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Poor online art education compared to competitors 05 September 2025 Reviewer: Unhappy Customer from CA
117 of 200 people found this review helpful
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I wasted a year at VAA. At a similar price point, I received a better online art education at competitors like New Masters Academy (NMA) and Watts Atelier. Frankly, I'm pissed about it and wish I could get my money back.
1. Content - The lessons at VAA are shallow and presented randomly. You could speed run through the entire program in very little time, making their claim that VAA is "equivalent art education that you would get in a four-year program" both laughable and doubtful. I had to relearn drawing foundations properly at NMA from in-depth classes that were actually taught by teachers from well known schools like Art Center, instead of some random online guy like Barry.
2. Feedback - There is no feedback at VAA whatsoever after you finish your assignments. How is a student supposed to get better without this critical feedback loop? Instead, Barry suggests students critique each other which is akin to the blind leading the blind. Conversely, both NMA and Watts Atelier offer feedback from real teachers after submitting assignments, again at similar price points.
3. Marketing - Instead of improving VAA, Barry spends a lot of time marketing his school on Wet Canvas and various other online forums. He regularly encourages students to do the same by writing positive reviews. He also pesters people who write negative reviews by asking them to take them down, or by flooding them with positive testimonials from students who had only enrolled at VAA and thus have no proper frame of reference to compare it to. Barry is in the wrong field; he should have been a marketer instead because the guy is a snake.
I urge anyone considering VAA to please try NMA first if you are a beginner. At a similar price point, you could get a more comprehensive online art education from a variety of teachers who also teach at legitimate four year art schools. You could also get feedback after every assignment which is critical to learning. Watts Atelier is great too for similar reasons but I would only recommend it for more advanced students.
I have grown a lot since I left VAA, and it is no thanks to Barry who is neglectful of his current students in favor of focusing on marketing VAA and his own paintings. I would leave negative stars if I could.
In summary, I would not recommend The Virtual Art Academy to a friend.
