Very definitely true in it's assessment of the curriculum of most degree granting art schools. There are, however, many alternatives in the forms of atelier programs and schools which are run like trade schools (in America there is the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for example) and there is always the chance for a determined student to gain an apprenticeship with a skilled painter or sculptor or print maker. The problem is in the desire to become certified rather than skilled. It's no use bucking a corrupt and decadent system while seeking to use it's reputation further down the line. The main question that any sensible person would ask is "...and you paid money for this?" Freedom exists. museum copying is still allowed and there are many masters of certain disciplines to seek out if one is determined to learn.

I graduated from one of top Art Schools in America in the late 1990's and find Mr. Willer's essay both redeeming and true as I also attended many other schools in route to my degree. I've struggled for a long time coming to grips with the disgusting assimilation of what is today considered "art", living like Raphael in some Borg alternate universe. Of course, this type of sublime solace is mocked by the elite transients who scorn eternities in the pursuit of some temporal Orwellian perfection of the mediocre. And yet the irony of their call for open mindedness is met by the narrow path they are herded upon. Rather than burn the past pursuit of beauty, we have been convinced it is other than it is and start New History at the point of New Tribal conception where individuals and merit are, once again, relegated to the mediocrity of the collective. Nothing new here, think I'll go play my bongos and chant a while.

There is a slew of brilliant Calvin and Hobbes strips on this topic. It isn't limited to art either. Directors like Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino don't have film school degrees, which is perhaps why their movies stand out as diamonds in the coal heap of modern film.

Brilliant article. I've just finished writing a satirical crime novel about the world of conceptual art. Jacob Willer shows me that art schools are even worse than I thought.

boo hoo!! ......

The good thing about contemporary art is that anyone can plunge right it without the tedious work it takes to master anything. Everything is art. The slightest effort. The skimpiest notion or statement. Indeed, you are a master, just like your mommy said.

maybe you just werent paying attention.