{"id":448635,"date":"2025-12-15T12:39:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T12:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/448635\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T12:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T12:39:24","slug":"39-reasons-to-love-new-york-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/448635\/","title":{"rendered":"39 Reasons to Love New York Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year marked a high point in art-school enrollment across New York City. At Parsons School of Design, first-year enrollment is up 22 percent from 2024. Over the past decade, the Fashion Institute of Technology\u2019s fine-arts program has seen a 35 percent uptick, and last year, Pratt Institute\u2019s drawing and painting programs reached their highest enrollment levels in almost 15 years. We found a smattering of freshly minted members of the class of 2029 and asked about their first semesters, the state of the industry, and why, despite the fact that they may never be able to afford a studio here, they chose to become artists. \u2014 Eloise King-Clements<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Genesis \u201cGiGi\u201d Galloway, Parsons, Fine Arts<\/strong><\/p>\n

What first put the idea of art school in your head? <\/strong>
<\/strong>It started in my middle-school years. All of the games and media that I consumed.<\/p>\n

What do you mean by \u201cgames\u201d?<\/strong>
<\/strong>Have you ever heard of the game Life Is Strange? It\u2019s a kind of visual-novel type game. The game is like a work of art. It\u2019s very, very beautiful. Nothing inherently throughout my life told me, \u201cArt school is a path you can choose.\u201d But there were all of these aesthetics that I picked up around me that exuded \u201cart school\u201d without me even knowing it.<\/p>\n

How does art school measure up to your expectations?<\/strong>
It\u2019s a mix of deep disappointment and the same wide-eyed feeling I always had as a kid. There are so many wealthy people \u2014 people who don\u2019t give a fuck. And I have always given a fuck. But then sometimes I take a breath and go, Wow, this really is what I wanted to do my whole life.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Gina Lim, Parsons, Fashion Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does the job market ever make you nervous?<\/strong>
<\/strong>A \u201cstable\u201d career is no longer as stable as it was ten years ago. If the job market is shaky anyway, I\u2019d rather just do what I want to do. I\u2019m the only one in my family who has ever gone to art school. When I was in middle school, I was like, I\u2019m gonna become a doctor. It\u2019s a common thing in Asian households, and both of my siblings aren\u2019t doctors, so I was my parents\u2019 last hope. But eventually I was like, Whoa, actually, dude, being a doctor is really difficult. And I have shaky hands. Sorry, guys.<\/p>\n

Is there anything that does make you nervous? <\/strong>
Your presence on social media kind of dictates how cool people think you are, and how cool people think you are validates or invalidates your work. That\u2019s, like, terrifying. It\u2019s so stupid. Every single time you walk into Parsons you\u2019re gonna see five groups of people all wearing black, and at least one of them is wearing a Rick Owens boot. There\u2019s this weird superiority complex in fashion right now, where a lot of people think you have to dim down all the passion that you would put into your art and take out all emotion. You have to make it a lot more abstract in order for it to be valid. Your work has to be kind of hard.<\/p>\n

What does coolness mean right now?<\/strong>
It\u2019s horrible to say, but in the context of being able to thrive inside of the community, which also means thriving on social media, it\u2019s to be as niche as possible. God forbid you and somebody else likes the same fucking thing.<\/p>\n

\n Clockwise from top-left: <\/strong>Lilith Fickle, Parsons, Strategic Design and Management. Rafael Marcel, Cooper Union, Art. Taylor Eden Baez, FIT, Film. Mia Rahe-Mart\u00ednez, Cooper Union, Fine Arts. Photo: Courtesy of the subjects.\n <\/p>\n

\n Clockwise from top-left: <\/strong>Lilith Fickle, Parsons, Strategic Design and Management. Rafael Marcel, Cooper Union, Art. Taylor Eden Baez, FIT, Film. Mia R… more
\n Clockwise from top-left: <\/strong>Lilith Fickle, Parsons, Strategic Design and Management. Rafael Marcel, Cooper Union, Art. Taylor Eden Baez, FIT, Film. Mia Rahe-Mart\u00ednez, Cooper Union, Fine Arts. Photo: Courtesy of the subjects.\n <\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Agdel Julian Josue Hernandez Anaya, Parsons, Fine Arts<\/strong><\/p>\n

So you did a year in premed at UMass Amherst?<\/strong>
<\/strong>My parents are immigrants. My father is very traditional. He forced \u2014 I mean, heavily persuaded \u2014 me to apply to UMass Amherst, and just to please him, I was like, Fuck it. I spent the entire year plotting and applying to scholarships. This semester has been humbling, though. I need to not do so much socializing.<\/p>\n

You like to party?<\/strong>
<\/strong>Insufferably.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Jamie Shoemake, Pratt, Printmaking<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you think about New York?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I love it. It\u2019s so much better than L.A. It\u2019s just, like, constantly alive. We didn\u2019t have the money to visit a bunch of schools, so when my dad found out Pratt had a volleyball team, I applied for painting and then switched to printmaking. It\u2019s literally a miracle that I\u2019m here. I don\u2019t know how we scraped it all together. My word of the year is Why me? Why me?!<\/p>\n

What do you love about it?<\/strong>
<\/strong>My family lived on the other side of the hill in L.A. I definitely didn\u2019t feel accepted in L.A., and I didn\u2019t feel like people actually saw me for who I was. Now, I walk outside, and I can wear whatever the fuck I want. I\u2019m on the subway in, like, mini-shorts and a tank top and a fur coat and shit. Nobody gives a fuck.<\/p>\n

Do you think being an artist is political?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I do think about politics a lot. There was a part of me that thought I\u202fwanted to make a change with my art, but I\u2019m a white-girl transplant. Like, I\u2019m not the voice that they need to hear, and that\u2019s \u2026 I have to accept that. I want to contribute, but I don\u2019t really know how. I\u2019m not gay or anything.<\/p>\n

\n Clockwise from top left: <\/strong>Lucas Gan, Parsons, Fine Arts. Viktoria Valihora, Cooper Union, \u201cI am my practice.\u201d Angela Park, Cooper Union, Visual Arts. Avery Evans, Pratt, Photography. Photo: Courtesy of the subjects.\n <\/p>\n

\n Clockwise from top left: <\/strong>Lucas Gan, Parsons, Fine Arts. Viktoria Valihora, Cooper Union, \u201cI am my practice.\u201d Angela Park, Cooper Union, Visual Arts. A… more
\n Clockwise from top left: <\/strong>Lucas Gan, Parsons, Fine Arts. Viktoria Valihora, Cooper Union, \u201cI am my practice.\u201d Angela Park, Cooper Union, Visual Arts. Avery Evans, Pratt, Photography. Photo: Courtesy of the subjects.\n <\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Eros Hanif, FIT, Textile and Surface Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

What made you want to go to art school?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I knew I wanted to go into art from a very young age. I thought I wanted to go to Pratt, but I learned that a lot of its programs are more computer-based, and I just didn\u2019t feel like I could be proud of my work if I never had the chance to make it myself. I never took physics or chem \u2014 I was all in on art. All my other friends went into nursing, finance, business. And I\u2019m making this, like, stupid video about squirrels or something.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your dream career when you graduate?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I want to design for commercial stores, like Pacsun or Tillys. I walk in there, and I don\u2019t see anything on the racks that I like.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Rachel Alexandre, Pratt, Film<\/strong><\/p>\n

So your mom was an actress, but she put you in a STEM high school?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I think she kind of did that on purpose. I haven\u2019t really spoken about this with her, but I do think that she was kind of scared for me. My mom\u2019s a teacher now. She definitely had a lot of trouble finding jobs. It was a struggle for her. It made me a lot more nervous in high school. When I told people I was going to study film, I would kind of see a look on their face, like, I\u2019m not really sure about that.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s your first semester been?<\/strong>
<\/strong>A lot of people came from art high schools, so they know exactly what the professor\u2019s talking about. They know how to use the equipment. And it\u2019s very intimidating. I\u202fhave that impostor-syndrome type vibe.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of the subject\n <\/p>\n

\u2191 Tilley Aga Thom, Cooper Union, Film<\/strong><\/p>\n

So you worked in film for a year and then came to the States? <\/strong>
<\/strong>In Denmark, it\u2019s expected that you take at least one or two gap years working or traveling or just figuring your shit out. I worked on film sets in Toronto, where I attended high school. There was good money in that, and it made this year more feasible. The U.S. election was a big day for me. I thought, Okay, do I really want to head into this crazy world? I was getting calls from Canadian friends, from even my European friends, saying, \u201cWhat the fuck are you thinking \u2014 going over there and spending all your savings?\u201d It\u2019s inside out. But everywhere\u2019s inside out!<\/p>\n

Why do you think more people are applying to art school now?<\/strong>
<\/strong>I was talking with a friend about the lack of friction in the world. Your creative decisions on a day-to-day basis are narrowing down. People want to create, not just for the sake of making art, but even just to be able to knit a sweater. There\u2019s this desire to be responsible for something in a world where so much of what you buy and participate in is just not up to you.<\/p>\n

Did you ever think,\u00a0Forget it \u2014 I\u2019m just gonna study economics?<\/strong>
I always say, \u201cI\u2019ll just become a chef if things don\u2019t work out.\u201d My mom is like, \u201cDo you know how much more unstable that is?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year marked a high point in art-school enrollment across New York City. At Parsons School of Design,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":448636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,9297,405,403,20247,5226,5225,5228,5227,6203,206332,206333,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-448635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cityscape","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-new-york-magazine","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-one-great-story","18":"tag-reasons-to-love-new-york","19":"tag-reasons-to-love-new-york-2025","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115723631741578564","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}