Member-only story
IT’S MY LIFE
It’s Funny How It All Works Out
My college days were rough and rocky until I finally found my groove — Pt. 3
RAY-VOGUE COLLEGE OF ART
Sometime during the summer after my dismal year at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus, I found the courage to ask my parents to let me drop out of UIC and take another shot.
At fashion design.
At another art college.
And I guess because it had always been the only thing I’d ever wanted to do from the time I was just a little girl, they reluctantly agreed to let me try it again. But I saw it in my father’s face. This was my last chance.
If I screwed up again, my next stop would be a desk in his accounting office, answering phones and licking envelopes.
I was interested in just two schools. One of course was The School of the Art Institute, alpha-dog of art colleges in Chicago. Located downtown on South Michigan Avenue, it’s attached to the world famous Art Institute herself and claims alumni as diverse as Walt Disney, Georgia O’Keefe, Hugh Hefner, and Charles White.
The other was Ray-Vogue College of Art. A small commercial art college, it sat above Charmet’s restaurant on the corner of North Michigan…