School of the Alternative is a space where radical new ideas are born. We build and sustain a community of experimental learning where, each spring, artists learn, work, and live communally in Black Mountain, NC. SotA prioritizes being equitable and safe(r) for those most marginalized in institutional learning spaces. Anyone over 18 can apply, there are no prerequisites or requirements.
Faculty, staff, and students live communally in one lodge, and everyone performs some kind of work service. Our curriculum is built entirely from an open call of faculty proposals. SotA is an inter-generational space that cultivates learning and connection beyond traditional hierarchies around age, education, and social status, and classes often adapt in session to accommodate the participant’s needs. Instead of a traditional classroom environment, we support a collectively built and self-directed approach to learning which gives opportunity for all participants to learn and teach, where Faculty and staff attend classes, and students teach pop-up classes.
Much of SotA’s shape and pace has formed in relief of the restrictive and oppressive tendencies we’ve all experienced in institutional learning, and we create a different kind of experience.
