These four Miami institutions boast top marks in contemporary art and design education.
Miami is a visually rich and culturally layered city providing aspiring artists and designers with an energizing backdrop geared to creative experimentation and self-discovery. Miami does not yet have creative PhD programs, but high school and college students can select from an array of critically savvy degree training. These top four art and design institutions offer students sound paths to improvement.
Atmosphere at DASH PHOTO BY EDUCATIONAL NETWORKS, COURTESY OF DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE SENIOR HIGH
THE NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Designated in 1987 and located in a bustling tower on Downtown Miami’s Miami-Dade College Wolfson campus, NWSA is both a public magnet high school and a college. With 500+ up-and-coming dancers, musicians, actors and visual artists enrolled annually, the school’s alums include accomplished contemporary artists Hernan Bas, Jen Stark, and Michael Vazquez, as well as award-winning Nomadland movie producer Mollye Ashe; Jessy Sutta of girl band The Pussycat Dolls, and Tarell Alvin McCraney, co-writer of the film drama Moonlight, among others. nwsa.mdc.edu
DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL
Immersed in the urban mecca of Miami Design District, Design and Architecture School (DASH) is a public senior high school for young creative thinkers wanting to pursue trajectories within the many evolving design fields, from fashion to entertainment technology. Founded in 1990 to inspire innovative thinking, DASH boasts a celebrated annual student fashion show and a solid record of graduates securing continuing education. dashschool.org
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum sits in the heart of Florida International University (FIU), offering students and visitors modern and contemporary art programming. This resource supplements students pursuing a formal degree in studio practice and theoretical training via FIU’s Art + Art History Department, which attracts students from across the Americas and internationally interested in defining an artistic, critical, historical, or art teaching career. fiu.edu
Hans Van de Bovenkamp, Circles and Waves XX, 1987, outside Loewe Art Museum. DETAIL OF PHOTO BY JENNY ABREU, COURTESY OF LOWE ART MUSEUM
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
This private University has a 22-person strong faculty throughout its Department of Art and Art History. Students also have access to the Lowe Art Museum on campus, home to a collection spanning 5000 years and a contemporary exhibition program. With a strong emphasis on studio practice, the University hosts yearly exhibitions of its undergraduate and Master of Fine Art Students at a campus gallery and the University of Miami gallery in Miami’s upbeat art hub, Wynwood Art District. art.as.miami.edu
University of Miami Gallery in Wynwood BY JOSHUA PREZANT, COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Photography by: Photos Courtesy Of: Design and Architecture Senior High; Lowe Art Museum; University of Miami
