Why an Art School Alternative?

We created SAW to be an alternative or supplement to art school, one with a small institutional foot-print to keep things intensive and affordable for the student. We are 5 or 6 practicing artist/teachers and no one behind an office desk. (Though we could use that sometimes!) Our space is a little bit grubby. We sometimes have to move furniture and building supplies around to do our figure drawing.

I wouldn't want it any other way.

When you come to SAW, you get an experience living among artists, in a supportive town (Gainesville), among other students who have come to SAW and haven't left (hello Maxine, Roxanne, Eric, Joseph, Melissa, Sally! etc! Hi everyone!)

(Not everyone stays in town, btw. See bottom, this is Pip, who bought a goat farm outside of town! )

And among teachers who are working every day, (Justine and Tom especially.)

As the economy continues crashing, as the country gets more tense, as the world burns, do your art.

I believe that learning a craft, finding a community, increasing your own humanity, empathy and truthfulness is the way to go. You can be a light and a beacon in this dark world. You do it through learning what it means to make something good.

You do it by dedication, by getting good with your hands, by looking for wisdom, by listening to each other. By understanding what it is to be human.

By creating.

That's our alternative to art school.

Your heart, your mind, your talent, developed to shine some light on this world.