A few of those ateliers and they're not a pricey for one year compared to an art school, but, the workload seems to be tremendous enough to make it hard enough to juggle a part time job with it.

You have to ask yourself. "Is it worth it in the long run?"

The worst. The worst worst worst thing you can do is saddle yourself with a bunch of debt because you wanted to "follow a dream". 90% of the time, especially in the arts, you can follow that dream just as well outside the traditional academic structure, for free.

If you can get a scholarship and a living stipend to go to art school or an atelier. Then go for it 100%.

If you have to start paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of just doing art, then it'd be better to just dump that money in a barrel, set it on fire, and call it day.

You should be getting paid to make art, not paying for it. NYC is an incredible artistic hub city, but that doesn't mean you need to be taking classes here to be a part of it.

Now, as far as finances go

Here is a rule of thumb. To maintain your standard of living after moving to NYC, take your cost of living from where-ever you are from, and double it. I doubled my salary by moving to NYC, I also doubled my expenses. Feels bad man.

Also, what about living somewhere near nyc and maybe commuting by bus and other forms of transit?

Nobody here drives. Everyone takes the train. It's nice, but not really a cost saving measure.

To make a real dent on rent prices, you are going to need to live at least a two hour commute away from the city. At that point it'll be about 1200 a month for a 1 bedroom. 650 for a bedroom if you live with roommates. Cheaper than that if you are going to slum it.

Also, basically everything directly around NYC is a complete shithole, so not only do you get to live 2 hours away from work, but it is also a decaying crime-filled wasteland.

Not trying to be negative about it, just trying to be real. Art is great, fun, and worthwhile, but not if it costs you decades of happiness.