ART LOVERS

well, for the TECHNICAL aspect of painting (how to get an eye right, how to draw a nose and shadow it correctly etc) a little education never hurt anyone. BUT, i dont think there should be RULES when expressing yourself through painting and sculpting etc. I think it should all come from inside.

art school is expensive.
i went to community college because it was all i could afford to pay for myself and struggled in the art department- the teachers were always on me for not doing things they way they taught.
after getting my aa i thought about advancing in school but i just did not want to "conform" to their rules.
now i make art for a living and everything i learned is from within me or something i picked up here and there- what i learned in art school was minimal compared to what i learned from life! sounds silly but give your son an art education by taking him to art museums and letting him hang out with artists.
my daughter is growing up surrounded by artists and i could not ask for anything better!
have art parties- that is what me and my friends do and all the teenage kids love it! they get to hang out with their parents and be creative and have fun (we do collage nights, sidewalk chalk nights, and soon is a building night)

my husband works in an industry where there are a lot of "art school" graduates and they all make less than him and have thousands of dollars of debt.
your son can train himself to master a skill- it is a better investment of your money :)
and if he gets really good at a certain area of art, he can always apply for scholarships!!!! free school is good :)

i have many artist friends who went to school and many who did not- no one is better than anyone else, we are all different and no matter what, it is our styles that sell our stuff and i dont think a style can be taught in school!

and thats my opinion (and i know other peoples opinions may vary)

To tell you the truth, I agree with tru_gritt02. I think that art school also helps the child develop/find or simply enhance they're own unique style AND it's strongly encouraged. My fiance's niece is a very gifted 10 year old artist and will be attending an art school soon. I suggest you go and get yourself oriented at the art school of your preference. Good luck!!!

From the heart.

Van Gogh had no formal training,however,he ended up climbing into his darker paintings.Scary.

Whatever is best me thinks.

I recieved a Bachelors Degree from Pratt Institute (once considered one of the best art schools in the country) and a Masters Degree in Art Education from New York University. I have been an art teacher for over 18 years.
I would have to agree with all of the comments above and perhaps disagree. Art education is a very unusual thing. You really get out of it what you put in. Unlike math or something that is easilly assessed in terms of your progress it is difficult to say what level you are on or how far you have proceeded.
Yes, it can hurt your niave skills if a teacher tries to force you to concentrate on technical aspects of art or force their opinions on you but if you can keep this in mind while you are learning art then you may benifit tremendously from a school.
Each school is different and each teacher is different.
The important thing to remember is that we live in a different type of society today where free expression is acceptable in many art schools. I am not really up to date on the policies of art institutions across the country or world. Some schools may emphasize technique, some creativity some (and probably most or almost all) may have no real general policy.
I find young people are not really clear on how to draw on their creative instincts these days. The have been so oversaturated with mass medias idea of creativity that it is difficult for them to understand the concept of creating through the arts on their own.
In that sense it may be extremely helpful to be in a structured atmosphere where they will be exposed to numerous points of view and creative stimulus.
If this is available somewhere else then that is also a plus but remember that in an unstructured atmosphere such as home with visiting artists that they may not be recieving the kind of ongoing stimulus they would from an educational institution.
You might consider trying out a free or inexpensive course for your child that might be available through a local museum or art org

after reading all of these answers, i most TOTALLY disagree!! arthur's art would not be arthur's art if someone tried to make it "better" or to conform to particular "art rules". to me, his talent is already wonderful and something you will not find anyplace else. why change something that is not broken by adding "art rules"?? i have been collecting arthur's for about 2 years now and would not part with ANY of it!! and the stories that go with the drawings make them that much better. i think arthur is an excellent 15 year old artist whose imagination needs to be left alone. WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE??????????????????????????