During summer vacation, many high school students use their new free time to oversleep, binge a new TV show or work on their tans. For some students, it’s a chance to bring their passions to the next level.
The Savannah College of Art and Design's Summer Seminars allow high school students to take week-long workshops on a range of art and design subjects, such as illustration or interior design.
Students can take the classes in Atlanta, Savannah, or even Hong Kong, and the program builds in time for social activities around the city as well. The Atlanta workshops ran in June and July.
Rachel Liu, a rising sophomore at Westminster Schools, said she loved the hands-on experience and the way it allowed her to both learn from instructors and explore her own techniques.
“I’ve been doing art for as long as I can remember, like just painting when I was little or art classes weekly, and I wanted to explore more of this stuff,” Liu said.
Liu participated in two workshops: Introduction to Animated Illustration and Interior Design. In her illustration class, she worked on a new mini-project each day, each one more and more difficult. Her interior design class involved students designing their own room, even drawing blueprints.
“I learned a lot of new things here at SCAD,” Liu said. After her experience with the summer seminars, she hopes to take graphic design classes at Westminster and to explore interior design as a minor in college.
The SCAD Summer Seminars are taught by the college’s professors as well as alumni and some graduate students. The Atlanta program offers more than 25 workshops ranging from game design to sculpture.
Credit: Hadley Stambaugh
Credit: Hadley Stambaugh
SCAD professor Tony Rodriguez usually teaches graduate level classes, so the opportunity to work with high school students excited him. He created an illustration workshop for the summer experience.
Rodriguez said his workshop exposes students to digital, traditional, and eventually motion-based media. While motion-based media wasn’t a necessary tool five years ago, he explained, now it’s a must-have.
“Illustration as a profession is evolving rapidly,” he explained. “There are jobs today that didn’t exist two years ago.”
Rodriguez added, “We’re at a turning point. This is what I’ve been showcasing to my SCAD Summer Seminar students. It’s important to show this to high school students who may be interested in a career in illustration.”
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According to Rodriguez, students bring all levels of experience to his workshop, but regardless of expertise, they can all complete the projects he assigns. The workshop can be “intensive,” he said, but small class sizes of about 10 students means he can offer individual attention.
“It’s as if the students barely notice the amount of time spent on their work, because they lose themselves in it, like I do,” he said.
Rodriguez said the highlight of his experience always comes once the students have completed the workshop and can show off their work.
“My favorite part about the SCAD Summer Seminar experience is the students showcasing their projects to their parents with pride at the final exhibition. Parents are impressed that their children have cultivated new vocabulary. That has me driving home afterward with a big smile on my face,” he said.
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