Highly recommend Advanced Watercolor with Luka. He's an amazing instructor and I learned a lot in…read more10 weeks, including new techniques, breaking down reference photos, and a values study process. I grew a lot from this class, and received specific feedback and guidance for my needs. I loved the format of this class and how it challenged me to take on complex subject matters. By the end, I had more confidence, a more experimental approach, and an even greater love for watercolor. I'm excited to take more classes here!

My almost 7-year-old has been attending this school since she was 5. Why? Because she genuinely…read moreenjoys it. She loves that she is never bored. Every week she learns something new: new styles, materials, and techniques. Sometimes they focus on painting, other times on sculpture or different forms of art. Katia and Sara have both been her teachers, and she has felt happy and supported with all of them. Like with many activities at this age, it took a couple of weeks for her to fully adjust and feel familiar with the environment but consistency made a big difference. As parents, we appreciate seeing her come home excited and proud of what she created. It is easy to notice how much she has progressed over time and we get very excited when we see her project. We also appreciate the communication style of the school. They provide a high-level overview each week of what the kids will be working on, which keeps parents informed without overwhelming us with too much information. On the administrative side, tuition payments and renewals are simple, and the staff has always been friendly and helpful whenever we have had questions or needed help resolving any mistakes on our part. We also love the location. Depending on the day and who is with me, it is easy to wait nearby at the library, a coffee shop, or a restaurant while class is in session.

I have no words for this awful school. PLEASE DON'T EVER ATTEND A PRIVATE ART SCHOOL, it's a total…read morescam. Ignore overly positive and short reviews its probably an admin or staff from CCA trying to cover the truth experiences of students. Initially entered for animation but that department along with illustration and other craft related programs are a joke. THERE IS NO INTERNSHIP or connection to Pixar like they promised during the interview. You can't go back on it because whoever told you that info left the school for a different job. The Graphic Design dept is pathetic. A lot of people quit cuz the school wont pay plus most have given up on teaching. They do the bare minimum for students. Often rushing to leave after class these are the tenure prof it doesnt help their old disconnect from the modern world. They also admit they dont know current programs and teach critical theory based bs which is useless. Right now its all adjunct prof with little to no teaching experience this is across all programs. I heard it from friends plus its hard to monitor who is still working at CCA. They dont consistently update their website. All the positive reviews for this school are from 5-20years ago listing prof who arent here anymore. Look up Cca lawsuits they've had quiet a few and tried to dismiss it. *Currently theres a lawsuit for antisemitism on campus where they allowed students to bully a jewish professor. The programs at this school are a joke since they don't pay faculty the prof treat classes like its a chore. I've had classrooms with no ceiling so its loud, classmates sing out loud, bullying is a common thing among students /teachers. YOU'RE LEARNING ON YOUR OWN. Forget this place if you want to learn current programs they dont teach any technical programs. Its all critical race theory and their specifc agendas on politics and its relation to SF. Each class is reviewing your work with a prof everyone gets 20min total out of a 2-3hr class. I've heard tangents to not answering questions. Prof say you'll have to talk to someone else for help. They throw random problems at you and its up to you to solve it. I had a professor who retired this year offer an off topic project an interactive one and asked if anyone wants to do it for free, its great experience. We asked him if he knew a program we could render or use but he straight out said IDk...but im sure you'll figure it out. THEY LIE ABOUT CAREER HELP. Hate to admit but they had a decent center but like CCA fashion they wont tell you when theres a drastic change. The school fired the entire center moving it on handshake with a beyound pathetic dept. No one even knows what they do but they run the career center. They hired odd people as career counselors. We had a gallery curator who can barely find a job, a random industrial prof, and a rock star. Yea they did, they hired some bootleg rock star with an english background to help all majors. They were not helpful from deflecting on students to projecting their own opinions on job preferences. I wanted to apply an internship at meta and one of these idiots told me off saying why would I want to work for such an immoral company. Lady, you work for a diploma mill fcking up ppls finacial stability. Everything they mention on their site is 100% a lie they dont help you at all with internships in fact we havent had a career fair in 2years. If we do its only for architectures, graphic design, and industrial. The sad part about career fairs its mostly adobe or other design companies am to sell you products. The portfolio reviews are only 15-20min each. 80% is panel bs from people in the industry talking about their success. It feels like an MLM where they fill you with nonsense and basic free merch. Adobe even spent 30min presenting a new mobile PS app for us to pay/download there was a raffle but its completely inappropriate. The school just wants to make $$$$$ while helping other companies to exploit our desire to enter the field by pushing us to buy more stuff. Overall, theres no opportunities. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. Lastly the saddest part we are robbed our last $100 because we have to pay to print our own degrees. Its $200 if you want it framed this applies to graduates too.

I'm currently a junior at the school, studying illustration. Almost all I have to say about CCA is…read morehugely positive. I can only speak for my own department, but I love the professors here. Learning about becoming a better artist and professional has been a life-changing experience. They care about the students, and they're in it to give back and be mentors for others. I was lucky to have amazing teachers, amazing advisors to fall back on, and a student population that's engaged on stuff that really matters (diversity, social justice, equality). I'm an international student too, and CCA has shown more than just hospitality to me. I've also gotten the chance to meet and work with several people in the administration of the school - the Admissions Office, the Office of Student Life, and Student Affairs. I haven't met a single person that isn't excited about creating an awesome community for students and making sure that they feel like they feel cared for. If I was pressed to say what the downsides are, there are very little. The main one I can think of is the division of the two campuses - one in Oakland, and one in SF. But they're also going to consolidate everything in SF anyway, so I'm not even mad. I wish I had applied a few years later so I could get to see the new campus!

My 7 year old daughter has been attending art lessons at Artworks for over a year now, and we've…read morebeen happy with her progress. She has been learning a variety of techniques and working with various mediums like watercolor and oil pastels. Our daughter sometimes complains about the classes being too prescriptive, but we try to explain that mastering different techniques will be valuable down the road. Overall, we've been happy with the quality of the instruction. We were on a waitlist for a year before we got in, but I understand it's easier to "get in" these days!

Staff there are amazing! This art shop helps my son with his creativity. Teachers are super…read morepatience.

Its not the same school after 2020 and I'm applaud by CCA self serving attitude towards any BS they…read morecommit. First of all theres been at least two major on campus protest towards the previous president and his money laundering. 90% of your 250k total tuition goes toward the board of trustee. Cca has over 50 since 2021 (last I checked) while faculty werent paid and forced to take adjunct position.l, the first protest was for staff. The second by students who got tired of tuition increases while CCA gave us little in return. They didnt mention the school had a few labs 2021-2024. We were promised job fairs and assistance for internships but I found out were on our own. CCA also forces u to do an internship but if you cant find one yoyr forced to PAY THE SCHOOL FOR AN INTERNSHIP in order to pass. Cca does t care if you dont graduate the only consistancy is asking for $$$$$$. Everything else is a series of pathetic excuses, miscommunication, ans deflection. If you wana be academically challenged and learn technical skills which are important in the industry Id avoid this place at all cost. The only redeeming field left is maybe architure (6yr program) or Interactive (over saturated). Being a UX designer today is hard Id recommended a camp instead its the same equivalence. A lot of these course are hard to judge since they dont update the class summary on workday nor is it transparent. The class experience verse summary are two different things. Ive had low effort classes and the teacher is quick to leave. No office hours unless u demand it and they have a ridiculous on time policy. You'll spend wn extra $500-1k in class materials so aim for digital courses avoid the craft ones, unless your in those field. I hope your rich and have mega support cuz the rest of us its a huge finacial burden with little return. The campus is shit.... Like literally 20 million bucks and the new building is mostly for labs. Btw you cant use these labs unless you pay for a class thats attached to the lab. The only labs for everyone to use is the rapid prototype and 3D printing. The staff working there is somewhat helpful but mostly annoying useless students. I've met awful students working eager to give attitude or dont care. Inside hooper the main building its ugly and cold. Its also noisy because some classes dont have roofs. You can hear people screaming laughing and being disrespectful. CCA hires and accepts trash people. The network here is nonexistent as most of these students are talentless and self serving ppl. Ive met gen z who didnt know what is a stock img. Jesus and ppl who cried over drawing with paper and pencil. Obviously the school only looks for passionate and naive ppl who wana pay for their dream. Its a pity because CCA acceptence rate use to be 30% and they recruited some of the best. Either way its hard to accept after paying 20k a semester after scholarship this is the type of bs anyone can deal. *Look up current and past lawsuits towards this school. They are not a diverse thinking or whatever dei bs they wana hide behind. Lawsuits from a disabled student where they were called "Retarded" by trash campus staff. A jewish professor Fiss was fired for defending her beliefs there were posters of antisemitism on campus before the school took it off but still enjoy deflecting like they didnt do anything wrong. Overall, take the negative reviews seriously and consider choosing a private art school. A university would be better since this school is now an exoensive dipolma mill.

When I first arrived at CCA, a counselor told me that the training was so strong, graduates…read morewouldn't need an MA. She also said every student is guaranteed a paid internship. However, during my transfer year, I was informed that the animation department doesn't qualify for internships--we were basically on our own. A friend in industrial design was told her department was too small to provide internships. Job fairs only offered positions in architecture. I was also shocked to find that around 90% of the faculty did mot know any industry-standard software! The dean, who proudly identified as a traditional animator, seemed unaware what is the current state of the field. Since I transferred during COVID, it was incredibly difficult to understand how to navigate the industry post-graduation. The results speak for themselves: not a single student from my class has secured a job in the animation or any related industry, and it's been three years since we graduated. Most alarming of all was reviewing the faculty portfolios in the animation department. I strongly recommend that anyone considering CCA--or thinking about staying--take a few minutes to look into there work. You may come to the same conclusion many of us did: the animation program at this $50,000-a-year school feels like a scam. Chair Christoph Steger: https://christophsteger.com Chair Meghana Bisineer https://meghanabisineer.com

This review is based on my experience with the instructional classes at the studio…read more I'm not an artist but I strive to live in touch with creativity. For a long time, I've made art but struggled with feeling like what I was doing was really creative. Michael, the owner and instructor at the studio, has transformed the way I think about the creative process through the avenue of figure drawing. His classes are the most meaningful part of my week. If you're looking for an instructional class focused on technique for drawing more accurately, this may not be the right place for you. Instead, the classes offer a new connected way of living--engaged with beauty both around you and internal to you. So much of the class is about unlearning not just how you draw but also how you value the creative process. It is the most challenging class I've ever taken and there's no amount of brute force I can apply to get it other than trusting the process and the instructor. Nonetheless, as frustrating as it is, there's nothing else I do that is more rewarding. It takes a lot of effort to strip away your aesthetic value system to get at the core of what you find beautiful, but if the result is a more meaningful existence, then that investment is priceless. Some practical aspects of the instructional sessions. Michael strives to provide only the best models to inspire you not to capture their poses but to feel something in yourself. The medium is stick charcoal and newsprint is available cheaply at the studio. The class is a lengthy commitment of 20 weeks of three-hour sessions but is highly structured and builds on successive lessons. Michael also allows you to make-up classes. Although there is a high upfront cost, for the hours of instruction and model time spread out over the weeks, it's a steal.

Excellent in all ways: location, furniture, back up supplies, equipment, atmosphere and,…read moreespecially, the models.

Kim was a great instructor and made oil painting look easy even though I struggled. She gave great…read moredirection and suggestions to each student throughout the class. The studio itself was kawaii. Great playlist by the way! 5 stars, would do it again someday!

Took an adult oil painting class and it was wonderful! I will definitely be going back!read more

I am a graduate from 2012 for the Illustration Department. I, like many other poor lower middle…read moreclass family students with high hopes and dreams, graduated with a dismal outcome. I remember clearly, during the very first day of orientation that there was such a need for illustrators and artists out in the world right now. This may be true, but clearly, despite working my ass off for more than five years, I didn't get a stable income job as an artist. I basically graduated and started working survival jobs, with small freelance gigs sprinkled in-between. And that is the unfortunate reality. Some of my peers got full-time jobs, but you know what? They had a higher success rate because they were all friends with each other, and I asked most people they got job recommendations because of their friends, but if you asked me about their portfolio? Let's just say, its all about networking and not hard work. I went onto campus my first year, and decided to save money by attending online campus. It is a WORLD of big difference. I can't believe I attended their online courses. They don't reduce pricing for online, but that really should have been the case. You don't have access to in-person workshops the way on campus students, and those are FREE because the AAU instructors are the ones doing it for their students. This blew my mind when I went back after 2 years. But all classes at the time of 2011-2012 was $2222 per class, per semester, irregardless of online or offline. Online instructors do a lot less work. Some of them didn't even know how to type. I had one teacher write everything IN ALL CAPS - ALL THE TIME, FOR EVERY SINGLE CRITIQUE. Every year the cost of classes would increase exponentially, but standards remained the same. I remember because money was a big deal. I was only able to get Cal Grant at the time for 4 years only, but I kept wondering what would happen on my fifth or even sixth year. Luckily, it didn't have to be 6 years, but I had to take filler classes in the summer even though they weren't high tier classes. They forced me to take a beginner computer class that was so unnecessary. I already knew so much about computers, and there was no way for me to transfer out of it. The digital art classes at the time were also poor. By the time I graduated, I knew I still had to learn more about painting better; I was getting great grades but really great grades and the level of skill that is needed in current times is not the same. For a school that you have to pay $40,000k a year, and still not getting a job is a shame. It's a sham. And for me to still take art classes to improve now, I mean, for me its a passion to get better and become good so I'll gladly want to pay someone to teach me new skills, but a realization dawned on me, there ARE SO MANY great artists out there right now teaching people digitally online. It's affordable and you don't have to sell your soul to Sallie Mae (AAU's favorite private loan lender), not only that but the works their students produce is amazing. Their career department is fake. During my "senior years" at school, I kept trying to schedule and attend workshops with the career department. I only met with them 1 time. I never got my resume or cover letters looked at, especially when I needed them when I was desperately looking for internship, and emailed them multiple times. Every time there was a scheduled meeting they would cancel. Nobody would answer my calls or email. They emphasized that our industry was more for entrepreneurs during the one workshop I attended, but didn't elaborate. All seniors must take a final course that delves into business basics for 1 semester only. In my opinion, all artists should consider that they won't be working for a corporate company such as Disney or Pixar. They need to really focus on teaching that aspect, and be blunt that many people will probably be freelancers as artists, or essentially become a starving artists. They tell you the rates and formulas but don't teach negotiation or people skills, project proposals, and important ways to get clients not be scared at looking at your rates. But they seem to strongly emphasize that people will move into some industry and apply to jobs through online web portals. Maria Brophy's free email newsletters teaches better shit than that class does, and probably would have gotten way more information if I just offered her a $100 for a simple phone call. My conclusion: forget this school, find a cheaper art school that gives you a basis. Get a degree if you must, but art in this day and age means = 1 part skill, 1 part sociability. Learn how to talk to people and present your art, and don't think that just having skill and talent will save you at the end of the day. Also, don't throw money at these for-profit art schools, give it to art instructors online who care.

I want to share what I experienced at this school over 3 years…read more The Title IX coordinator issued me a "indefinite, applicable worldwide" no contact order without my consent, and downgraded my formal investigation request to an informal conduct case without my consent. Then they denied ever sending it. They made me, the victim, conduct the investigation myself, and claimed that a foreign student who didn't even know what conduct was had voluntarily wanted to go there. The coordinator told me their no contact order is enforceable in over 70 countries -- I checked with law firms in 3 different countries, and every single one said they had never heard of such a thing. When I looked into other victims at this school, they had all been treated the exact same way. The conduct officer consistently blamed the victim and kept urging me to go to the police instead. They claim to follow federal law while receiving federal funding, but they do not. I filed a complaint with the OCR and was ignored. An advisor -- with no legal authority whatsoever -- tried to remove me from the school and threatened me with my visa. As for the classes: the course materials on Brightspace are outdated videos from 2018 and skills that are no longer used in the industry. The Hard Surface class didn't even run for an entire year. The English Composition 2 professor publicly disclosed a student's disability in class without consent and made comments that were beyond unacceptable. Another professor emailed me saying they weren't paid enough and would only put in effort proportional to their salary. To international students: this school threatens you with your visa and guarantees neither your safety nor a proper education. Please do not come here.

My 6 year old daughter has been attending Xing Xing Art since she was 5. Sean has been a wonderful,…read morekind and flexible instructor. My daughter started with color pencil sketches progressed to pastel drawings, and is currently working on watercolor paintings. She always looks forward to going to class each week. I love how there are so many class slots, and appreciate the flexible make-up policy. Sean is also very easy to work with and a patient instructor. My daughter also wanted to write a review: Xing Xing Art is amazing and fun because you learn skills in the art class and Sean (the teacher) is very nice! I think this is the best art class you can ever imagine and if you love art it will be a fun place to go. I have been here for over a year so I know. I recommend to go to this school because if you love art like me, this school will make you happy. I think Xing Xing Art earns 5/5 stars and more.

Sean is an amazing art teacher! He has a strong background in so many different mediums including…read morewater color, pastel, sketch, and oil painting. I have been at his studio for more than 8 years and he has always been a supportive and patient teacher. The classes are informative and fun having the option to choose from so many drawings to paint. He was also able to help me get into a local art high school, Ruth Asawa SOTA by preparing me for the drawings and having me practice. Would 100% recommend this art studio!

My 5 year old (almost 6, rising 1st grader) attended a weeklong summer camp and enjoyed it since…read moreshe already likes art. I was impressed by the art that came home at the end of the week. It seemed like there weren't any kids in after care, although it's offered. Ms. Wei spent time on the phone with me walking me through the daily schedule (also posted on their website), and addressed my questions prior to registration. The kids also learned Chinese dance, Irish dance, and Chinese singing. There's a little performance at the end of the week, although I think I was told the wrong time so just clarify that when you go. Would recommend for anyone looking to improve their child's artistic ability.

Amazing teacher, Amazing classes. Witnessing the growth of my daughter's art, is a reflection of…read moreher growth through life. Impressed with the guidance that these classes provide in art and in life.

I had a wonderful experience with my first formal painting training at Jean Henry School of Art…read more First of all, Mike Ritch is everything I could possibly have asked for in a teacher. He is a talented artist, is excellent at conveying his ideas to all the students who ask for it, and was always able to encourage me with letting me know what I needed to do in order to achieve the best results I could possibly have. As a new student, I was not always aware of what supplies I needed to have with me. Inevitably, I forgot something that I needed in order to accomplish my work for each class. Mike was not only patient with me, but was generous to let me use what he had on hand in the studio. The ambiance is excellent. There were usually anywhere from two to four other students working at the same time. For the most part, it was a quiet environment, with everyone working on their own canvases. But there was also friendly and supportive banter occasionally. It was encouraging for me to hear kind comments from the other students, all of whom are adults.

I've been going to Jean Henry School of Art for many years now. It's a great crowd, a fun…read moreenvironment, and the owner, Mike Ritch, is a gifted artist and wonderful teacher. Infinitely patient, he makes everyone feel welcome and works with students to hone their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Without a doubt, Mike has helped me become a better painter and artist. Classes are three hours long and there are sessions throughout the week. Sometimes the whole class works on a specific theme, like a still life or in black and white, but often students work on whatever project they want. Each class generally has a critique where students can show their art and get both positive and negative feedback. If you've thought about getting into art, expressing your creative side, or just de-stress from a sit-at-your-desk-and-stare-at-a-computer job, check this place out!