Art colleges from across the nation in El Paso to recruit prospective students

More than a dozen art colleges and universities are in El Paso Tuesday to recruit potential art students from the El Paso Independent School District.

EPISD said it is one of the few school systems in Texas that organizes a college fair specifically for students looking to attend art schools.

This is the second year EPISD hosts a college art fair in which representatives from art colleges will be able to meet with students and look at portfolios.

Last year, more than 80 students were recruited as a result of one-on-one conferences with college representatives.

The schools awarded $368,000 in scholarships and grants to EPISD students in 2018.

ABC-7 talked to an Austin High School art student who will be attending the college fair.

Stacey Flores would like to one day publish a comic.

“It feels very motivating to actually know that there’s a whole field of opportunities for art colleges both nationwide and possibly worldwide,” Flores said.

Flores expressed an interest in attending the Rhode Island School of Design, but is excited to see what programs other schools have to offer.

At this year’s fair, colleges and art programs in attendance include the School of Chicago Art Institute, Maryland College of Art and Design, Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas at Austin, the Pacific Northwest College of Art, the University of Michigan and UTEP.

“This is an opportunity for our high school kids to make contact with actual art schools,” said Shane Wiggs, an art teacher at Austin H.S.

The college fair is Tuesday from 9 to 3:30 p.m. at the Region 19 Education Service Center’s Paso Del Norte Conference Room, 6611 Boeing Dr.