Firenze

These are very interesting ideas. Could you give an example of how your friend teaches the art side of things in the biology course? I'm just wondering since I will have an MFA degree in two years on top of a previous master's degree in biology. I've thought of putting together a sort of "math in nature for artists" course that would involve discussing such topics as the golden mean spiral found in nature that contains the golden ratio and also geometric patterns used by muslim artists that are derived from nature.

In case the info is helpful to someone, I received a rejection letter in the mail today from Indiana University-Bloomington's painting program. Interestingly, it seems like a disproportionate number of faculty at various colleges got their MFA's there so it appears to be a great place to go for those who want to get a teaching position in the future. Has anyone received a rejection letter from the SAIC low-res program? Two weeks ago they told me (by phone) that decisions would be mailed out on Mar. 24th but I haven't received anything yet and I live in Chicago!

What department at SAIC did you apply to? I applied to painting and received a rejection letter from SAIC last week. Admissions said they're mailing out decisions for their Low-Res program today. Also, I received a mailed rejection letter from RISD today. As for networking, who you know seems to count a lot these days. It makes me wonder if I would do better job-wise if I stayed in Chicago and pursued a low-res program which involves choosing a new local mentor each semester. That could allow me to get to know faculty from the four best art departments in the area. Of course, a MFA from a regular (non low-res) program is supposedly better when applying for college teaching jobs. It's hard to know what to do......

It looks like your school isn't on the list of international schools that are eligible for federal student loans, unfortunately. Some MFA students have found success raising funds on Kickstarter.

Being an older student, myself, I forget what it's like to be a regular college-age student still forging your identity and belief systems. Thanks for explaining that and reminding me of their perspective. Patience, thoughtfulness, generosity and forbearance are definitely traits I hope to display when I start an MFA program this fall. That's an excellent goal. Best wishes to you, as well.

Complements of dictionary.reference.com for adding little to the discussion..... snark·y [snahr-kee] Show IPA Slang. adjective, snark·i·er, snark·i·est. 1. testy or irritable; short. 2. having a rudely critical tone or manner: snarky humor. Origin: snark2 + -y1 Related forms snark·i·ness, noun

Yes, I have sat in on multiple professor's critiques at multiple institutions, including SAIC. I haven't attended critiques in non-US schools. However, in investigating non-US MFA programs I've gotten the impression that most of those schools have critiques as an integral part of their curriculum. As for critiques being designed to make you question your work, WHY do artists need to have their work questioned? That implies from the beginning that there's something wrong with it. Why do art students even have to explain why they're making a particular piece of art? Art students should be free to make whatever work they want to and not have to justify it. Critiques seem like hostility towards art-making in general that actually discourages creativity rather than encouraging it. In the critiques I've attended everyone sat around with bored looks on their faces not really making strongly helpful comments to anyone and RARELY said anything positive about anyone's work. I think that's wrong. If you see positives in other students' work you should be allowed to express it. Also, there's a subtle pressure to conform instituted by the critique process. In relation to that, a few summers ago SAIC's student newspaper published a letter from a group of Jewish students attending SAIC saying that they didn't feel free to express their faith/beliefs in their artwork at SAIC. Coming from a Catholic perspective, I felt equally unwelcome to express any sort of values based on my beliefs in my artwork. The prevailing culture there tends to be against religious expression, against beauty, and leans towards a more atheist view. For example, the professor for one of my courses gave us readings that included one that was aggressively anti-Christian. In that environment, you know that putting up a painting with religious content is going to be treated with disdain at critiques, so why bother. Where is the artistic freedom? You asked, "If there is no criticism, nothing to question, what then is the point of a work if it's a closed loop?" Just the act of putting the work up for display in a critique session ensures it has a point because other art students and professors see it. That in itself prevents it from being a closed loop because it has an influence on others. I think critiques should be "discussions" in which the person making the work of art talks about any areas of their work they're struggling with, gets comments on this from classmates and professors, receives suggestions for improvement where/if needed, and also receives comments on any positives of the work. The current worldview of academic art leans towards atheism, dislike of beauty, dislike of order, dislike of introverted "lone-genius" artists, and denies that there is any sort of universal truth in this world. Giving assistance and help to art students isn't pandering....it's being human. Actually Montessori schools are pretty great because they encourage creative thinking. I'll tell you what would happen if Albrecht Durer walked through the door....everyone would tell him he's too stuck on detailed work and would tell him he needs to branch out and try something different. Then he would start making a bunch of meaningless abstract paintings, everyone would stop hassling him and another great artist would bite the dust. There was a guy in one of my SAIC classes who drew beautiful detailed imaginary landscapes in pen. Based on comments he got in critiques, he started making drab abstract works. That's the effect the class had on him so I'm sure they would do the same thing to Durer.

I question whether or not the critique process as practiced in art schools and MFA programs these days is actually beneficial to artists. It seems that the end result of critiques is to get students to conform to the current worldview of academic art rather than to help them grow as artists. So, it's kind of a brain-washing process, as I see it. You can conform and make crap art or you can rebel and make life difficult for yourself in the program. It's funny that artists are supposed to have artistic freedom because that's really not the case in grad school. They give you plenty of freedom as long as you make work that fits into the narrow spectrum of what they view as "contemporary art". If people truly had artistic freedom in art school, everyone would be encouraged to make whatever the f*** they want to and would be given assistance and encouragement in doing so. Art-making is hard! Art students don't need to be torn down by nearly constant critiques....they need encouragement!

Congrats! It might be frowned upon unless you have also received an offer from another school with better funding. In that case, you could call NYAA and ask them if they could meet the level of funding the other school is offering.

Thanks....good to know. Good luck!

Most contemporary artists suck. The art world started going to pot after Michaelangelo.

I got it, too. It initially activated a tiny slither of hope that by some miracle I might still get into the SAIC low res program. It's so annoying that the dates are wrong in the email and most people probably aren't even eligible to apply for the scholarship.

Having taken some classes at SAIC and being familiar with the atmosphere there, I totally agree with this ^.

I think they've already sent out requests for painting interviews and the wait list people are probably chosen from the pool of interviewees. Please share if you get information that contradicts this.

Someone last year wrote that they were waitlisted for UIC on Feb. 10, so I feel like I should have heard from them by now if I'm getting in. Good luck on your SAIC interviews!

Has anyone heard from RISD (Painting) or the University of Illinois-Chicago?

I just logged into my Yale application for Painting/Printmaking and saw that I've been rejected, too. Please don't feel that you suck. There will be a program for you out there.....

I've applied to 14 schools because I really want to get started on an MFA this fall. Once you have the letters of recommendation it's not that much extra work to add in a few more applications, in my opinion. Might as well go for it..... Yeah, it looks like Yale emails will be next Friday. Oh, well, more time to dream about what it would be like to go there. I definitely wouldn't do a victory dance yet if you get an interview....only about 30% of interviewees get a spot.

I would think faculty have their hands full right now just looking through all of the applications they have received. Why would they spend time on this forum looking at the art of people who may not be applying to their program?

I haven't checked the status of my application. I got an email saying they had received my application. It also stated that, "The department/unit may contact you if they need additional information or have questions about your application." Since I haven't heard from them, I'm assuming all of the required application materials were received.

I think it's a good idea to apply to as many schools as you would be sincerely interested in attending and have the finances to cover application fees for. If you look at last year's applicants, you'll see that some people applied to lots of top schools but only got into one. For example, someone who got accepted to RISD might have been turned down at Yale, SAIC, and several other top schools. You just never know what's going to appeal to a given school, I think, given that judging art is so subjective these days. I'm applying to 12 schools so far and will probably add in a few more just so I get accepted somewhere for this fall. I want to get on with getting my MFA degree because I'm a much older student than the typical applicant.

Congrats on the interview and thanks for posting this. Now I know I can probably cross the U of Chicago off my list. Ah well, they were a bit too interdisciplinary for me, anyway. I just hope I get in a good program somewhere. All it takes is one Yes!