A Bi-Monthly Newsletter

Volume 6, Issue 3, May 2003

Careers & Education

STC WVC Home > Newsletter Table of Contents > Indulge Yourself in Art Classes

 

 

Indulge Yourself in Art Classes

By Cindy Reid

Remember the poster of former mayor Bud Clark posing in a trench coat in downtown Portland? Let’s face it. Portland is an artsy kind of town. It’s filled to the brim with amazing talent in graphic arts, video production, architecture, sculpture, painting and so many other forms, not to mention those colorful downtown cows …

It Takes Two

Not that trench coats and cows have a solid position in day-to-day technical communications, but art itself certainly does. Even if the contractor or the marketing department handles all the graphical parts of your technical documentation and articles, you know that form and function have everything to do with the success of your projects—as good as you may be at writing, you also know that it’s not just the content that matters.

Three Portland Area Programs

Vast opportunities exist to seriously hit the books, to retool some of your graphics skills, or to simply indulge yourself in a little creativity this summer. A number of great classes are available, right here in Portland.

The three schools reviewed here are colleges. The first two, Oregon College of Art & Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art, specialize in art curricula; the third, Portland Community College, is an alternative, well known for its affordability and variety of locations.

Each college offers a wide variety of classes at a wide variety of prices, covers a number of mediums and experience levels, and allows students to explore the medium chosen for fun, or college credit.

To Whet Your Appetite

The following is merely a sampling of the many 2003 summer courses for adults offered at each college:

Table 1. A few summer art courses available at three Portland area colleges.
Category Oregon College of Art & Craft (OCAC) Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) Portland Community College (PCC)
Animation + Video N/A Video Editing Fundamentals 3D Character Modeling & Animation
Computer Arts N/A WWW Design GoLive Photoshop
Drawing Open Life Drawing Studio Drawing Intensive The Spirit of the Sketch
Graphic Design N/A Logo Design Graphic Design I
History N/A N/A History of Western Art
Painting Extending the Image: Painting on Photographs Image Transfer Watercolor I, II
Photography Night Photography Basic Studio Lighting Intro to Photo (Darkroom)
Printmaking Pop-Up Structures and Sculptural Bookbinding Beginning and Advanced Etching Intro to Printmaking

Each school also has additional courses available in other mediums such as glassblowing, ceramics, sculpture, wood and textiles.

Tuition

Keeping in mind that there are about as many different budgets out there as there are mediums to work in, each college offers a wide variety of courses for credit and not for credit. Prices vary accordingly, as presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Credit and non-credit tuition prices for art courses at three Portland area colleges.
Oregon College of Art & Craft (OCAC) Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) Portland Community College (PCC)
Non-Credit: Workshops studios and regular courses not taken for credit range in price from $6.00 (six dollars) for a three-hour drawing studio to $375 for a multi-week full day class. Non-credit courses range in price from $75-670. Most courses are in the $125 - $295 range. CEU and non-credit courses range from $15-109.
For Credit: Classes taken for credit are typically $100 more per class than non-credit course fees. Most classes taken for credit are one credit and are $595 each; there is also a three credit Basic Drawing course for $1,785. Classes for credit are priced at a flat rate of $45 per credit.
Fees: Studio fees of $0-72 are added to all classes.

Department fees of $15-80 are added to all classes.
Department fees for glassblowing classes are an exception to this at $250 per class.

 Departmental and/or instructor fees are added to all classes.

 

Locations and Class Sizes

Each campus has its own character, and most classes have set maximums or minimums to ensure an optimal student environment.

OCAC – This campus is a retreat from the hustle and bustle of college life; nestled in the hills, just west of Portland, it is quiet and very small. You can find it off of Highway 26 on Barnes Road. Maximum class size is 15 students for studios, classes and workshops.

PNCA – Located in the heart of northwest Portland, between N.W. Glisan and Lovejoy, class sizes often average a low 10 students to one instructor.

PCC – With 8 locations serving all areas of Portland, and 2 locations outside of Portland, you are sure to find an art or graphics class here. Class size minimums vary.

No Time to Take a Class?

Each school has a series of student and/or traveling exhibits. The details you learn directly from the person who created a piece of art may surprise and encourage you.

Perhaps a course abroad coincides with your travel plans? Another option is to learn about art and its surrounding culture in a location other than Portland, Oregon. Each school offers this kind of opportunity at various times of the year.

So, Does Art Moove You?

Okay, sorry about the pun. But if you do find yourself or your career ready for an art class this summer, contact the college in which you are most interested—incognito—by visiting the school’s web site to learn more.

Pacific Northwest College of Art: www.pnca.edu
Oregon College of Art & Craft: www.ocac.edu, Summer Classes and Workshops Schedule (pdf)
Portland Community College: www.pcc.edu

Cindy Reid is a freelance web site designer, technical writer/editor, and editor for The Willamette Galley. She can be reached at cindycomm@attbi.com.