The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-07-30
THEr-STUDYAR ART
On S A week
Many Art Students In New York
City Are Living on a Limited
Income So That In Time They
May Become Self Supporting.

~ ETTING an art education in
- New York on S. q week sounds
~ very like a utopian dream, yet
g. there are scores of girls who
are spending no more. 1t wouldn't be
fair to the girl Of high aspirations and
thin pocketbook to say it's the usual
thing, for it isn't. Yet there are a
sufficient number graduating a
spring into the realm of bread winners
to warrant the assertion.
More than 5000 art students from
the four corners of the country are in
New York today working to fit them
selves for an art career. Many Of
them arc daughters of rich or we'll to
dc parents and do not need to consid-
er economy to any great extent. 9th
ers there are who have no margin
above the actual needs of the day and
their expenses are cut down to the last
gasp.
Taxi rides, the matinee, opera, lunch
ing in tea rooms and the dansant
aren't included in the S. a week pro-
| gram naturally. The IS a week stu
| dent can't expect to %patronize a French
laundry, nor in fact a plebeian Ameri-
can one; she must exercise the most
| rigid economy. She must walk instead
! of ride, do her own washing and fore
go midnight suppers in her room.
She must rise early and stay up late
in order to do the pot boiling necessa-
ry to augment her very slender in
come.
Last of all, she will probably have
to live in a working girls boarding
house, though she needs little commits
Grafton on that score since most Of
| them possess such obvious advantages
to the S. a week girl she is charmed
to take advantage Of them. Most Of
these homes have pretty living rooms,
with books and good pictures M many
conveniences, such as home laundry,
the use OF typewriter, sewing machine
and the like.
So, with all her privati0ns, there is
no reason why a girl trying to get an
art education on IS a week in New
York shouldn't be happy, and she is.
In the first place, unless she loves her
work she won't be willing to undergo
all these privations. Then. surrounded
by other girls who are also economic
ing, there is nothing to arouse a spirit
Of rivalry to make her unhappy by see
ing her companions enjoying more
pocket money or p~rettier clothes than
she.
Two good art schools are opened to
the S. a week girl. One Of these is the
National Academy Of Design, the old
est art school in the country and the
least known, and Cooper Union. A girl
can attend the former for a nominal
sum of $40 a year, which is for use Of
easel, chair, etc, while the Cooper
Union is free except for materials.
That many girls who study at the
National academy spend no more than
s. Il week is the statement of a man
connected with the academy. and there
are ONE, he says. who are doing it for
less.
In this locality, One Hundred and
Tenth street and Amsterdam avenue,
the Harlem y. W. {. y. is the nearest
boarding place that at ali compares to
the working girls homes. but that is
scarcely within walking distance. So
most Of the girls go in together and
rent Il fiat in groups Of five or six and
do their Owl work. Some Of the cozi-
est and happicSt homes in this section
are those of students from the acad-
envy who are living in this economical
fashion. AS Il rule, the work is divid-
ed so that the one who cooks one week
will do the marketing ext. In this
way it doesn't become drudgery. If
a girl prefers living alone there are
any number of good rooms in the
neighborhood'to be had for 81 weekly.
Since no fee is demanded at Cooper
Union there is a corresponding gain in
the income. Then there are a number
of nice homes in the vicinity where a
girl will be surrounded by a good at
mosphere and can easily live within
the prescribed sum. Most of the art
schools keep a list of reasonable board
ing places on file for the benefit Of the
students. but as a rule the working
girls homes are not included in the
list. 1t will be in favor of one Of
these our IS a week student will nat.
urally turn.
There is always the chance of doing
potboilers to exc out a scanty income.
Very frequently the teachers them
selves put opportunities in the way of
especially talented girls. Sometimes.
personal friends give them a boost,
and, again, if a girl is herself keen she
will discover ways. Potboilers include
dinner cards, doing fancy lettering,
making ~favors, poster work and de-
signing holiday cards. Scores of girls.
have worked into permanent positions.
through these sources.