Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Houston.
Hi Greg, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was teaching at a local art college and, after 9 years at that institution, had my classes removed from the schedule for the following semester (without warning)– as had two of my colleagues. So, with no other teaching options available on short notice, we started our own school. We sat down and discussed a pedagogy and a mission for our school– to focus on illustration and to teach classes at a college level but for an affordable price– we found a building, put together a curriculum, and we opened The Baltimore Academy of Illustration that fall, September 2015. I always saw BAI as an alternative to an art school for those who couldn’t afford college, a bridge to an art school for those who just weren’t able/ready to go to one, and a companion to art school for anyone who was already in college or who had gone to college but wanted more education. We considered ourselves a high functioning, art school level illustration department but without the actual college attached. One partner left after the first year. Then Covid hit and we went to an all online curriculum which we’ve continued (the overhead of being in a physical space was just too expensive). My second partner left in 2021 and I’ve been the sole owner and administrator ever since.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has most definitely not been a smooth road. I wouldn’t recommend starting any business without a plan. And having an actual business person onboard is probably a good idea, too. Expenses were much greater than we anticipated. The market fluctuations were more volatile than expected. The bank we chose to go with was not, in our shared opinion, very honest. Covid was a huge obstacle and transitioning to an online curriculum has been hard. I mean, there are a lot of things that have gone sideways but there’s not much point in complaining about them. What I’d prefer to do is focus on the positives– since opening the school, and especially since taking it on by myself– I’ve had rock solid support from my wife, Tracy, my parents and family, my best friend, Edward, (who is also my lawyer and advisor), a wonderful marketing genius, Rosa, and there’s been the participation of a number of talented and dedicated artists who have taught for me. And I can’t stress enough how lucky I’ve been to have had so many amazing students at BAI. It’s incredible.
The school is not a moneymaker for me– although it definitely could be if I had a better business acumen and capital to invest. It’s really been a labor of love. After nearly 11 years, though, I sometimes wish a larger entity would swoop in and buy it so that it had a chance to be marketed properly and the classes could be offered to the largest possible number of potential students. Ultimately, my mission is still to offer a high quality illustration education at affordable prices to EVERYONE but I feel like that goal would be better served if I could hand BAI over to a company that had the resources and knowledge to really reach every corner of the globe. But I doubt that’s happening any soon. So, I’ll continue on and do my best to serve my community.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
BAI is a small, unaccredited illustration school. It started in 2015 in a physical space but, since Covid, has been operating entirely online. It’s owned and operated by me, Greg Houston, a 1988 graduate of The Pratt Institute who has been a working, award winning illustrator for nearly 40 years. I’m also the author of two books on illustration: Illustration That Works (The Monacelli Press, 2015) and Understanding Caricature (The Monacelli Press/Phaidon Books, 2021). I also wrote and illustrated two graphic novels for NBM Publishing: Vatican Hustle (2009 and Elephant Man (2010). And I taught at The Maryland Institute College of Art from 2006 until 2015.
BAI focuses on an illustration and illustration related curriculum. All classes are online– some are synchronous and some are asynchronous. They range in price from $350- $500.
From the start, BAI has focused on illustration and we use working illustrators and/or artists with degrees in illustration as instructors. Unlike many art schools, we don’t ask our instructors to teach disciplines with which they’re not familiar or comfortable. Because we’re unaccredited, we’re not interested in grades and we encourage our students to LEARN and evolve– and that means to embrace failure as part of the process. It’s not about making perfect work to get an A or to reflect well on the institution. It’s about gaining knowledge and an understanding of the subject through process, experimentation, trial and error.
We believe in a community of illustrators. We encourage collaboration and support rather than a competitive environment. We commit to the idea that students learn from each other as well as from their instructors.
Finally, we believe that each illustrator is still an artist and should be true to themselves. While they obviously need to subjugate their ego to the job, developing their unique style/s and voice is also important. No one should come to BAI expecting to be taught to copy someone else. Be yourself.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
My luck in my personal life has been almost exclusively good– my wife, my family, my friends. All wonderful. Our collective health is solid. In that area, I have zero complaints. My professional luck, however, has been quite horrible. Primarily, this has been a result of bad timing. Lately, I’m cursing the timeline I’m in. There are so many factors at play including the rise of technology and its effect on how work is made and who can make it. The changes in publishing and media landscape. The trend of using graphic design as illustration (as well as the devotion to flat, coloring book style work, Corporate Memphis, all this vector stuff, etc).– it’s tough working in my styles right now. Unimaginative art directors– or the simple lack of art directors at all, The ramifications from Covid. It’s a tough era.
Beyond that, the political realities we’re living through and the impact they have on the economy don’t help the school. It’s hard for people to find money at the end of the week for classes. But, I don’t think my industry is suffering so much more or so differently than a lot of others so to complain about it seems pretty tone-deaf. It’s tough for illustrators. It’s tough for educators. But it’s also tough for truck drivers and bookstore owners and theater owners, and cab drivers and pretty much everybody who owns a small business. At least I’m doing what I love and it brings me joy.
Pricing:
- Classes run between $350 and $500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.baltimoreillustration.com
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/baltimoreillustration
