taltalim

Hi All, In case anyone is concerned for their future, and looking to send out another application Just wanted to let you know that IUP's deadline for assistantship eligibility is February 15th. It's a great and really small program (depending on specific discipline), a bit remote, but just an hour or so from Pittsburgh. I definitely recommend applying - I applied on a whim, expected it to be a sad, distant safety school, but it was great when I visited, and I've been really happy here. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions and good luck!

BICEO has got it. 1 - You're better off just writing something cohesive and independent. Reading other's statements has always made me feel way superior or way inferior, because they've tended to be very different from mine. 2/3 - This depends heavily on the program and what you want to get out of it. My background was in design research, and then I worked in market research for 3 years before applying with work that I made in my spare time. I applied to a whole bunch of programs, and got into a few. My work is somewhere between art and design (pertains to more theoretical design), and I was sort of torn about what programs to apply to - I wound up applying to mostly sculpture, with a couple of furniture design, and one more experimental interaction design program. I know the non-art-specific nature of my application made at least one of the programs to which I applied uncomfortable; when I tried explaining that I had certain research goals in mind, the head of the program kept insisting that his program didn't have a commercial focus (he couldn't understand that design and research in the context of sculpture wouldn't necessarily have a commercial component). You need to understand that applying to art programs is a lot more subjective than other Masters or PhD programs, where they can judge based off of grades, test scores, and relevant professional experience. When it comes to art, some of it will about the visual qualities of your portfolio, but a lot will be more about the internal consistency and your skill in explanation. When I was accepted off the waitlist at one the schools I applied to, I was told that my work itself was alright, but they were really accepting me because of my writing (this is for a sculpure program). Each school is going to have its own agenda - some will want people who fit a current mold that they already have, some will want people who will challenge the status quo within the program, some will accept cohorts of students that are specifically diverse and who they think will complement one another, some will accept students who they think will specifically be successful in the gallery world. Each school will be very different, and decisions can seem almost arbitrary at times. I would suggest figuring out what you want to get out of a program. Is it technical knowledge? That will rule out certain schools and tint your statements one way. Are you looking for success in the world of gallery art? That will be a very different application (and if that's your main goal going in, I don't think I'd recommend an MFA). I'd suggest making a list of your priorities, finding some schools that fit, and actually reaching out to professors well in advance of the application period to find out whether you'd be a good fit for the program. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss further. And good luck!

I hadn't looked at Edinboro when I applied (it's about 45 minutes further from Pittsburgh, more than an hour further from NYC, and they also don't have a graduate wood program), but a couple of the current MFAs here went there for undergrad, and I've heard good things - I believe it's a significantly larger program, and Erie strikes me as an interesting place, though I don't know much about it. For me, one of the deciding factors for leaving NY was taking classes at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn, and realizing that it would be extremely difficult to access foundry facilities, or good quality woodworking machines on a regular basis in the city, especially once they closed. The facilities that are possible here because of the amount of space are just too good to pass up, and I realized that if I stayed in NY, the craft side of my work would likely suffer. (And with assistantships etc, I'm paying less than what I'd pay for a year membership at 3rd Ward, with greater access to better tools, funding and grants, and getting a degree out of it besides.) I'd also visited Albany, but it seemed kind of sad when I visited; I was expecting IUP to be the very similar, and was very pleasantly surprised/ I think a large part of it has to do with a few recent hires, who are fresh, active, and understand how to navigate the state university bureacracy to get funding to improve things here. The other hidden gems that come up consistently are SIUC (not-so-hidden, maybe, but it wasn't something that I'd heard much about coming from NY) and Eastern Carolina University. I know how many factors go into deciding which season to apply, but if any of those factors have to do with your application not being ready right now, IUP has a later deadline than most places (2/15 for assistantships, 5/1 otherwise), so I'd encourage you to take a look. Good luck and let me know if you have questions or would like to talk! It sounds like we may have some similar attitudes/experiences about this process.

Yikes. That definitely explains some of the weirdness, and helps put some of my own misgivings to rest. I apologize if I steered you wrong when you were deciding last year; I just know that when I visited Cornell, it so drastically did not meet my needs with regard to facilities, and I thought I should share that on here for people who weren't able to visit. What's a bit ironic is that I think if you had decided on Cornell, I might have been offered your place at IUB (Blane had told me I was next on the waitlist), though I'm not sure I'd have taken it. If you do wind up at Cornell, I'd recommend looking up Van Dyk Lewis (in the fashion department at the College of Human Ecology). I've only taken a brief look at your work, but I think a discussion with him could be helpful (he was an advisor and good friend to me when I was in undergrad, and is generally a strange and wonderful person). Good luck!

Yup! Seems like people from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan have often heard of it before. I hadn't (I'm from NY), but was curious about Pittsburgh, so I took a look at all the schools somewhat nearby. I actually applied to IUP's Wood/Furniture program, thinking it might be a bit less competitive, but they called me to offer me a place in Sculpture instead (the Wood program has some external funding for students, and so operates slightly differently). The head of Sculpture is really great, and I have access to the Wood facilities anyway, so it all worked out.

femnotfem - didn't you wind up at Bloomington? What happened? Just curious because my admissions process there was so weird.

The space is amazing (and not at all crowded), and the private studios are really nice too. And that's just the sculpture studio, and not even the wood or jewelry studios! I grew up near NYC and wanted to leave (didn't apply to any programs nearby), and so I don't expect to ever return to live...when I'm finished, I'll be looking to either go abroad, or find an affordable, smaller, big city like Pittsburgh, Austin, Asheville, etc. And there's always Detroit...

I can say definitively NOT Cornell if facilities are important to you. I went there for undergrad and visited again before I finalized my application list. Art tends to fall second to architecture when it comes to facilities, and as of last year, shop hours were not 24 hours - you needed a shop tech supervising before you could do anything, and the foundry was no longer usable. Most of the student work was (understandably) highly conceptual, without much technical execution. If you're looking for a good safety school with good facilities, I'd recommend IUP (where I'm at currently). I moved from Brooklyn to be here (which is a tiny, tiny town about an hour from Pittsburgh). It's a small program, with large studios, and really great sculpture facilities which are getting better all the time. There's also an incredible (separate) woodshop, and I hear that the fibers area is well-equipped (and under-utilized). Assistantships are also plentiful, and come with a tuition waiver and small stipend. This is NOT currently a prestigious school, but I think it's a gem in the rough. I picked it because of the facilities, because the head of the sculpture program here is young and capable with an active studio career, and because Pittsburgh is an interesting place to be right now. I applied on a lark, didn't think much of it, and wound up being really impressed when I visited. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

When I applied, I had maybe 6-8 different paragraphs that I'd swap in and out depending on the need (like cover letters). Then I'd tailor things a bit more specifically to each school (mentioning the specifics of why I wanted to go there, faculty I wanted to work with, etc.) I think that the staples for an SOP are: -a brief artistic statement/summary of work, -why you want to/feel ready to/feel the need to go for an MFA at this time -why you feel that an MFA at this particular program will be right for you. For me, when I had a 500 word limit, it took about 6 iterations, slowly scraping words away bit by bit. I showed it to my wife and friends to see what I could cut out. It really honed things. Obviously the artist statement is the most important part - ideally it's unique enough that it will catch the committee's attention, while complementing your portfolio. It's also crucial for you to be able to summarize your own work thoroughly in a few sentences - an elevator speech of sorts. I'm done with my crits and everything after Friday, so if anyone would like to send over a SOP, I'm happy to take a look then - just message me. Good luck!

CMU is supposed to be quite good, but expensive, with excellent resources. Pittsburgh is also a great city to be in now (undergoing a sort of revival). My program is about an hour east of there, and we make pretty frequent trips into the city for events and lectures (in which CMU is heavily involved).

I agree with that - when I told one of my recommenders where I was applying, he laughed at me. And when we came to visit and drove past signs for Cal U, that was the icing on the cake. I was also deciding between IUP and IU Bloomington, and when I was soliciting advice from friends and family, it got downright confusing. Referred to them as Bloomington and Pennsylvania. The joke that I make is that I chose IUP because I get twice the name recognition (for IU and UPenn).

I'm a bit confused by your post - I'm at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is in Indiana, Pennsylvania...I agree that it doesn't count as Indiana State. I also didn't use any acronyms (IU or IUPUI). Was any of the information I provided incorrect? Also, I don't believe Clarion or Cal U have MFA programs, but I could be mistaken.

I applied to a whole bunch of schools last year, almost all of them state (both for funding and also for the presence of non-art departments). I only applied to schools that had the potential to be free or almost free. smartstrategy's link is a really good starting point. I'd also add -SUNY Albany (not too expensive, no assistantships the first year, but potential for second). -IUP (where I currently am - not too expensive, with good options for Graduate Assistantships which come with tuition waivers and small stipends) -University of Indiana at Bloomington (Indiana is mentioned in the link, but wanted to differentiate Bloomington from Indianapolis) -University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign

Hi Kogepan, I know that Cornell used to be multi-disciplinary (and I don't think that's changed). Michigan is multi-disciplinary, through is starting to separate art and design. IUP has separate programs, but you also work in a studio minor - the sculpture and drawing professors are among the strongest in the department and the most open to doing multidisciplinary work, so it wouldn't be hard to have more than one focus. At Oregon, I think you select a concentration but are able to work in multiple disciplines beyond that. Unless your work is mixed-media (incorporating drawing, painting, and sculpture into a cohesive body of work, if not within individual pieces), I would make sure that you are able to come across as focused in your applications. Even schools where you don't have to select a particular specialty will want to see very clear focus and direction, either in style or in content.

I'm no expert, but the way I've understood this is that all of the pieces of your application (like a job application) are building up a cohesive narrative about you. While I definitely wouldn't get all three of your letters from collectors, having one letter from a collector with the other two being more official would work, I think. On second reading, though, could you get a letter from your gallerist? Assuming they have some credibility, that could speak to a lot of different qualities that are seen as positive in an applicant. And unless your work is digital/tech-related, I'm not sure whether a letter from the head of a top tech company would be directly useful. Depending on the program, I think that slipping out of the constraint of "famous artist recommender" could be more or less useful in building that narrative. The story you told about your undergraduate career is definitely very interesting. I think if you can explain it in a way that doesn't have negative components (and you're almost there - just use a phrase like "conflict of interest" instead of getting into too many details and saying that your presence would have been detrimental to the other students) then it could be compelling. Most schools will value professional art experience outside of a university education, I think.

Hi VLynn, I didn't have an undergrad degree in art either, just a body of work that I'd been working on in the few years since graduating. Would you consider including a "Private Collections" heading on your CV? That would enable you to bulk out your experiences a bit, though of course, any shows/gallery experiences would help a lot. You could potentially also get a letter of rec from one of your commissioners. For the personal and artist statements, I would make sure to go through a really iterative process with family/friends. Write what you can, have them read it, tighten it, and cut out anything that seems extraneous, then re-write, etc. I went through a whole bunch of revisions to get mine down within the word limit for a few schools (and was ultimately told that my writing was quite strong).

And when I said "more conceptual work than what you're working in," I was writing to someone whose work is more figurative Either way, he and the other new professors are great.

Hi All, First year Sculpture MFA here. Just wanted to put in a plug for IUP. I'm copying a brief description that I wrote out in another topic below. It's pretty remote here, but not too far from Pittsburgh which has a really interesting and thriving art scene right now. There are some incredible facilities here - there's an excellent woodworking/furniture program (with which we work pretty closely) and the sculpture studio itself has some pretty amazing facilities in its own right, and is getting better. There's also a brand-new jewelry/metals professor, so hopefully that will get pretty built out soon. Sean Derry, the head of the sculpture program does more conceptual work than what you're working in, but is capable, critical and open-minded. I'm not sure if there are folks in the sculpture program who will necessarily push you in the figurative direction, but if you're looking for material explorations, I think this is a great place to be. It's not a very well-known program, so the connections aren't here like at Yale or Hunter, but Sean has a pretty strong practice in Pittsburgh, and there are resources and connections available if you want them. It is pretty remote here, though, and the winters can be tough. I personally chose it because of the facilities, and the fact that I don't come from a typical background (my work is between art, design and the social sciences, and I tend to work in wood and crochet) - here they're open to my doing work that doesn't necessarily fall into the gallery world (though most students are still working toward that). Feel free to PM me with any questions!

Hi Elana, I saw your other topics as well. I've just started at the sculpture program at IUP which is about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. There are some incredible facilities here - there's an excellent woodworking/furniture program (with which we work pretty closely) and the sculpture studio itself has some pretty amazing facilities in its own right, and is getting better. There's also a brand-new jewelry/metals professor, so hopefully that will get pretty built out soon. Sean Derry, the head of the sculpture program does more conceptual work than what you're working in, but is capable, critical and open-minded. I'm not sure if there are folks in the sculpture program who will necessarily push you in the figurative direction, but if you're looking for material explorations, I think this is a great place to be. It's not a very well-known program, so the connections aren't here like at Yale or Hunter, but Sean has a pretty strong practice in Pittsburgh, and there are resources and connections available if you want them. It is pretty remote here, though, and the winters can be tough. I personally chose it because of the facilities, and the fact that I don't come from a typical background (my work is between art, design and the social sciences, and I tend to work in wood and crochet). Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Hi femnotfem, Have you visited Cornell? Here's my take as someone who attended Cornell for undergrad (not for art, but I was involved with the art and architecture departments) and visited the MFA in person, and who was also looking at IU (and spoke to several current MFAs there): Cornell Pros: -Proximity to New York (still not super close - about 5 hours, but driveable and busable) -Connections to artists in New York (and a year-end show in New York). From talking to the current MFA students at IU, Blane's current success seems like it can open up quite a few doors, so the two schools may be more comparable now than they'd been in the past. -Pretty good visiting artists -The amazing resources of Cornell (which you may or may not use) - I'll bet IU is pretty comparable for most things, but Cornell has an incredible library, and some amazing colleges, grants, and facilities for the sciences and humanities. -Name recognition - I'm still not clear on how Cornell fares on name recognition in the art world, but outside of the art world the name can carry a lot of weight - I've had a couple of employers tell me that they looked at my resume more deeply after seeing where I'd gone to school. Cons: -Facilities: If facilities are important for you, don't choose Cornell. Though they do have some good facilities, from what I understand, access is not 24-hour and is shared with architecture which can make it difficult to use. Also, their foundry is no longer functional. When I visited, I met with the head of the MFA program as well as with one of the more technical sculpture professors who I'd worked with in the past, and the facilities seemed somewhat bleak. In general, the college's split between art and architecture can make things complicated, and it seems as though most of the funding is spent on the art department's connections rather than on the facilities. For me, this made Cornell a no-sell (I didn't apply) as craft/technique are a crucial part of my work. But if you're more of a conceptualist or don't have as much of an emphasis on wood and metal, this might not matter. Otherwise, Ithaca is a pretty wonderful place (outside of the weather), but from what I understand, so is Bloomington. Feel free to message me or ask any other questions, and I can do my best to answer. The truth is that I was pretty unimpressed with my visit to Cornell (I remember thinking that it might be worth it for all that is available outside of art, but not for art itself), but my background and plans are also not as straightforward for the world of art and sculpture (I have a design spin to the things I do) so YMMV.

Hi femnotfem, The weird things for me were the complete lack of interviews, and the requirement of an immediate decision by phone, even though I hadn't received an official acceptance (or even waitlist notification). But the area head did put me in touch with several grad students, who all had very positive things to say. Either way, I wish you luck! Your work looks quite nice

Hi All, Just had a pretty peculiar situation at Indiana University Bloomington - after complete radio silence following my application (not an interview or anything), I got a call late Sunday night from the head of the discipline sort of, semi-offering the position (and the GA and fellowship), but only if I could make a decision by the next day. When I told him that that wouldn't be possible, and that I would need at least a few days to make a decision, he told me that he would have to check in and see. And when I called later in the week to try and set up a time to actually come visit, he told me they had actually decided to offer it to someone else, but I was first on the list. The whole thing was kind of shady. In the end, I've decided on IUP (small school just outside of Pittsburgh). The school overall seems pretty ok, but the sculpture department looks excellent - it's re-shaping itself in a really positive way - excellent facilities, lots of grantwriting, and great partnerships with the other disciplines (including a really fantastic wood/furniture department). The studios are really nice, was impressed with the faculty, and I've heard nothing but praise for Pittsburgh. I also got a fellowship which will effectively reduce tuition plus fees to 0, and from what I understand, the schedule allows for time to get a part-time job in addition to course-work and artmaking. Anyone else going to be at IUP?