Teens Find Their Artistic Path in Rutgers–Camden’s Pre-College Arts Program

Launched in 2018, Rutgers–Camden’s Pre-College Arts Program has opened doors for hundreds of the area’s next generation of creatives, providing them with unique opportunities to discover their artistic potential. 

Stass Shpanin, assistant teaching professor of art and program director of the Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts (VMPA), founded the program with the support of the department and Chair Kenneth Elliott to offer high school students an avenue to explore arts careers through university faculty and facilities.

“We see this as a resource to encourage students’ creativity early on, so that they can see there is a path to becoming an artist, designer, filmmaker, or music producer,” Shpanin said.  

Fifty artists in grades 9 through 12 are enrolled in this spring semester’s eight-week session. 

The Pre-College Arts Program offers classes that might not be commonly offered at the high school level. “We want to offer courses that could be challenging for some high schools due to the lack of the equipment or professional expertise,” Shpanin said. “For example, music production requires specialized equipment, as do filmmaking and graphic design, so we’re able to fill that gap.” This semester’s course catalog also includes animation, the program’s most popular class. 

The program sources university-level faculty to teach its courses, including Noel Cross CCAS’20, a lecturer and professional artist whose own work was featured on campus last year. Cross teaches Portfolio Prep, a foundational course in which aspiring artists hone their student portfolios, which are critical for acceptance into arts schools or professional programs. 

“Some students don’t have art class in high school, because they have to choose one elective,” Cross said. “They might not have exposure to arts education at all. Other times, there are giant gaps that we get from students that are coming from high school into college, and this is the kind of class where I'm really trying to address that.”  

To make the program more accessible, VMPA has also formed partnerships with select area high schools to offer scholarships.

“Schools select their top-performing artists, which creates a really awesome dynamic,” Shpanin said. “We have students who have already shown a certain level of excellence at school, and they're bringing that with them here. I think that brings up the level of conversation and the quality of work in the classroom.”

Shpanin added that the early experience students receive from the program has led to quite a few success stories.

"Many of our high school students have returned to this program multiple times,” Shpanin said. “Some of them, in fact, have graduated with a bachelor's degree after coming to us. It's really rewarding to see them complete the entire cycle of their arts education at Rutgers–Camden." 

One student, Omolara Arole of Marlton, completed the animation pre-college program course and has now returned to fine-tune her traditional art skills in Cross’s Portfolio Prep class. To those who might be interested in the program, she offered her advice: “It's a good thing to try, because I feel like I've gotten a lot better in just the two classes I've taken here. Just give it a shot.”