Art Academy of Cincinnati

My 11 year old son just finished up a week long camp here. He had such a wonderful experience. We have done other art camps in the past and many feel more like a babysitting experience without a lot of clear instruction. This is the second time he participated at the Art Academy (first in 2023). He made a small patchwork quilt that he sewed by hand, played around with different mediums to create art and learned to work well in a group setting to make some larger pieces. He was a bit disappointed by the ratio of boys (4) to girls (20), but that is not something the school can control and moreso just a reflection of interests for kids his age. The communication from the school was informative and timely. Would definitely send him again.

You never know what new, dynamic things their students are going to come up with, far more exciting than your average art school. Great location as well, right in the middle of Cincinnati arts. Stop by to check out one of their Final Friday exhibitions.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati is THE Best SCHOOL. I graduated class of 2015 with my BFA (bachelors in fine arts) - easily the best four years of my life. The city of Cincinnati is an awesome place to be a college student there is incredible historic architecture and new friends around every corner and its on the rise, there are always new restaurants (great for students who need employment or who are hungry) and lots of cool bars if youre into that. I went to the art academy knowing a wanted to be an artist and graduated with skills and confidence.

As a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and now its Academic Dean, I couldn't be more proud of what this small college of art and design has been able to give to so many artists. As a private, not-for-profit art college in Ohio, the AAC continues to teach young artists and designers to follow their hearts and engage the world on their own terms through their creative work. What makes the Art Academy of Cincinnati so powerfully vital, not just in Cincinnati, but in the respective worlds of contemporary art and design, is the commitment to provide what our mission statement calls for “To create and sustain radical, forward-thinking, contemporary visual artists and designers whose creative contributions make a substantial difference in all the lives they touch. ” We make artists who delight in imaginative expression because we know that imagination makes the world. MAKE ART, MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I’m a current student at AAC and while the classes offered are amazing and the environment is mostly good there are some issues. For one in my current dorm, they did not change the upstairs air filter which caused my roommate to be sick. The air filter was caked in dust and had not been changed for over a year probably. Also the way they handle Covid 19 is horrible. They give out misinformation to those impacted by it. They treat their isolated students like prisoners with some staff being snide, rude, or downright disrespectful to those students. The isolated students are not given adequate housing or enough resources to quarantine. I love AAC but I am disgusted and disappointed with their actions. If I could complain to the city or sue AAC I would in a heartbeat. Do better AAC.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati has amazing programs in Graphic Design, Illustration, and Fine Arts. Their faculty are hands on, and personally see every student through the four year experience. It's the best value for a private art & design school education in the midwest.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati is an anchor art institution in the heart of Over-The-Rhine. Not only does it offer incredible BFA degrees and the Master of Arts in Art Education (MAAE) program, the AAC has Community Education classes that are varied, fun, and accessible for all skill levels and for ages from 5 to 95.

I cannot wait until my son starts this fall

My whirlwind trip to Cincy for NCECA pottery convention also included me hitting up some local galleries and participating in show receptions. I was enthralled walking into this space and the gallery displays were phenomenal! One of my favorite artists was actually there talking about her pieces- and it is always wonderful to meet the artist behind exhibited pieces! She made wonderful sculptures of busts and heads with what I would call brain chaos sprouting out of the tops of the heads. For me- I love art that sparks an emotional response, is something relatable, or something that just sparks my curiosity and imagination. There were plenty of other artists work there too and I loved several different pieces. On this particular evening I was sprinting through town hitting up several galleries- but this was my first stop and made a huge impression on me. The space itself is also wonderful. We were only allowed access to the downstairs gallery, I assume classrooms were upstairs or downstairs (or both) and I could see there were other exhibits, but those were closed. Cincinnati really embraced the NCECA pottery crowd and made sure to have as many exhibits across town as possible!

The Art Academy has come a really long way in the past few years. They used to be located in Mt. Adams but recently purchased a larger building in Over-the-Rhine and have moved everything downtown. It's a beautiful building on Jackson Street that was re-done to fit the style of the Art Academy. Inside there is a sprawling atrium that looks up all the floors around the staircases. There is gallery space all over the building and chances are there is some show up. Right now the SOS Political art show is hung up as well as the Visual Fringe Gallery for the Fringe Festival. The Art Academy generously donates a classroom to the Fringe Festival as well for it's use for a few plays and it's a great space for them! The Art Academy unfortunately had a rapid decrease in enrollment since their move downtown, which was to be expected. However, with the revitalization of the gateway quarter (as it's now being called) things should be looking up for them. If you are looking for a great art school for all aspects of visual art and design, this is the place to go!

This review is for the performance spaces only. I've seen a few performances here and all in the same space/classroom. Are there not any legitimate performance spaces in this building? You would think there would be at an art academy. Despite this, we get shoved into some half open classroom/exhibit space. It's just not getting the job done. The room doesn't close up on the one side. Instead there is a curtain separating the space from the hall. There is no stage. Half the room is curtained off and seats are piled up on a platform. In an otherwise nice building, one would think they could splurge for a decent stage or theater.

During the 2018 Cincinnati Fringe Festival I again volunteered to help out as an usher. One of the venues that I worked in for several events was the Art Academy. I love the location in OTR near all the restaurants, art galleries and theatres and just across the street from the Know Theatre of Cincinnati. There is street parking, a private lot and several public parking lots nearby. The building is handicapped accessible with an attractive and comfortable lobby and an elevator to the left to take you to the upper floors. There is always fantastic student art in the rear of the lobby plus galleries on the upper floors. The bathrooms are convenient near the top of the stairs on every floor. Walking into the place always felt so good on a hot day as there is great air conditioning with one exception. Several classrooms on upper floors were used as venues for fringe shows. These venues were just a short distance down a hallway but the air conditioning abruptly ended as you walked toward them. To help out the Fringe festival provided coolers of bottled water. The only explanation that I heard was that some vents were shut off on weekends. Aside from this the Art Academy is spacious and brightly-lit facility with so many rooms for student instruction and numerous galleries to display the student's creativity. If you are looking to view some fun, creative and exciting student art I suggest that you check out the Art Academy. This place is a very positive contributor to OTR. They just need to correct the air conditioning problem. Until next time be kind to each other. #artacademyofcincinnati

I've taken two community art classes through the Art Academy in the past year and thought they were excellent. The first class was an Introduction to Watercolors with Ken Buck which met at Essex Studios and the second was called Drawing From the Very Beginning, taught by Liz Neal, which took place at the downtown Art Academy building. The watercolor class was extremely enjoyable--Ken has a great passion for the art as well as teaching and I thought he was a very effective instructor. There was a good balance between direct instruction and technique demonstration and time for students to paint on their own. Ken is very patient and encouraging and luckily the class size was small so I felt like I got a lot of one-on-one help and instruction. The drawing class had a bit of a rough start because the original instructor was not very professional, but he was replaced after a few classes with a full-time Art Academy teacher (Liz) and she was great. There was a bit of a leap about halfway through from super-basic to quite advanced subjects and the class culminated in 2 live model drawing sessions. Given that this is the most basic drawing class offered, I believe we would have benefited by continued instruction in the true fundamentals (e.g. shading, composition, materials & technique) vs. jumping to complex still life and figure drawing, but it was definitely challenging! Really the only big critique I have of the Art Academy classes (more for drawing, but somewhat true for both) has to do with the art supplies lists provided. It didn't seem like the actual course instructors put those lists together so when I spent a lot of money on supplies in advance only to find out I didn't get certain things they wanted or got other things that weren't really needed, which was pretty frustrating. When I take another class, which I definitely plan to do, I will try to get in contact with the instructor in advance to get a very specific materials list directly.

I'm not an artist, not by any stretch of the imagination (I'm a photographer, but come on, there's no creation in that, just composition). Therefore, I'm incredibly envious of the stuff I've seen come from products of the Art Academy, and the Cincinnati art scene in general. I've been taking a Graphic Design course to balance out the calculating engineer side in me, and couldn't be happier in the month that I've been at the academy. The building is beautiful, the staff is awesome, and the course itself is great. The instructor (Thommy, for those of you wondering) is an experienced Graphic Designer and a great guy to learn from. The courses are affordable and provide equipment considered decent enough by any art school. Finally, I'm ridiculously glad the Art Academy is in OTR, the new hotbed for arts in Cincinnati. The location (just a block away from Vine & 12th, and other notables such as Senate, Lavomatic, Venice on Vine, and A Tavola) is great for students and residents alike, and I couldn't be happier. If you've ever been inclined to explore your inner artist (no matter the medium), I highly suggest taking a look at the courses the Art Academy has to offer!

Community Education - great classes you can't find anywhere else without enrolling. They used to have Glassblowing, but funding was cut and the glassblowing studio shut down. Too bad because it was a wonderful and challenging class. I am proud of the bowls and vases I made there. I have also taken graphic design. The teachers have a lot of passion for what they teach and everyone is very friendly. I'm not sure if I was supposed to do this, but I would often browse the halls of the building to see what enrolled students were working on. Always a great experience.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati one of the oldest art schools in the country founded in 1869 and originally up on the hill in Mt. Adams as part of the Cincinnati Art Museum until they moved to Over The Rhine in 2005. Now being in the heart of OTR the campus, students and community fill the academy and OTR neighborhood with art. Try your hand at a variety of art, graphic design and photography classes through their community art classes all very affordable. Check out a student exhibition, one of the coolest annual exhibitions is the the minumental show where each piece is no larger than 2x2x2. The opening of this annual show is packed & each piece sells very quickly - come check out in late February and come home with a great little piece of art from a rising artist. Plus during MidPoint the Art Academy is right in the middle of the action and usually has a corresponding art show around music. Come check out one of the oldest & best institutions in town on Jackson street.

After several years at the new location I was finally able to visit the Art Academy while I modeled for a senior level oil painting class. If I could go back and do it all again I might consider attending if only because junior and senior level students are able to use large, individual or shared studio spaces to work in. The gallery spaces were nice and numerous but I have to confess the only non-permanent display that really blew me away was a section of wall that had been gouged out to reveal tiny caverns with minuscule mushroom and mining equipment. Who know what really lurks in the walls. The class I modeled for was well attended and the student instructor was wonderful. I was required to check in and out each night and to wear a model badge. Despite being located in Over-the-Rhine, I never felt threatened walking to my car in the dark after the class ended. the entire area seems to be under renovation with frequent gallery and theatre openings.

I got the personalized attention that I needed to succeed. I grew so much as an artist over my four years and I thank and love all of my professors for it. I now actually get to work for the school and love getting to remain part of the community. Recommended for all creative individuals!

The publishing class taught by Kareem Simpson is not worthy to take the class. Taking the publishing class from him is waste of money and time. The quality is very low. The instructor didn't come to the classes several times without any announcement.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati has amazing programs in Graphic Design, Illustration, and Fine Arts. Their faculty are hands on, and personally see every student through the four year experience. It's the best value for a private art & design school education in the midwest.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati is the BEST SCHOOL ever- I graduated in 2015 with my BFA (Bachelors in Fine Arts). The faculty is incredibly supportive and gives each student one on one feedback, cultivating an environment of growth and learning. 6 HUGE floors with amazing resources for whatever you might be interested in- graphic design, photography, painting, drawing, traditional printmaking and screen printing, ect.

I'm a firm believer in exploration and continual learning- the Art Academy offers so many different opportunities for the community. I took a screen printing course with Aaron Kent and highly recommended. Great value, most classes include supplies and top notch instruction. Courses are 8ish wks and allows you to develop your skill and build community with other students with way less pressure than an actual college course (way cheaper too haha).

My experience at the Art Academy of Cincinnati has changed my life for the best. As a non-traditional student, I was seeking the arts education I had always dreamed of. The Staff and Faculty guided me through the financial and personal challenges of attending college. As a working artist, I use all the skills of problem solving, creative thinking, and tools for exploring self expression. Small classes encourage the personal attention needed to succeed and develop your approach to art making.

The Art Academy of Cincinnati offers Community Education classes. There is something for everyone from 5 year olds to 95 years young. I've taken a beginner drawing class and had a blast! I'm definitely going to sign up for more classes!