Worldwide Art, Inc. (WWA) is a non-profit organization that teaches art and cultural history, with an emphasis on art of the 20th century and beyond, to students from all over the world. We do our best to provide a meaningful cross-cultural experience while exposing students to new ideas, styles, and methods of learning.
If you’re interested in studying abroad and would like to learn more about WWA, please contact us at any time. In addition to our summer program in Florence, Italy, WWA also has programs in Jamaica, London, Prague and India!
Our Mission
Worldwide Art was founded in 1997 with the goal of teaching art and cultural history to students from all over the world. We strive to provide a meaningful cross-cultural experience while exposing students to new ideas, styles, and methods of learning.
We believe that studying abroad is one of the only ways for someone to really understand a culture outside their own. It opens your eyes to new ways of thinking about the world around you and gives you valuable tools for understanding what’s happening today in countries all over the world. Our staff is made up entirely of volunteers who have a great deal of experience both in education abroad and art education in general.
This blog will
It wasn’t until I had been in college for a couple of years that I realized how weird it is to study art and then not go to art school afterwards. I was about to graduate from my public university with a degree in fine arts, and I had no idea what the next step was.
I went online and searched for “art school” and “artist.” The first thing that came up was the Art Students League of New York. I applied, got in, and bought a plane ticket. And that’s how I ended up in New York, studying painting at an actual artist’s school.
I was very lucky: my parents supported me while I studied abroad, but they didn’t have to. The program gave me a way to earn my tuition by teaching classes on animal anatomy and animal movement (which were very popular) during the day; at night, I worked as an intern with a professional painter.
What if your parents don’t want you to go? What if you can’t afford it? What if you live somewhere where there are no art schools? Are you just out of luck? Not at all! My experience has led me to believe that any aspiring artist can benefit from studying art outside of his home country, even if he doesn’t
A few years ago, I had the chance to work with an art student from Ghana. She was studying to be an architect – and that’s what she wanted to do with her life as well.
When I asked her how she came to enjoy architecture, she told me that she used to watch a lot of cartoons as a child. One of her favorites was called “The Wild Thornberries,” which is about a family who travel around the world in search of new animals to photograph. And that was when she realized that the world is full of beautiful buildings and landscapes.
And after considering several different career paths, she chose architecture because she loves building new things and making old things better. She said that when you’re an architect, you get to make everything look nicer for everyone.
I think it’s really awesome that this woman had such positive experiences as a child learning about other cultures through cartoons, and then pursued what some might consider a “nerdy” or “geeky” interest in architecture overseas. I think it’s awesome not just because it resulted in her deciding to study architecture, but also because it resulted in her becoming an ambassador for furry art overseas.
A little while back I got the opportunity to speak with someone who is one of the leaders in the art field in my country. A good friend of mine knows him, and thought it might be interesting to see what he had to say about the art industry here, and his thoughts on what an artist should do to find success.
The first thing I wanted to know was just how big the furry art scene is here. I asked him if there were people who made a living doing only their art, and how many people there were that made a living from doing art like that here. His response was that there are a few people (maybe four or five), but that they all had day jobs that helped support themselves. Some worked for game companies, some did commissions, some just did other freelance work. Only one of them did his furry art as his sole source of income.
I then asked him what advice he would give to someone who was trying to break into working in this field. He told me that you have to be productive – make a lot of pieces, constantly improve your skills, show your work at conventions, and get feedback from others (but don’t rely too much on one person). He also said that you need to learn how to market yourself –
“Furry” is an art style in which animal characters are depicted as “anthropomorphic,” that is, given human characteristics. It is also a subculture, with its own conventions and jargon.
The furry art style and subculture can be found all over the world, with its fans active in countries such as Japan and Sweden, as well as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Furries have been known to be present at anime conventions, comic book conventions, Renaissance festivals and SCA events.
The term “furry” was coined by the fandom itself in 1980. The word is often misinterpreted to mean the same thing as “fur fetishist”, a term with which most furries take issue. Furry fans describe themselves simply as “furries,” while they use the term “therian” to describe themselves if they consider themselves actual were-animals (many do not).
This page intends to provide general information about furry fandom worldwide as well as allow access to resources such as forums or e-mail lists.
I am primarily a furry artist and writer who has given workshops on the subject of furry art to students in New Zealand.* As I travel around the world for my artwork I also meet many other furs from lots
A furry is a person who has an interest in anthropomorphism. This can be the concept of attributing human characteristics to animals, or it can be the act of dressing up as an animal or having an interest in the media that features anthropomorphized animals. Furry conventions are convention held by and for the furry community. They include art shows, in which artists draw or sell their work, and fursuiting, in which people wear “fursuits” (full-body costumes) of animals.
Furry art can be used to express many different concepts and emotions. Anthropomorphic art may feature realistic depictions of animals, but they will have more human characteristics such as bipedalism, opposable thumbs and facial features like eyes and noses. Other works showcase more fantastic creatures that resemble humans but have physical attributes of animals such as ears or tails. Anthropomorphic art is also used to express emotion through animal characters or use animals as a metaphor for human concepts.
Many pieces of furry art are created for personal enjoyment by artists who share them through online communities or at fan conventions. Others are commissioned by clients for use in advertising campaigns, private collections or other forms of media such as books and animated films. Artists may also create new characters that they envision in
