Beaux-Arts Academy

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THE VISION & MISSION OF THE ACADEMY

The Beaux-Arts Academy is a four year program dedicated to the highest standards of artistic excellence and the highest ideals of classicism.  While progressing in their chosen emphasis, students will also learn each of the other sister arts (drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture), experiencing classicism as the circumscribing aesthetic by which all disciplines and fields of study may be seen as one. 

The curriculum, designed to train the mind and the heart as well as the hand and the eye, is based in the same traditions and methods that have produced the most timeless masterpieces of history.  Having both a practical and philosophical emphasis and employing techniques that target both intellectual and intuitive faculties, students will be immersed in classical conventions of light and form, art history and criticism, precise craftsmanship and material expertise, expansive concepts and exacting creativity, human anatomy and canons of proportion, as well as tenets of ancient wisdom and sacred geometry, ultimately leading to multi-figurative and grand manner composition. 

Ever building upon the three pillars of classical aesthetics, Truth, Beauty, and Virtue, students will strive for Excellence, Permanence, and Transcendence, becoming equipped to elevate contemporary culture and champion the highest in humanity.

METHOD OF TRAINING

Gleaning from history the best methods (including from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France) the Beaux-Arts Academy combines three proven systems of artistic development: the academy, the atelier, and the apprenticeship model.

The academy, typified by the class experience, affords a broad, comprehensive understanding of art history and philosophy, as well as exercises and assignments designed to develop diverse abilities and techniques, helping each student become well-versed and complete in their skill set, and discerning in their connoisseurship of the classical canon and capacity for critical thinking.

The atelier, typified by the studio environment, has a focus on the production of artworks under the specific working methods and techniques of a practicing artist. Students are entrusted with various responsibilities in the execution of actual commissioned projects, gaining real-life experience with deadlines and meeting professional standards, and eventually the demands of a specialized focus produce the depth and expertise of the master.

The apprenticeship model, typified by the mentor relationship, guides the student through the full scope of the artist’s practice. Working side by side with the master, the aim is to gain expertise at every step, eventually in the context of their own original projects, receiving whatever immediate feedback they need in their progress, continually working under the wing of the master at a higher and higher level, until they excel at the entire creative process.

At the Beaux-Arts Academy, these three models combine to give breadth, depth, and height to artistic development, setting the artist on the path to become a fully realized, multi-dimensional master.

THE CORE PROGRAM & OTHER STUDY OPTIONS

The full time core program is designed as a four year curriculum, culminating for a possible fifth year diploma project eligible for a Prix de Rome award. The full time program constitutes 40 hours a week, having three trimesters of ten weeks each, totaling 1,200 hours an academic year. Core students have 24 hour access to the academy and are expected to maximize their time.

For those unable to accommodate a full time schedule, the academy offers a part time program that follows the same core curriculum at a reduced pace. This is approximately 20 hours a week, or half time, and thus essentially requiring twice as long to complete the curriculum. Part time students are considered part of the core program, with the same ultimate aims and expectations.

Artists of varying skills or schedules may find additional classes and workshops offered through the BAA, usually during evenings or weekends. Information regarding the varying costs, times, and availability can be found at our website: BeauxArtsAcademy.org

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

Just as the classical paradigm merges supernal ideas with natural forms, training at the academy develops into a dual focus: cultivating conceptual capacities while honing skills of representation. The initial phase of the curriculum is an immersion into the elements of drawing. This becomes the most empowering skill to the artist, as excellent drawing opens the way to excel in painting, sculpture and architecture.

Progress through the curriculum entails training the memory and the imagination as well as visual accuracy, and studying the laws and tendencies in nature as well as the principles and parameters of design and composition. These skills grow in concert with a comprehensive study of the language of classicism and the history and interpretation of the arts, including the Grand Tour (visiting museums and traveling abroad to study in person the great masterpieces from history).

The scope of the curriculum includes: cast drawing, cast painting, cast sculpture, studying the model from life (in drawing, painting and sculpture), history of technique, master-copying, grand tour study, composition and design, architectural history and theory, sacred geometry, archetypal human anatomy, classical drapery, structural drawing, perspective, color theory, plein-air and landscape painting, still life, portraiture, imaginative realism, culminating in multi-figurative compositions.

As an essential part of complete artistic development, every facet of the program includes competitions and opportunities for awards, demanding excellence and preparing the student to thrive in the pursuit of their artistic aspirations.