How Fine Arts Schools Become Toxic

Liam Markland

Since the establishment of the first fine arts school, Accademia del Disegno, the Academy of
Design in Florence, Italy in 1563, fine arts schools have had an inevitable influence on the
international student body.

Fine arts education has been claimed to benefit mental health and create a more interesting
environment for students. As Andrew Warner, published in U.S. News & World Report writes:
"Arts education can help kids:

Engage with school and reduce stress.

Develop social-emotional and interpersonal skills.

Enrich their experiences.

Handle constructive criticism.

Bolster academic achievement.

Improve focus."

While this may be true, there are many aspects of conservatory-styled schools that contribute to a
toxic environment for students, teachers, and the communities within and surrounding them.
Some of the reasons for this are as follows.

1. Passions become curriculum

Of course, students who attend art schools have to be graded on their work. However, with that
comes a concentrated and at times aggressive system that feeds into the idea of throwing students
into the "deep end" in order to further their experience. Which in some cases, can be beneficial,
but in all cases contain some damage to the student.

Simmy, published in UX Planet writes: "I found in design school we often got excessive amounts
of feedback and unfounded criticisms in an attempt to, 'Thicken our skin.' Just so you know,
bullying does not thicken skin, it just creates trauma."

2. A smaller student body

As the funding for these schools is limited, there is usually not a large population of students
within them. This creates a competition that is arguably unrealistic compared to real-world
situations. Another side effect that comes with a small student body is the incredible amount of
rumors that spread vastly throughout a school. This further diminishes the mental health among
students as the reputation of an individual is considered the most important within the school.

3. Societal prejudice

"Traditional" career paths are usually pushed upon the younger generations by parenting
generations. The arts are not considered a valuable career path to many parents, which is instilled
in the creative children of those parents. This compels students who are given a chance within
these schools to submit to a standard that is substantially low because of their decimated self-
esteem, which affects their peers even more.

Nonetheless, the fine arts are vital to all cultures, and society would not thrive in a world without
art. What needs to be known is that the artists contribute most to society, and need to be nurtured
in the safest way. This starts in their schools, the safe spaces for the creative youth.

Sources:

Warner, A. (2022) The bene ts of arts education for K-12 students - U.S. news, US News.
Available at: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/the-bene ts-of-arts-
education-for-k-12-students (Accessed: 18 September 2023).

Simmy (2021) The toxicity of design school, Medium. Available at: https://uxplanet.org/the-
toxicity-of-design-school-420f7dfede1b (Accessed: 17 September 2023).
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