlington Art Schools and Art Colleges!

by C.J. Gustafson
ArtSchools.com Contributing Writer

art schools in Washington D.C. In 1790 Congress chose the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of United States government. Maryland and Virginia then both ceded land for the city of Washington D.C., named for the first president. As the only major planned city in the country, the nation's capitol has 572,059 residents in an area covering 68.2 sq. miles. The seat of the U.S. government, Washington D.C. plays a unique role in both national and international life.

People travel from all over the world to see the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, several veterans' memorials, and an amazing list of other landmarks that recognize important national and international events, groups, and individuals. The list of the city's monuments, museums, and other attractions of cultural and historical significance is staggering, and the city of Washington D.C. has an atmosphere like no other. With over 35 art and history museums alone, the nation's capital is a hotbed of opportunity for aspiring artists.

Fourteen of the Smithsonian museums are in Washington D.C., including the National Museum of African Art, the National Museum of American Art, Arts & Industries Building, the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, Renwick Gallery, and Sackler Gallery.

art degrees in Washington D.C. Other notable art venues include the Corcoran Gallery, the Del Sol Visual Art and Media Center, the National Gallery of Art, the Textile Museum, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Phillips Museum, and the Octagon Museum. Recognized as the oldest museum in the United States devoted to architecture and design, the Octagon is of particular interest to those pursuing architecture careers. Washington D.C. is also home to over 55 galleries, mostly located in Georgetown and Dupont Circle, which makes it easy to visit the galleries and experience what they have to offer, and the city's expansive and affordable transit system includes the Metrorail and Metrobus, which offer service to the large number of attractions and important locations throughout greater D.C.

Not Just Politics

According to Ken Oda, a prominent D.C. art journalist and critic, there are many aspects of the D.C. area that are conducive to creative expression. "�I think Washington has cultural resources -- the Smithsonian, several world-class museums, international embassies and cultural activities, a diverse citizenry, and the opportunity to observe the rituals of political power -- that make it a great place for artists to visit, study, and/or spend part of their career."

With a town steeped in politics, however, you might think that much of the work done by Washington D.C. artists would have a controversial, political message -- but reality may not support that theory, prompting Oda's commentary in an article on the topic published in The Gazette in November of 2000: "So why isn't there more serious political art in Washington? I think it's a combination of the supply side and demand side theories. I think artists and collectors alike are so weary of the partisan political spin all around them that the last thing they want to see in an art show, or on their walls, is more political proselytizing."

Expanding on that concept in a recent communication, Oda added that he feels that the arts scene in D.C. is less controversial and aggressive than what one might expect. "I think Washington is too conservative -- not in the political sense, but in the sense that people like to play it safe and not take too many cultural risks" -- which could be viewed as either a challenge to wake up the art establishment or simply as an opportunity to explore the non-avant garde scene in a surprisingly conducive environment.

Arts Schools and Programs

art student in Washington D.C. Great schools and universities provide another reason art students choose Washington D.C. The District offers seven major universities and numerous other schools that offer visual arts degrees and training. The Art Institute of Washington and George Washington University's Department of Fine Arts are two of those schools that provide a variety of arts education, including fine arts and art history programming, Advertising degrees, Photography degrees, Graphic Design degrees, Interior Design degrees, Fashion degrees and accredited classes in several other art and design career fields.

Galleries such as the Washington Studio School and Courtyard Gallery also offer workshops and classes, and Ellington High School is a local post-secondary education institution focused on younger D.C. arts students.

Employment in the Arts

Although politics and tourism play large roles in Washington D.C.'s employment arena, arts and culture organizations and businesses combine to create one of the D.C. area's largest employment sector. According to the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, a study conducted in 2001 showed that "Expenditures by the Greater Washington metropolitan area's nonprofit arts and cultural organizations generate nearly 26,000 full-time local jobs and create nearly $900 million in personal income for residents of the region."

With these kinds of opportunities, and the wonderful historical, cultural and educational options available in Washington D.C., the area presents attractive possibilities for students of the visual arts.

Top of Page