American Academy of Art

American Academy of Art

Type	Private
Established	1923
President	Richard H. Otto
Location	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Affiliations	Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology[1]
Website	www.aaart.edu

The American Academy of Art is an art school located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1923 for the education of fine and commercial arts students. The American Academy of Art offers four-year, accredited Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programs in web design, illustration, modeling, painting and others.

The school's Bill L. Parks Gallery is open to the public and features exhibitions of works by students, faculty, visiting arts and works from the Academy’s permanent collection.^[2]

History

The American Academy of Art was founded in 1923 by Frank Young to train students for careers in commercial and fine art.^[3]

Curriculum

Enrollment is typically between 400 and 500 students. Annual tuition is currently $24,000+.

The Academy has curriculum for bachelor's degrees. Eight areas of study are offered for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, all of which require 126 credit hours to graduate. These programs include:

• 3D modeling and animation
• Life drawing
• Multimedia/web design
• Oil painting
• Graphic design
• Watercolor painting
• Illustration / Digital illustration
• Photography

The Academy requires all incoming freshmen to take both life drawing and art composition for the freshman year.^[4]

The Academy is accredited by:

• The Higher Learning Commission.
• The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT).
• (The Academy is also a member of the North Central Association.)

Notable alumni/students

• Jason Seiler
• Alex Ross
• Richard Schmid
• John Tobias
• Kanye West
• Sandy Dvore
• Gil Elvgren
• Jill Thompson
• Joyce Ballantyne
• Loren Long

References

Coordinates: 41°52′38.8″N 87°37′28.5″W / 41.877444°N 87.624583°W / 41.877444; -87.624583