FWIW I didn’t go to art school. I took 2 drawing, a printmaking, and a 2D design course at community college. Everything else is my own research, determination, and experimentation.
Art school seems like it’s rly good for networking/marketing but if you’re approachable-

confident (or great at faking it), and know how to use google you can make a decent portfolio, artist statement, etc

Connect locally too. Get involved with meet ups, collectives, galleries.

I have complicated feelings abt art school and the recent SCAD email is just. Yeah.

I also want to take a moment to plug my pal, artist, and marketing professional @ThornwolfArt who offers editing and marketing services to artists. I’ve worked with her and she is amazing and her knowledge is priceless.

I guess one last thing is, everything I did learn in CC I found on YouTube, so... lmao