kafralal

Did anyone here speak to the office at UCSD today to confirm that the deadline change is for both Grad Apply and the portfolio? There is some confusion in the way the message is worded.

Congratulations and best of luck!

If you do a search for low-residency you'll find a lot of info from past years. Bard MICA SAIC PNCA Vermont and a bunch more.

What Yellow Magnet and Moonhart44 said. I would just add that minimally, committees want to know about your work and how you think and talk about art (which is where people often get into trouble). Others want more context. This what UCSD wants: The artist's statement should aim to explain, justify, extend, and/or contextualize your body of work, while placing your work in relationship to art history, theory, and the contemporary world. Statement—Students are required to submit an essay of one-to-three pages on the direction of their work and its relationship to contemporary art. This essay should be critical in nature, refer explicitly to the student’s own work, and may refer to other artists, recent events in art history, and issues in domains other than art that have bearing on the student’s process, thought, and work.

First application deadline is in two weeks!

This is a matter of personal priorities. I looked at a wide range programs and locations while I learned to identify what I wanted, then I narrowed it down to a specific location (this has a lot to do with family—I'm married with children). The location is SoCal, so there is a lot to choose from. I narrowed my choices on the internet checking out faculty work, lecture videos and texts, student work, alum etc., and then visited schools. Contacts made from visits have been very helpful. Also...writing and rewriting about my work, both broadly and in detail has taken up a lot of time but has helped me to really understand my priorities.

Hi Far. I'm curious...why are you pursuing an mfa? You've done some really interesting architectural/structural engineering work...what are you looking for with art?

Of course, by "images" I mean send them the link you posted above.

Your statement is fantastic! I conquer that it is important for you to find the right place. I think your concerns about Yale are probably justified and I would choose a faculty member to contact (you can do this at other places of interest as well). I would tell them your concerns and that you are trying to make sure that your efforts are going in the right direction ie. the best fit. Share your statement, images and what you are looking for (it is probably a good idea to include: "I'm taking the liberty of sending you..., I hope that is ok") and ask them directly if Yale is the place for you? You've got everything together, statement, images and what you want, so I imagine it would be a pleasure, and easy for them to help you. Good Luck!

I'm older than that...dating is not a consideration (I'm married and have a grown family). All the grad students I've talked to are smart and thoughful—I'm not concerned about age in terms of work or discourse. I learn a lot from those younger than me and I hope it works the same the other way around. Diverse points of view challenge our own embedded ones. That said, if you feel at odds with, or have difficulting making connections with people just a few years younger than yourself, grad school may be a problem for you at this time. You might not be ready...it might be a case of too close, too soon. Maybe you should visit the programs you are interested in and talk to some students. Also, it can take a day or two to get replies here, so be patient.

ps. 3 Vancouverites in one thread. New record? Indeed!

Mr. X, You studied communication design and pursued art on your own (make it simple). How did this benefit you? In plain english? You're being obscure to sound smart (we've all done this), but it doesn't sound smart, it's just difficult to understand. I have to rearrange each sentence and simplify words (e.g."ideate solutions") to figure out what you are trying to say. I recommend speaking as if you are having a regular conversation. Committees are made up of regular people—talk to them that way. You can use art discourse terminology, but you still need to be clear and use it appropriately. Be more specific about Bauhaus influences. How do you understand their ideas about balance, colour theory and composition in terms of your work? Talk about how your art developed parrallel to DC or pushed away from it, resisted it—be specific...maybe you were trying out some of the things you were learning in DC but in ways that were outside the scope of your discipline. Explain the connection between travel and your art. Right now it sounds like maybe you took lots of photos that you were excited to work with, but I'm not sure. You could say more about the gallery. Which "larger discourse" did you hope to engage with and how did it turn out? It is hard work to run a gallery, be honest and and keep in mind that small ideas and lessons learned aren't trivial. I don't understand what you are saying about constructed images. How does working this way help you explore contemporary relationships? There's something about psychology, social struggle and being critical; address each of those ideas briefly in plain english. I get "time" (althugh you still need to explain, briefly), but I'm not sure how you are questioning or engaging with free will and concepts of space, fate and self. I'm not challenging whether you actually are engaging with those things or not, just that you need to do more than make claims. You need to back them up. What exactly are you doing and why? If you can't explain what you are doing clearly then maybe you aren't doing what you thought (or hoped) you were doing. Committees recognize bullshit. Be authentic and honest. You start to make a little more sense when you talk about control and the loss of control but I don't know what "bends my grid" is (I could try to guess, but I don't think you should leave it at that). And, isn't the application of paint already abstracted reality? Maybe rethink this a little and say something about how wiping, layering etc. helps you to explore, discover (?) those things. You want abstraction and realism to co-exist…why? (Again I'm not questioning the basic premise, you just need to explain). After that I'm not sure what you are claiming…something about abstraction and reality IRL. How do the paintings do that? Everyone wants to become great, be more specific. I think you need to have some sense of how you are already engaging in contemporary discourse. I don't think it has to be profound, just thoughtful. OK, that's all I've got. Please don't take offence if I have misspoken, I sincerely hope this helps.

I've started all of mine, but I'm still working on portfolio details and statements.

Hi Tincanevening, Sounds like a plan! Which are your dream schools and if you don't mind saying, which residencies do you have lined up?

I want to make a pitch for getting some conversation and participation going here. There is a lot of experience and information archived from previous years which minimizes the need for new posts to be about information gathering...it can feel like a waste of time answering questions that have already been adequately addressed in the discussions from other years...maybe...but it seems like it is still valuable to offer and receive support, by seeing evidence of others going through the same things we are, at the same time. I don't need it..it just seems like there could be some good conversations. Anybody? My first school apps are due in 1 month, I have a fulbright app due in less than 2 weeks, so deadlines are starting to roll in. After that it really starts to pick up. Assuming others are in the same situation, how's it going?

Hi Kwonberry, If you don't mind my asking, how many acceptances did you get with that 'one for all' app? And how about your fellow first year who wrote different ones? Not sure how useful this info would be...just something to consider, I guess. How has your experience at UCLA been so far?

I think most programs are interdisciplinary. Many seem to use the disciplines as a way of sorting applications and insuring a diverse cohort, but once you are in the program there is a tendancy to encourage working across disciplines—or at least considering it. I have come across very few that limit their conversations to a specific discipline—the seminars and crits are usually not medium specific.

Food for thought. http://www.alternet.org/education/5-ways-students-and-debtors-are-fighting-student-debt-right-now?paging=off

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. A list of artworks doesn't belong in your resume. I should have said 'other experience', not items. List whatever you have been doing that you think has been "very important for [you] and [your] career" and then explain briefly in your statement (if that seems appropriate to what the school is asking for). Don't pad your resume—just be honest. My understanding is that the resume isn't too important (just an opportunity for those who have done something significant, but not a detriment to those who haven't), I would focus on the portfolio first and then statement. And yah, no strict rules. haha.

1. You can contact graduate admissions (the graduate advisor) of the schools you want to apply to if you have specific questions about their application forms. You do need to make sure that you include everything they ask for and have the proper forms but you can totally do it yourself. That is the way it is done here. We don't use services. 2. Organize your portfolio so that it shows your work in the best way possible—you can check with the school if they have any specific guidelines. Show diversity if diversity is an important part of your practice (not just for the sake of showing what you can do). Show what best represents what you are interested in. I don't know what you mean about "strike rolls" so I can't speak to that. From my discussions with the schools I'm interested in, there are different strategies for different schools. Some schools divide the portfolios by medium or program and are looked at only by the faculty of the program or medium you apply to, while for others it is just an initial sorting process and all (or most) of the faculty are involved in the final selections. This would be a question to ask each school. 3. Anything is possible if you can defend it well. The place to talk about this seems to be the personal statement, statement of purpose, or artist statement—whichever they are asking for. You can list items important to your work in your resume and explain it in the essay. I don't know about the toefl score for Columbia—again ask admissions, they're your go-to place for application questions—but when it came up on webinars or admissions Facebook pages (RISD may have been one), it seems like you must meet their requirement. They may give you more time to retest if they like your work—so ask. I would definitely advise you to get someone with good english skills to read over your statement before you submit it. Good luck. It is a lot of work, but you can totally do it yourself without a professional service. Some of those services may have their own agendas and not always have your best interest at heart.

For those researching programs, the college art association's directory might be worth checking out. I just got an email announcement of it through art&education. https://services.collegeart.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=CAA_New&WebKey=59c76735-9d2c-4133-9e92-aabaf39285e0

The way I read the info is that everyone submits 20 images. If your work is time-based then your 20 images should be stills or performance documentation of time-based work—the 4 web-links are in addition—but they can all be time-based. The descriptions you include with the stills will clarify that they are performance stills, what they do and anything else you think the committee should know.

Maybe you should take a different approach. Instead of trying to see stylistic similarities, get a feel for the kinds of things the different profs are thinking about, and the kinds of painting issues they address (if they are specifically painting oriented). What do they have to offer you? Lecture videos online is a good place to start. What about checking with your undergrad faculty to see what they suggest?

I think your take Charnoo, is more accurate. You don't hear much about scholarships for MFA's at Canadian schools, or see much on their web sites. It looks like everyone gets a paid position as a TA or assistant at Guelph. Concordia has a good program and I think they have the cheapest tuition. York gives full or half entrance scholarships for the first year, for those with an A average in their undergrand and a lesser one for those with a B+, and TA positions in the second year. I would contact the schools you're interested in and ask directly, it may just be that they don't post the info because department funding changes from year to year. U of Ottawa has full scholarships for Canadians with an 8.0/10 in undergrad. Also for anyone interested in printmaking, U of Alberta has a great rep, not sure about money. But in response to MFACanada's comment above: If I wanted to end up in Rotterdam or Berlin, I would do my MFA in Rotterdam or Berlin! Rotterdam and Amsterdam have some great programs and Berlin has the city.

I just got an email that there is going to be another SAIC low-residency info webinar on Oct 9 @ 6:30 (CDT). The info and link for registration is on their webpage.