This summer, eight of our GCSE art pupils had the extraordinary opportunity to travel to the United States to take part in specialist workshop seminars at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious visual arts universities in the US, SCAD welcomed our pupils with generous scholarships worth $1,800 each, allowing them to immerse themselves in a world-class creative environment and gain invaluable insights into the world of art and design.
Hear what they got up to – from hands-on sessions to exploring Savannah, our pupils share their experiences and inspirations from this unforgettable trip.
On arrival, we were warmly greeted at the airport by our coordinator Sam, who welcomed us to Savannah, Georgia and took us to our accommodation (The Hive). We were met with thorough excitement (probably because of our ‘proper British’ accents), given our lanyards and shown to our rooms. The next day, we were given the opportunity to roam and relax the grounds, and in the afternoon, once everyone had arrived, were introduced to our group and taken on an orientation around the amazing facilities.
In our individual groups, our PCA’s, Angelina, Malaika and Alexa, encouraged us to make friends, and embrace the American culture, fuelling our curiosity. That evening, we had a three hour deep dive into our cultural differences, sharing our British snacks (we taught them how to make proper tea), while also discussing more political and social topics, which we thought were fascinating. Throughout the week, we were met with a perfect balance of care but also freedom and fun, going out on excursions (thrifting, boat parties etc) to see Savannah. They supplied us with an array of food, from the daily buffet in the canteen to the generously supplied snack table for us to try with plenty of Red40 and a bit too much sugar.
Additionally, as our courses were spread across the city, we had the luxury of taking the airconditioned SCAD shuttles buses to our lessons. Not only giving us, a much-needed break from the heat but also giving us a greater view of the city. The same shuttles were also used to transport us to our evening activities as well as the airport, getting us through many intense storms.
The extra-curricular at SCAD were one the main highlights of our trip, the range of activities were extremely diverse, allowing us to not only explore the SCAD campus but also Savannah. Every day we did two activities, one after our first course in the afternoon and another later in the evening, these being our favourites. In the afternoon, we went to thrift shops and cafes with our groups, giving us the freedom to walk and see the city. As part of our evening activities, we went to the SCAD movie theatre, where we watched Snow White the live action (maybe the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but in some ways made it more entertaining). On Tuesday, we went to the pool on the SCAD campus to have a pool party where we were given free ice cream and had brutal water fights! On Wednesday we were given a river boat tour, where we saw not only a stunning sunset and river dolphins but also a live DJ. The silent disco on Thursday was my favourite activity; the special headphones giving us the ability to switch between two different DJs and laugh at the different people singing two different songs. These activities really highlighted how many amazing opportunities SCAD offers. They provided us with such a positive environment to forge bonds with new people and connect with friends.
Being the only British people on campus, we were treated as minor celebrities, with news of our presence spreading fast around all 300 students. With this newfound fame, came a plethora of questions, our favourites being ‘Do you see cows a lot?’ and ‘Do y’all have a shrine of the Queen?’, and we can’t even count the number of times we were asked to say, ‘bottle of water’. What shocked us the most was the lack of knowledge Americans had of England, which made conversation that much more amusing. At times, we felt our British accents slipping as we started adapting to the environment, though thankfully, we regained it when we came home.
During the week, we formed friendships that will be maintained for the rest of our lives, providing a culture of acceptance, and expression. On one evening, we were all hanging out in the social space of our dorm, and our friends surprised us with some classic American ‘take-out’. They had generously bought us a huge box of Crumble Cookies, some tortillas from Taco Bell and chicken from Chick Filet. Naturally, this was like Christmas to us as we could finally try all the viral American food, which, in our opinion, was worth the hype.
Though language barrier wasn’t an issue, being in entire new country and culture provided a scope for conversation, with there being over 300 students, it was truly fascinating to talk to and meet so many different types of people. At the end of our trip, tears were shed, as we would no longer be separated by a dorm but rather an ocean and a very expensive plane ticket.
Read about Anna's classes
As part of my seminar, I chose the courses, Illustration and 2D Animation, both of which I had never tried before and was going into completely blind. Despite this, I was supported in both of my classes which were very beginner friendly and required no prior knowledge.
One of the most interesting skills I learnt, was how to use the specialist technology to complete my animation. We were introduced to Toon Boom Harmony, a professional-grade software, rigged for 2D animation, used for films such as The Prince of Egypt. Towards the end of the course, we were taught how to make a short ten second animation, our brief being, a ball shaped object, jumping over a static object. While my penguin jumping over a sleeping polar bear was not as advanced as The Prince of Egypt, I learnt valuable lessons in resilience, and also the technical side of movement and timeframes in animation. At the end of our course, we presented our animations to the group, and I was amazed at the range of ideas and takes on the prompt.
My other class was illustration, which focused more on the storytelling side of art. I loved the introductory activities at the beginning of the lesson in which we were given a variety of shapes and objects and instructed to form characters of them. Throughout the week, we developed our characters stories, regularly presenting them to the class to get feedback from our peers, and sharing ideas on how we could add more depth or express a concept within our characters. I loved how everyone met each task with eagerness and a desire for improvement, with the teachers, SCAD professors, being clearly knowledgeable in their fields and a well of advice and enthusiasm.
Read about Jessie's classes
For my chosen courses, I specialised in Graphic Design and Interior Design. Both topics were unfamiliar to me, so my aim was to obtain a general overview of the subjects, as well as picking up skills to further my artistic studies.
During my Graphic Design course, we were introduced to the seven Principles of Design. In order to apply our leaning, we created a cereal box and a final product of a small leaflet which covered examples of each individual principle, using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Our efforts were largely collaborative, which encouraged me to share ideas with like-minded passionate creatives. From photography to printing, our tutor gave us in depth practical assistance along the way, successfully granting us a base to widen our skillset. Furthermore, he gave us valuable insight into the industry through personal stories, as well as inspiring us to adopt a creative and fearless outlook on life.
In the afternoon, I chose to do interior design, with a focus on illustration. We were given the freedom to choose a client to adhere our designed spaces to, whether they were fictional or real. Our tutor was incredibly helpful in giving suggestions to improve our collages, and he provided many useful tools such as magazines and websites. During one of the sessions, he took us to see some of the existing work from the SCAD students, mainly architecture and interior design. This was highly beneficial to see the scope of expression encouraged by the school, as well as the creative freedoms nurtured.
Read about Anya's classes
For my courses I chose to do Interior Design and 2D Animation. Both topics were extremely foreign to me and something completely new. I hoped that interior design could be useful for my growing interest in architecture while 2D animation was simply just something I thought I would enjoy.
The SCAD interior design course allowed me to explore my creativity and fully consider designing for others. We began by choosing a celebrity or character that inspires us, and we would like to design for; I chose Raquel from Barbie and the Dreamhouse. Next, we wrote down a list of textures, colours and patterns we thought our chosen person would use and want. We were provided with a sketchbook each and drawing/ writing equipment to use. After determining this, we began to look through many magazines to find items and pictures we thought would be suitable and fit our criteria. Our professor gave us advice as we needed it and allowed us to explore our own creativity. This course was extremely interesting and will help me as I explore architecture in the future
The 2D animation course at SCAD was very useful to consider what animation in real life looks like. My professor went into lots of detail about the steps to creating animated projects and what taking a degree in animation includes. We began by looking at a professional-grade animation programme called Toon Boom Harmony. Once learning some of the more basic functions we began to animate balls bouncing over a static object. By looking at the different animation principles, we all began animating different types of balls bouncing and creating our storylines. I created a small earth bouncing over a sun; after completing the animation we presented our work to the class. This experience was useful to increase our confidence and talk articulately in front of people. The wide range of ideas and skill levels throughout the class was truly inspiring and gave me something to aim for.
Overall, our experience was one to last a lifetime! We will carry through the invaluable skills and connections we formed with us forever, giving us insight to potential future studies and careers. We left with a new perspective on life, many great friends and an impeccable tan!
Anna (now in the Lower Sixth)
