UPPER SCHOOL
Ross School Art Academy
Ross School Art Academy offers a comprehensive, rigorous, advanced studio art curriculum emphasizing portfolio development while helping students realize and achieve their full potential as visual artists.
Ross School Art Academy (RSAA) allows students to focus on artistic practices while pursuing admittance to top art and design schools. At RSAA, students develop their artistic portfolios in an active art community of peers as they learn and develop their individual artistic voices in a broad range of media. RSAA students typically complete one or more College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art Exams (AP 2-D, Drawing, and 3-D portfolio exams).
Designed to provide students with as much studio time as possible within each given day, the program provides a two-period studio focus course each day with an additional open art elective. This allows students to invest in studio practices while customizing their experiences in a range of media across our many specialized electives.
At RSAA, students have the opportunity to participate in art community programming and internships with local artists, clubs, galleries, museums, NAEA, and the greater art community around us.
Reaching Beyond Technical Skill
At Ross and within RSAA, students are challenged to think beyond art media, skill development, and the principles of art and design. Technical skills, while important, are only part of what is learned in RSAA. We encourage students to be multifaceted and to reach beyond a single medium or subject within their personal body of work. We value critical thinking, aesthetic and philosophical debate, entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary works of expression, risk-taking, personal voice, and self-reflection. In this ever-changing art world, we believe art is a way of thinking and reaches beyond a way of doing.
Specialized Electives
Drawing
Painting
Sculpture
Architecture
Woodworking
Metal Fabrication
Book Arts
Graphic Design
Animation
Mixed Media
Fashion Design
Photography
Film
Ceramics
Figure Drawing
Figure Sculpture
Printmaking
Digital Arts
Industrial Design
College Placement
Compete for top college and careers
RSAA offers a full program of college counseling, in-house portfolio reviews, and advanced placement built into its foundation. Beginning in their junior year students will start to meet with the top art and design schools and participate in individualized portfolio reviews. The program includes individualized counseling with your art teachers, portfolio guidance, and school counseling.
Ross School graduates have received millions of dollars in merit aid and have been accepted to some of the most respected art schools, colleges, and universities, both in the United States and abroad. Through the high-quality art programming and academic experiences, RSAA students are optimally positioned to compete for scholarships to the colleges of their choice.
How to Apply
There is no additional tuition cost for RSAA.
A materials fee of $1,000 directly supports studio needs, equipment, supplies, and transportation costs for local trips.
If accepted, RSAA students must maintain good academic standing in all courses.
Current Students
Please submit the following:
Eight original portfolio works*
A completed Application Questionnaire
Email your completed application and portfolio to RSAA@ross.org or deliver to the Upper School Office.
New Students
Select Art Academy in the drop-down menu during the Ross School application process and submit the following:
Eight original portfolio works*
Completed Art Academy supplement found in your online application checklist
Art teacher letter of recommendation
All materials and recommendation letters can be submitted to your admissions representative.
*We recommend including some drawing works to demonstrate your foundational skills. Please submit digital images in .jpg format.
Please contact admissions@ross.org with questions or for more information.
