A portrait of the artists as young adults: A longitudinal study of art college graduates

The author provides a portrait of four young adult artists as they reflect on their educational experiences in a US art college. Theories of creativity, complexity and human development create the conceptual framework for this longitudinal qualitative case study. The resulting narrative portrait describes the ways in which young adult artists perceive and harness their art school education as they make their way through art college and beyond. Analysis reveals consistencies and changes through time, as well as connections to the literature on college student development and adult learning. The author proposes implications for creative climates, pedagogies and future research, and further argues that this report suggests that longitudinal research and portraiture are viable methods for capturing the art school experience and the value of arts learning in our time.