Preparatory Art Program for Arab-Israelis at the Art Institute Oranim Academic College of Education

Background

The percentage of Arab-Israeli students in academic art departments is extremely low compared to that of the jewish student population.
In most academic art departments, Arab-Israeli students are less than 5% of all enrolled.
To be admitted to most art schools one must have a portfolio, pass an exam and pass an interview in Hebrew. Jewish candidates are more likely to be accepted, thanks to their prior education and exposure to art schools and their Hebrew language skills.
Applicants from the Arab sector are disadvantaged compared to their Jewish peer group due to the considerable gap in the quantity and quality of art education between Arab and Jewish schools.  The  gap in spoken and written Hebrew proficiency is an additional limiting factor in acceptance to academic art programs.

Goals of the Preparatory Art Program

The preparatory art program was established as a free pre-academic framework in the field of visual arts with the hope of increasing the number of Arab-Israeli students engaged in visual arts, industrial and fashion design and architecture and to enable them to return as dedicated activists in the field of fine arts into the towns, villages and cities they live in.

Subject Areas and Skills they Learn

  • To understand the world of art and see the opportunity to be part of it.
  • To improve overall language skills in Hebrew and the “language of art”.
  • To develop creative abilities in art.
  • To aid students in preparing an art portfolio that meets academic requirements.
  • To prepare the students for their art school interviews.

Program Location

The preparatory program was held in 2012 at the Oranim Art Institute,  located in the lower Galilee within Oranim Academic College of Education established 60 years ago. Currently over 300 Jewish and Arab students study at the Oranim College of Education. The Art Institute at Oranim College of Education offers courses in art education, art theory, photography, painting, sculpture, animation, video art and more.
The program at Oranim will adopt the model developed and initiated by the Lunart Fund and implemented at Minshar Art School in Tel Aviv during the first three years of the “Mekhina” – Lunart’s Pre-Academic Prep-Course Pilot Project (click on: Minshar for Art on our “Projects” tab above).

Program Duration and Curriculum

The program which took place last year, lasted for 13 weeks (from March through May, 2012) and classes were held twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays. The program coordinator is Farid Abu Shakra, personal assistant- Fatma Shanan. The curriculum includes 200 hours of study.

Sundays:

  • Fundamentals of Sketching – 40 hours – lecturer: Shlomi Lalush
  • Contemporary Hebrew – 20 hours – lecturer: Dr. Shula Birger
  • Idea Workshop/ Elements in the Discourse of Art – 20 hours – lecturer: Yochai Avrahami
  • Project Workshop and Critique (in Arabic) – 20 hours – lecturer: Farid Abu Shakra

Wednesdays:

  • General Intro to Art History – 20 hours – lecturer: Dr. Yael Arnon
  • Fundamentals of Photography – 40 hours – lecturer: Dror Gilboa
  • Elements of Digital Art – 40 hours – lecturer: Idan Shtrumtsa

Who is the program targeted to? Who gets accepted?

Any Arab–Israeli high school graduate, over the age of 18, interested in academic studies in the areas of: Visual Arts (Painting, Photography, Sculpture, etc) Design, Architecture, Film, Art Therapy and Art Education.

Admission Requirements:

  1. Two pieces of art work from all areas of visual culture.
  2. Personal interview with the admissions committee.
  3. A down payment of 1,000 NIS which is fully refunded if and when the student completes the course.