I first learned from people who kept it interesting for me at first, and I learned in basic (lol it was the 80's). As I recall, it wasn't the means but the ends that excited me in the earliest days. From there I taught myself, and I think the key wasn't the language, it's truly being interested in what you're doing and seeking out better ways to do "stuff with code".

I'm not advocating people toss formal education aside, but I will say that I firmly believe that without a love for programming no amount of training will ever make anyone a "good" developer. Proficiency != skill in my book.

That sort of depends on the school and the artist's interests. Specialty art schools usually offer several computer animation courses and you can take as electives. At my former college, (http://www.ccad.edu) it was pretty common for advertising and graphic arts majors to take a computer modeling class that had some animation training as part of the coursework. Hell, that was true for me even over a decade ago.