Standing in the gallery where his artwork is being showcased, 18-year-old Joshua Tufts discussed da Vinci, Michelangelo and other old masters with the confidence of an expert. 'If you don’t understand classical mediums, you won’t understand the majority of art,' said Tufts, a senior at Tolles Career & Technical Center in Plain City.
His contention doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s headed for a career involving oil paints and canvas, though.
Instead, like other serious high-school art students today, Tufts envisions a more-modern outlet for his creative passion.
“My interest in art grew when I started playing the video-game series Legend of Zelda,” he said. “I wanted to be on the same team that did all the graphics and music — the entire art direction. So that’s my ultimate goal.”
Tufts is in good company: His works and those of 135 other students from 10 Ohio counties were selected for the 25th Central Ohio Regional Scholastic Art Awards exhibit, on display through Feb. 4 at the Columbus College of Art & Design.
Students interviewed by The Dispatch said they are considering careers in computer-aided design fields.
“I have more former students in design than any other field,” said Hilliard Davidson art teacher Dan Gerdeman, who has taught for 19 years. “We probably have 15 or 20 graphic designers who went through here. We have two or three (graduates) who are in Los Angeles working in the computer field, helping produce videos and other film-type work.”
CCAD officials say that 25 percent of their students are traditional fine-arts students; the other 75 percent study in fields such as animation and graphic, fashion, industrial or interior design.
Yet the show at CCAD — of works by middle- and high-school students — consists almost entirely of traditional mediums: painting, drawing, sculpture and photography.
When Pickerington Central art teacher Matt Young talks to parents about their children’s interest in an art career, he said, “sometimes, they freak out.”
“They have this image of their kid going to France and wearing a beret or something.”
Young responds by suggesting that parents consider their cellphones.
“Most of them have smart-phones, and I tell them, ‘Look at your apps, your screen savers, your graphics — all of that is done by art students.’ ”
The motivation for the modernization is simple: Jobs are available.
In the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs outlook, released in 2009, employment in several art-related fields were projected to rise significantly by 2018: graphics design (up 13 percent), multimedia design/ animation (14 percent) and Web design (30 percent).
The bureau says video gaming is a $10 billion industry employing 32,000 people.
The shift has helped keep students interested in arts careers, even as Ohio schools battle funding cuts.
In the past three years, area districts such as Pickerington, Westerville and Reynoldsburg have cut or threatened to cut arts programs at the elementary- and middle-school levels.
Kevin Conlon, vice president for academic affairs at CCAD, has worked at three arts colleges and has judged numerous high-school competitions.
“The amount of exposure that students have in classrooms to fundamentals is what’s evident now,” Conlon said. “It used to be that students could demonstrate a certain level of competency. And now it’s clear that some schools are not providing students enough time on task for them to develop a consistent portfolio for their applications to colleges.”
Conlon said CCAD has recognized the need, and instructors now spend more time bolstering students’ fundamentals.
In response to the cuts in school programs, cultural organizations including the Columbus Museum of Art have also tried to help fill the void.
“No question, schools have been impacted,” said Cindy Foley, the museum director of education. “ We also see right now that our relationships with the schools have strengthened and become deeper. We’ve had some really good success lately with our high-school programs.”
Bishop Hartley senior Ogechukwu Mora, 17, said she first thought seriously about art as a career in the seventh grade after being involved in CCAD’s Saturday-morning program for children.
“I love art because everyone has stories and things they want to tell, and emotions,” she said. “ Art is a great medium by which I can express myself — my dreams and desires and beliefs.”
Mora had three pieces selected for the regional exhibit and was one of five students who received best-of-show recognition. Her work qualifies to be judged in a national competition in March in New York.
Winners there are eligible for scholarships to more than 50 participating art colleges nationwide.
Students such as Tufts and Mora underscore why, despite the program cuts, teachers and arts officials say they are encouraged by what they are seeing from high-school art students.
“It seems that the quality is still there,” Conlon said. “There is a certain enthusiasm manifested in the better students — that no matter how little time they’ve had in the classroom, they still figure out how to be creative.
“You can’t hide it.”
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