andrea asked:
I will leave school this year, and am taking a gap year, before going to read english literature at university.
I am also very interested in art, so
i was wondering, that instead of travelling, should i spend my gap year on an art foundation course instead?
I will leave school this year, and am taking a gap year, before going to read english literature at university.
I am also very interested in art, so
i was wondering, that instead of travelling, should i spend my gap year on an art foundation course instead?
My son did an Art Foundation course before going on to do his degree and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It gives you more options if you do. I would only take a gap year if either I had organised something really special that would stand out to future employers. If you just fancy to get some travelling under your belt then the summer holiday will give you plenty of time anyhow.
Research and visit some foundation courses- find out where their students end up. You could even find out if you could tie in your travel with some of the projects you might do on a foundation course. This would give you more purpose. Hope this helps.
I say go for the gap year. you can do an art foundation at anytime. once you begin university and subsequently start a career in whatever you decide, it may be hard to get a full year off. At the moment I assume you have very little responsibilty, this is the best time to explore the world and immerse yourself in all it has to offer. If you are very interested in doing an art course you could do part time or even study art on your travels. nothing better that first hand experience!
take a gap year, if you aren’t going to do a specific art course don’t bother with the foundation, its only a bridging course to art degrees anyway. i did one, and although it was enjoyable they are very broad courses and (in my opinion) designed for the sole purpose of allowing teenage art students to get ‘drawing eyes’ and other cliche habits out of their systems. go to africa and dig a well or something, it’ll be more worthwhile in the long run.
I would advise you to spend your year on an art foundation course – you can always take a gap year after your degree course. I followed up my foundation course with a BA (Hons) Fine Art and am now applying for a PGCE place and hopefully teach, but the foundation course was so much fun and I got the chance to learn about all disciplines of art and design, photography, print making, graphic design, illustration etc. It is advisable, however, to research the institution that you wish to apply to as some foundation courses are more interesting and varied than others. I wish you luck whatever you decide!