April 14, 2006
\nI’m currently teaching the senior BFA course leading to the students’ final exhibition.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of the semester has been dedicated to professional development – resume building, press release, cover letters, fund raising, residencies…\u00c2\u00a0 Last Wedensday however we discussed graduate school, as many of the students are interested in persuing an MFA.\u00c2\u00a0 So I assemebled a presentation\/discussion that I think anyone considering grad school might find helpful.<\/p>\n
After discussing their personal interests in attending grad school, I pointed out the US News Ranking for Graduate Schools<\/strong> that they do every four years:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.usnews.com\/usnews\/edu\/grad\/rankings\/arts\/artsindex_brief.php<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.usnews.com\/usnews\/edu\/grad\/tools\/index_brief.php<\/p>\n Then I entered into my presentation\/discussion based on personal experience:<\/p>\n Thinking About Grad School<\/strong><\/p>\n It is helpful to consider Art in parallel to business or other professional areas in the sense that there are any number of ways of approaching a career in the Arts.\u00c2\u00a0 Here are a few scenarios to consider to help you along in your decision process:<\/p>\n Location versus Program:<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 “Do I go to a city with plenty of art and culture where I can use school to begin networking and launch me into an arts career in that city or do I go to a place where there may be less networking and the arts community may be smaller, but where I may have more time and space to focus and work?”<\/p>\n There are great programs where you will be able to focus, have a strong community with faculty and peers but are located in small cities, college towns or isolated rural areas. OR you may decide that being in a major city with a strong and diverse arts community comprised of a gallery district, several non-profits and available grants for artists is where you would like to go to grad school in order to begin to establish a lasting network, this primarily means schools in or near New York City or Los Angeles.\u00c2\u00a0 To use graduate school as an introduction to the art world on a national or international scope is amongst the primary reasons that people choose schools in or near NYC and LA as many of the faculty may be represented by galleries in these cities and can help introduce one to the galleries.\u00c2\u00a0 This of course can be particularly important to artists hoping to achieve an independent studio practice maintained by the sales of one’s work.\u00c2\u00a0 This question may point to differences between a school that is gallery oriented versus teaching oriented.<\/p>\n Theory versus Practice focused programs:<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0 “Do I enjoy a research oriented practice informed by an understanding of cultural theory or do I prefer to jump right into the materials and allow the process to define the work?”<\/p>\n These two certainly are not mutually exclusive and less so as post-modernity is entirely indoctrinated into art instruction.\u00c2\u00a0 However some schools will offer a strong theoretical underpinning to help develop the conceptual strength of your work and put less emphasis in technical instruction.\u00c2\u00a0 These schools tend to be less conventional, have adopted a post-modern approach to art making and have little interest in craft.\u00c2\u00a0 Here is an example of a description by\/of this type of program:<\/p>\n This interdisciplinary program prepares artists of all genres\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00aefilm and video, painting, performance and installation and sculpture\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00aeto successfully enter the contemporary art arena. A significant proportion of its alumni have achieved international and national reputations.<\/p>\n (Art Center College of Design, MFA description)<\/p>\n More traditional programs divide their areas by medium – one must apply to painting, or sculpture, or photography, etc.\u00c2\u00a0 These schools may put a greater focus on technical skills and the development of one’s chosen craft and less emphasis on theoretical and conceptual background.<\/p>\n Strong craft oriented programs: Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan – http:\/\/www.cranbrookart.edu\/<\/p>\n Alfred University<\/p>\n Where would you like to situate yourself in the arts:<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you envision yourself as an artist working in a creative field with a company, such as a design firm, an ad and publicity company, an animation or film house…?<\/p>\n Do you envision yourself as an independent artist with a personal studio?<\/p>\n Would you seek to establish a relationship with a gallery?<\/p>\n Would you seek a teaching position to split your time between teaching and studio work?<\/p>\n Would you seek to maintain a studio through freelance work…?<\/p>\n Would you prefer to establish yourself as a regional artist with an emphasis in \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0establishing roots in a specific community?<\/p>\n Would you prefer to establish international credentials?<\/p>\n Would you prefer a studio practice versus a site specific practice versus a community \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0based practice?<\/p>\n Are you an object maker versus a time-based artist (performance, electronic arts)?<\/p>\n Check out real estate cost in the area<\/p>\n Financial Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n The point of graduate school is to seriously focus in your work as an artist, without the dilemma and distraction of a full-time job.\u00c2\u00a0 Consider grad school your full-time job, if you are unwilling to do so, it’s most likely not worth your money or time to attend a graduate school in Fine Arts.\u00c2\u00a0 Look for programs that offer generous funding and positions as teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b4s assistant.<\/p>\n Noteworthy Programs in the United States<\/strong><\/p>\n The two “art centers”:<\/p>\n New York<\/p>\n Columbia University<\/p>\n City University of New York Hunter<\/p>\n School of Visual Arts (SVA)<\/p>\n Pratt Institute<\/p>\n Bard College, http:\/\/www.bard.edu\/mfa\/<\/p>\n Yale University<\/p>\n Rhode Island School of Design<\/p>\n NYU<\/p>\n Parsons<\/p>\n Los Angeles<\/p>\n University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)<\/p>\n Art Institute<\/p>\n California Institute of the Arts<\/p>\n Art Center College of Design<\/p>\n University of Southern California (film)<\/p>\n Cities that are considered more “regional”:<\/p>\n Chicago<\/p>\n The Art Institute of Chicago<\/p>\n University of Chicago<\/p>\n San Francisco<\/p>\n San Francisco Art Institute<\/p>\n California College of the Arts<\/p>\n Mills College<\/p>\n San Jose State<\/p>\n San Francisco State<\/p>\n San Diego<\/p>\n University of California at San Diego<\/p>\n Boston<\/p>\n MIT<\/p>\n School of the Museum of Fine Arts<\/p>\n Minneapolis<\/p>\n Minneapolis College of Art and Design<\/p>\n Philadelphia<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts<\/p>\n Tyler School of Art<\/p>\n Temple University (Film and Media Arts)<\/p>\n The University of the Arts<\/p>\n University of Pennsylvania<\/p>\n Drexel University (digital media)<\/p>\n Pittsburgh<\/p>\n Carnegie Mellon University<\/p>\n Seattle<\/p>\n University of Washington<\/p>\n Smaller and rural areas:<\/p>\n Ames, Iowa<\/p>\n University of Iowa<\/p>\n Richmond, Virginia<\/p>\n Virginia Commonwealth University<\/p>\n Vermont College, Vermont Studio Center<\/p>\n Alternative Schools<\/strong> – meet only during the summer or limited periods<\/p>\n Bard (very hot!)<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.bard.edu\/academics\/programs\/<\/p>\n Vermont College<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.tui.edu\/current\/ma\/mfav\/<\/p>\n Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York City (no diploma)<\/p>\n Schools with traditionally strong gallery associations<\/p>\n Yale<\/p>\n UCLA<\/p>\n Columbia<\/p>\n RISD<\/p>\n Bard<\/p>\n Schools considered strong for teaching<\/p>\n Carnegie Mellon University<\/p>\n Chicago Art Institute<\/p>\n UCSD<\/p>\n Post-Baccalaureate Art Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n The Art Institute of Chicago<\/p>\n Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.mica.edu\/PROGRAMS\/postbac\/<\/p>\n University of the Arts (in crafts)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Programs in Digital \/ Experimental Media and the Cultural Study of New Media<\/strong><\/p>\n Film and Communication Studies Programs in Canada \/ Programmes de cin\u00e2\u02c6\u0161\u00c2\u00a9ma et communication au Canada<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.film.queensu.ca\/FSAC\/Schools.html<\/p>\n University of California at San Diego, Visual Arts<\/p>\n http:\/\/visarts.ucsd.edu\/<\/p>\n Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Electronic Arts<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.arts.rpi.edu\/index02.php<\/p>\n San Francisco State University, Conceptual Information Arts (CIA) Program<\/p>\n http:\/\/userwww.sfsu.edu\/%7Einfoarts\/<\/p>\n School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Art & Technology Studies<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.artic.edu\/saic\/programs\/depts\/graduate\/ats.html<\/p>\n UC Irvine – ACE, Arts, Computation, Engineering<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.arts.uci.edu\/article.php?nav_id=29&nav=29<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.ace.uci.edu\/<\/p>\n Georgia Tech<\/p>\n School of Literature, Communication, and Culture<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.lcc.gatech.edu\/index.html<\/p>\n Graphics, Visualization, and Usability (GVU) Center<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/gvu\/gvutop.html<\/p>\n Carnegie Mellon University<\/p>\n Human-Computer Interaction Institute<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.hcii.cmu.edu\/<\/p>\n Art Department<\/p>\n http:\/\/artserver.cfa.cmu.edu:8080\/<\/p>\n Mass Institute of Technology (MIT)<\/p>\n the Media Lab<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.media.mit.edu\/<\/p>\n Art Department<\/p>\n University at Buffalo<\/p>\n Media Studies Department<\/p>\n http:\/\/mediastudy.buffalo.edu\/<\/p>\n University of Iowa<\/p>\n Department of Cinema & Comparative Literature<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.uiowa.edu\/%7Ecomplit\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" April 14, 2006 I’m currently teaching the senior BFA course leading to the students’ final exhibition.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of the semester has been dedicated to professional development – resume building, press release, cover letters, fund raising, residencies…\u00c2\u00a0 Last Wedensday however we discussed graduate school, as many of the students are interested in persuing an MFA.\u00c2\u00a0 So 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Suggestions:<\/strong><\/p>\n