Five of our favourite films that feature art schools

The month of October is synonymous with new pencil cases, stiff Clarks shoes and uncomfortable Freshers week outings, and what better way to celebrate the unique but unmistakeable interval of Back to School-feeling than by looking at some of our favourite films to feature art schools and classes? Here we list some of the classic blockbusters to capture creative education in all of its iterations, including characters from Laney Boggs to Enid Coleslaw. Exercise books out then, pencils at the ready…

She’s All That, 1999

Fortifying my belief that the best films ever made appeared between the years of 1997 and 2002, She’s All That is a corker of a chick flick, crystallising the awkward and unknowingly cool art geek in one slick feature length production. Back in 1999 the protagonist and dork queen Laney Boggs came stumbling up those steps and into the hearts of an entire generation (mine), utterly dispelling the myth that dungarees, paisley and thick-rimmed glasses are anything but cool. Forevermore will Laney sit on the podium of 90s art nerds, both for creating a piece of artwork which featured Notorious B.I.G. and for forcing jock Freddie Prinze Junior to improvise a piece of performance art around a hacky sack. Priceless.

Ghost World, 2001

The 2001 film Ghost World was adapted for film from the 1997 comic by the brilliant Daniel Clowes, but in both film and comic iterations it’s a strong contender best depiction of art schools on screen The angsty and cynical Enid Coleslaw is obliged to attend an arts summer school in order to graduate from her high school, and it’s bitter depiction of a midwest America characterised by shopping malls and fast food chains is spot on. Worth rewatching if only to remind yourself of Steve Buscemi’s glorious golden era via the character of Seymour, a socially inept record collector.

Breathless, 1983

In Jim McBride’s remake of Jean Luc Godard’s 1960 classic Breathless, which originally featured Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, the architecture-studying heroine Monica Poiccard has to choose between staying at school to pursue her studies and running away with small-time criminal Jesse Lujack, played by Richard Gere. Monica might not possess all of the charm of Seberg’s protagonist but the 1983 depiction of a young female architecture student at art school is still to be applauded; this is cheesy 80s filmmaking in its prime.

Mona Lisa Smile, 2003

In Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts plays the liberal young Art History teacher attempting to drag a generation of Wellesley College’s female students out of the belief that they were born to marry and become housewives. It’s a task she begins by presenting them with Soutine’s 1925 painting Carcass and giving Kirsten Dunst’s uppity character a severe but satisfying dressing down. This is art school, sure, but not as we know it – a 1950s American women’s college might be a long way from Terry Zwigoff’s Art School Confidential (more on which in another feature) but it’s a fascinating reminder of what once was.

Mr Bean: Art Class

It’d be a gross oversight to leave Mr Bean off this list; he may not be an aspiring artist nor technically a film star but he gave life drawing classes a damn good go in this classic episode of Mr Bean, and we salute him for it. Thirty seconds in and I found myself reliving the A Level art classes in which my poor bumbling teacher Mr Whitehead found himself trying to demonstrate poses for our unusually beautiful nude model to take up on the sofa… I’m filled just thinking horror about how awkward it was. Which is exactly the kind of excruciating pleasure we know and love Mr Bean for.

Back to School
Throughout the month of October we’ll be celebrating the well-known autumnal feeling of Back to School. The content this month will be focusing on fresh starts, education, learning tools and the state of art school in the world today – delivered to you via fantastic in-depth interviews, features and conversations with talented, relevant, creative people.