lxs, I am really sorry to hear that.
re: NYU IFA, I think it's plainly bassackwards that they can't provide their grad students with funding, especially given that NYU has one of the highest tuitions in the country and a gazillion undergrads. Something is clearly wrong administratively. Not that I could have gotten into IFA, but it turned me off that they have a funding caveat on their website. Anyway, forgive me if you have done this already, but did you try calling Financial Aid to see if there are any remission workarounds? It is such a coup that you got in. Some schools seem to have odd little arrangements here and there.
re: disciplinary stoginess, art historians in higher education must be among the quirkiest.
A question for everyone--are you all intending to teach? How do you think the "plans" part of your SOP affected your admission, if at all?