10 Best Art Programs for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Feb 17, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 31
If you are a high schooler interested in art, you’re in luck! We have curated a list of 10 great art programs open to high school students in the blog below.
Whether art in its conventional sense or an intersection with other visual arts and product design, you’ll find a wide range of opportunities here. These programs can be great for building a portfolio, developing your skills, and even testing out the college fit before applying for a degree program.
Pro tip: Most of the programs we’ve included in this list offer credit, so keep that in mind while considering your applications for the following programs. Note that the following information is based on the most recent program, with dates subject to change but generally similar from year to year.
If you’re looking for something a little more self-paced and completely virtual, you could check out these free courses offered by the Museum of Modern Art or MoMA. If you are feeling up for a little competition, check out our list of great art and design competitions.
NYU Summer Art Intensive Program invites 54 students to experience life as an art major at the NYU Campus. You are assigned to one of the 3 cohorts. You are expected to attend studio sessions, interact with a wide variety of materials and technology (like textiles and laser cutting), build your portfolio, and interact with professionals! The program includes digital art, painting, and sculpture. This program, along with exposure to art at a university level, also allows you to network, build connections, and explore New York City on the weekends!
Dates: July 10 - August 4
Application Deadline: March 1
Location: New York University Campus
Cost: $7,660; financial aid available
Eligibility: High school students between the age of 15-18, including international students
The Rhode Island School of Design hosts a residential program for students interested in pursuing art as a degree and career and offers a 5-week, college-level course. As a program participant, you are expected to put in the amount of work you'd put in as an undergraduate student at RISD, with day-long studio classes, critiques, and projects. This program is geared towards students who wish to improve/create their portfolio and has faculty from whom you can gain advice and feedback. The program is fairly inviting, with about 550 students attending from around the country.
Dates: June 24–July 29
Application Deadline: Applications open on November 8, and you can expect the deadline to be around mid-December.
Location: RISD Campus, Providence, Rhode Island.
Cost: Residential program: $10,700 | Commuter program: $8,100 + Application Fee (non-refundable): $60
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors can apply
The Met invites applications from high school students interested in art, design, architecture, and creative expression for its fully funded internships. The Met offers two kinds of internships—one that takes place alongside your school year and the other that runs in the summer. The year-round internship program invites you to connect with art, museums, and creative professionals as you develop professional skills, network, and gain work experience. As a MET intern, you will interact with museum professionals and experts in marketing, scientific research, social media, law, and educational programming. You will also participate in Career Labs sessions where you learn from professionals about their work and experiences and receive advice.
Dates: School-year Internship: January 14 - June 9 | Summer Internship: June 25 - August 12
Application Deadline: School-year Internship: October 28 | Summer Internship: March 31
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, NY
Cost: Fully funded, stipend provided
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors based in and around New York City
This doubles as an internship and a learning program! You will discover the art and cultural traditions of Asia and learn about special exhibitions and the museum collection. You will create art activities and other materials for learning about art and culture and do social media marketing for the museum. There is plenty of networking with local artists!
Pro Tip: Check with your local museum for such opportunities during the school year and summer!
Dates: August - May
Application deadline: Dates are not yet available. Please join the mailing list to stay updated on applications.
Location: Asia Art Museum (San Francisco, CA) and also partly virtual.
Cost: Fully funded, stipend and school credit provided
Eligibility: Bay Area public high school students in good standing in grades 10, 11, and 12
UCLA's Art Summer Institute is a 3 UCLA-unit course that exposes you to multiple tracks in the field of art and allows you to work on your portfolio. As part of the course, you are required to choose one (or two) of the following tracks - Drawing – Sessions A & B, Painting – Sessions A & B, Photography – Sessions A & B, Sculpture – Session A only (in-person), Video Art & Experimental Animation – Session B only (virtual). The program offers daily, focused studio work, artist lectures, group critiques, and one-on-one meetings with faculty. You will be exposed to a range of media and contemporary art practices, which can set you apart from other applicants at your dream art school.
Dates: Session A: July 9 - 22 | Session B: July 24 - August 6
Application Deadline: June 1
Location: UCLA Campus/Virtual
Cost: In-person Session: $3,859 + $350 application fee + $61 (IEI fee) + $50 (Document Fee) | Virtual Session: $2,290
Eligibility: 8th-12th grade students can apply
The Parsons School of Design is a highly coveted design institute located in New York, some of its notable alumni being Marc Jacobs, Robert Wong, Tom Ford, Paul Rand, and Mara Hoffman. As a high school student, you can participate in the Parson’s Summer Immersion Program held on-campus. This three-credit program includes skill-building, project-based learning, art and design field trips, guest speakers from the industry, and portfolio reviews.
You are expected to attend sessions and classes five days a week. You can check out more offerings from Parsons for high school students here.
Dates: Session 1: June 12–30 | Session 2: July 10–28
Application Deadline: Session 1: May 15 | Session 2: June 8
Location: Parsons' NYC Greenwich Village campus
Cost: $4,675 plus fees. Scholarships are available.
Eligibility: All high school students are eligible to apply
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a prestigious institute, hosts three major pre-college summer programs for high school students that offer college credit. Here's a list of three of their programs offered across fall, winter, spring, and summer.
EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAM (ECP): As part of this program, you can take courses on investigative painting, drawing, animation, comics/graphic novels, fashion, DIY printmaking, design, and more. This course only offers college credit for students who have completed their sophomore year at school.
EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAM SUMMER INSTITUTE (ECPSI): As part of this program, you will create portfolio-quality work, make connections with faculty, experience SAIC’s art facilities, and earn college credit.
EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAM ONLINE SUMMER INSTITUTE (ECPOSI): This is a virtual edition of the above program. It allows you to work on your portfolio and deepen your understanding of contemporary art while networking with peers and mentors.
Dates: Varies from program to program
Application Deadline: Early College Program - January 25th | ECPSI - TBA | ECPOSI - TBA
Location: SAIC campus/Virtual
Cost: Varies from program to program
Eligibility: All high school students are eligible to apply
The Maryland Institute College of Art invites students to its annual Pre-College Art and Design Residency Program. This program is extremely competitive and rewarding for young artists! The program offers live instruction, independent studio time, and a variety of community events, workshops, and artist talks. You will receive feedback and guidance from MICA faculty and undergraduate students, which is useful if you wish to pursue art at the college level. If you're a junior or senior in high school, you can receive up to 3 credits for this program! You can check out the portfolios of some of the program's past participants here! Note: If you choose the 2-week session, you will be awarded 1.5 credits as opposed to the 3-credit sessions that span for 4 weeks.
Dates: 2-Week Session 1: July 2 - July 15 | 2-Week Session 2: July 16 - July 29 | 4-Week Combined Sessions: July 2 - July 29
Application Deadline: April 30 ($50 application fee)
Location: MICA Campus, Maryland
Cost: 2-week session - $3,310 | 4-week session - $6,620
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors
Curious about studying design and/or architecture at college? The Design Immersion Days program hosted by the Southern California Institute of Architecture exposes you to examples of design and modes of production at all scales, from analog physical building and traditional drawing to multiple forms of digital output—augmented reality, 3D modeling, 3D printing, and more. This program lets you explore design and architecture school before college. It lets you interact with multiple lenses to view the city of Los Angeles. The program runs for a total of 4 weeks, with 5 days of sessions each week.
Dates: June 21 - July 15
Application Deadline: June 7
Location: SCI-Arc campus, Los Angeles
Cost: $3,350, full financial aid offered on a need-based criteria
Eligibility: All high school students can apply
SCAD's Summer Seminars include activities and sessions aimed at providing a solid educational experience in art as an academic and professional career. The Savannah College of Art and Design is a great fashion school. You can expect to attend demonstrations, lectures, studio work, and local field trips. Along with using SCAD's studios, resources, and libraries, you are also encouraged to work on art projects and assignments of your own. There are two main types of workshops you can join - Atlanta Workshops and Savannah Workshops.
Dates: Multiple 5-day sessions offered between June 25 and July 21
Application Deadline: Applications close on a rolling basis
Location: Atlanta workshops - SCAD campus + locations across Atlanta | Savannah workshops - SCAD campus
Cost: $1,400 for commuting students | $1,700 for on-campus participants. You are also required to pay $100 for registration while applying for a program.
Eligibility: All high school students can apply
One other option - the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a selective online high school program for students that I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. In the program, you work 1-1 with a researcher to develop your own research project. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here. You can also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.