Jump to content

michaelwebster

Members
  • Posts

    319
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by michaelwebster

  1. On the contrary, recs aren't really read much, statements definitely have more weight. From a statement they want to know what discourses your work engages with, why you want to go to their MFA program, and where you see your work developing. You could bring these things in through a variety of different writing approaches, but you almost have to hit those points.
  2. I couldn't get the link to work. How about this http://www.graceleelawrence.com/index.html Your school selections look good to me. I'm from NC as well, 3 of my friends just graduated from UNCG's MFA program.
  3. Carnegie Mellon MIT Art, Culture, Technology RISD Digital Media SAIC Design for Emerging Technologies MFA
  4. Your statement should primarily be about your conceptual framework for making photographs and where you see yourself going. I definitely wouldn't list classes. I could see mentioning a class if it was particularly influential on your work. The statement should not be another resume, but give them enough info to find interest in your working methods and why you need to be in their MFA program.
  5. Its not a ridiculous question in itself, we all want to have stable income. I think if your working in a more 'representational' or figurative type of painting and are having a hard time finding grad schools to apply to, then it may become a little tougher of a question. Most faculty have years of exhibition experience between the MFA and teaching positions. Also, not many schools are going to be looking for figurative painters to teach, most that do will have positions as adjuncts. I think the toughest question since 90% (just a guesstimate) of painting applicants will be applying with figurative work but only a small percentage of those will even get into a MFA program is whether your one of the best who might have a shot a teaching position you can live off of. Just about everyone wants a teaching position, and they are getting tougher to come by.
  6. UNC Chapel Hill is a strong interdisciplinary program whose best strength is in photography. I don't know about cost for out of state.
  7. All students accepted to UNCG from other states get the in-state price, less than 10k a year. They also get an assistantship. Thats actually a great price for an MFA. Also look at the NY Academy of Art, they seem do have a little clay work coming out but mostly painting. You get traditional skills and can be in NY.
  8. michaelwebster

    My work

    I don't think it will be a problem for you to get into a very competitive school, the question is how much do you want to pay for it. Find safeties that are still really solid schools but have more money to give.
  9. You need to think about your past as engineering as a positive because it definitely can be if you use it right. Also, I would recommend putting your work online somewhere because we can't really give you advice on cohesiveness or safety schools if we don't know your work. SCAD should be a safety school, but I don't know about scholarships there. Scholarships are really tough to get at schools like RISD and SAIC and probably others on your list, I wouldn't expect one at most schools. An inexpensive school that isn't extremely competitive is University of North Carolina at Greensboro, they give all grads in-state tuition, so less than 10,000 a year.
  10. I don't really know the painting departments at other Chicago schools, but I do know that there aren't many students doing figurative or naturalistic painting at SAIC. Just a heads up in case you were thinking of applying there. Even though its not Chicago, I have a friend at New York Academy of Art that is a good one for people interested in painting the figure.
  11. I would try to stick to people in the art field, but most schools just skim the letters of recommendation anyway, you just don't want it to say something bad.
  12. Many schools take students that don't have a previous degree in art. Good luck!
  13. Depends on the program and what you think is your best work. Series can be pretty loosely defined, as my portfolio was. If i was applying to an interdisciplinary program whose students aren't doing much painting, I might take that into consideration. If there are some students who do all painting, it would seem as though the faculty don't mind. If you stick to the series thing too carefully, you run the risk of looking unimaginative and unwilling to take risks. Your more experimental pieces might be the ones that get you into a school.
  14. Over half of mine is subsidized and the rest has a pretty low interest rate because its a Stafford Loan, but in actuality people in most MFA programs take on close to this much. Most programs have limited funds to dole out, especially the highly ranked schools. I believe I am getting what I am paying for. My first year at SAIC was very good, and I wouldn't have learned as much at my cheaper option school.
  15. Only taking out 10-20k may not be possible even if you get a full ride. You need loans for living expenses too. I am taking out 40k in loans to go to SAIC. It is a lot, but I have a wide variety of skills and I am already working on setting up job opportunities when I get out. That said, 40k was my limit. I did turn down one incredible offer from one school, but the quality of the education at SAIC is so much better. For me its been worth it.
  16. SAIC can be very interdisciplinary. I don't know a lot about the photo department, but one student I know exhibited all sculpture and installation in the MFA show. Most of what I see at SAIC is your standard MFA large format photography, but I haven't seen much of photo's work. http://adamekberg.com/home.html Adam Ekberg was a recent graduate. You can take any class and work 1 on 1 with professors in any department, so it can really be what you want it to be. There are enough faculty at the school you can always find people to work with. I would agree that the school seems to be a little too polished sometimes, but Columbia will probably be more so.
  17. I think your work would definitely fit the school. I have a friend there now who likes it and seems to be learning a lot. I personally wouldn't want to go anywhere with those kind of conceptual restrictions, but many people don't mind.
  18. SAIC allows MFA students to take curatorial classes in the Arts Administration dept.
  19. Just check previous years' funding threads, as far as studios go pretty much everyone gets a studio, not just painters.
  20. I would agree that just entering the work you have now in exhibitions isn't going to help much. You say that you want to apply to a more interdisciplinary program, but your work is mostly painting. If you have an opportunity to do an installation or create something more site-specific as part of an exhibition I would definitely jump on that, but don't spend your time and money sending your work you have now to tons of juried shows. The work is the most important thing, and it seems like this is your first body of work from undergrad. They need something more developed than that. btw, have you seen Tacita Dean's work?
  21. It is experience and readiness. Exhibitions are a little part of it, but also anything else that might be on your resume, like residencies, grants, curating, teaching, traveling, etc. But really the experience is about having the time out of school to develop a practice a little more on your own and have it progress over time. Also, you need the time to investigate conceptually the themes and discourse your interested in, do lots of reading and exploring. An undergraduate degree in art is not enough in itself to ready people for grad school usually. If you do apply now, you must also have some good answers as to why you want to go to grad school now. I know because I went after only taking 1 year off.
  22. I would look outside of top 10 schools mostly. Getting into these is an apply and pray type of process, whereas schools ranked between 20-100 will give you a lot better chance of getting to choose a location, if that is really important to you. Also, if you are applying straight out of undergrad, your chances of getting into a Yale or UCLA are very slim.
  23. are you in NC or SC? UNCGreensboro gives full tuition waivers to its in state grads as well as assistantships.
  24. I am a current sculpture student there: Pros: as mentioned above, but I want to emphasize that students really have a lot of freedom and flexibility, the faculty don't come in with the expectation that you need to be broken and re-born again under their supervision as some schools do. - amazing class choices, anything you can think of in materials, techniques or theory, discourse. - lots of opportunities to travel, they give out travel grants about every month. Cons: - the school is expensive - the weather in Chicago sucks during winter, its great during summer, Chicago morphs into a different city when its warm. - You may have to push yourself a little to get the most out of the city, there are incredible lectures, events, people in Chicago that makes up for not having a university attached to SAIC, you just have to try. - The school really pushes professional practices (which can be a pro for many), they just like to reap the benefits through PR. This school is a PR machine. In addition: Spraypaint is illegal throughout all of Chicago, but in the school its easy enough to get. I definitely recommend living in Chicago, but its definitely a different beast that NY or LA. I have been very impressed with the school, its a big administrative mess of rules, but I think the graduate degree here can be whatever you want it to be, based on what people/classes you decide to work with.
  25. hey,you found me! What have you been up to? I was reading your blog a few days ago.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use