Moose?

Just wanted to add my list of schools that have interested me, most of which get overshadowed by the top 10 list, and since that stuff is already available to all prospective students, I'll leave those big guys out and focus on others. I would include: Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) Bard College University of Texas, Austin (UTA) Pratt Institute University of Wisconsin, Madison University of South Florida University of Iowa Arizona State University SUNY Purchase School of Visual Arts

AhHA! Found it. Louise Lawler (I don't know how I forgot her, she is huge). She was in the last Biennial, back in 2008. Professor Michael Ashkin had stuff in the Whitney back in the late 90's too. And we have Mia Pearlman currently in the Museum of Art and Design in NY for this great show called 'Slash: Paper Under the Knife'. Seriously, it's an amazing show, but I think it closes soon. They also have a MICA grad, named Adam Fowler, who made these amazing graphite drawings. His work was possibly my favorite stuff in the show.

Hey Littlenova, IDK why they moved on, could be any number of reasons, promotion, raise, who knows, but they were fabulous while they were on the faculty. They always offered amazing advice. I think Patti was always meant as a temporary person on staff. But again, I'm not privy to that info. In this current Biennial we have one person in the show that I know of. In the 2008 we had another, a photographer. I don't remember her name but I have it written down somewhere. James Sienna was in the 2004 Biennial. Susan Rothenburg has been around forever and has been, in that past, the lone voice of figurative painting in a 'painting is dead' era. Richard Artschwager is another notable, but he studied science at Cornell, so I don't think that counts, haha. Christopher Rouse has won a Guggenheim, a Friedheim, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Grammy, an honorary doctorate, “Best of the Year Award” from Gramophone etc. He did art and music simultaneously at Cornell. There are more, not nearly as many as most of the 'best' schools out there. I'm not arguing that Cornell is a top notch program, it isn't. But it IS growing in a number of ways, and it is getting some attention. The point to my earlier post was twofold. I wanted to hear more specifics as to WHY people don't like the program and not just generalities (I'm interested to know what it lacked, not in a 'back-up-your-opinion' sort of way, but in a 'I'm interested in your viewpoint' sort of way). Giving specifics as to why the facilities were limiting or lacking would be nice for prospective students to hear too. I also wanted to offer up some info on the school, since most of the opinions on it seem to be from the outside looking in. Volunteering at the museum next door definitely gives some insight into the program, but not as much as attending it, and I wanted to offer up any info I could. And I'd love to contact you via PM regarding the fraternizing/connections issue, since you have some of your facts wrong. I wasn't daring you to blurt out someone elses private info... if you re-read the original post I said to PM me if you wanted to talk about that. In the end, every school handles this issue the same way -- If you know the dean or chair or a professor personally, your chances of getting in skyrocket. Again, this is not unique to Cornell, so demonizing it for this reason doesn't seem rational to me. It's just the way to world works sometimes, and yeah...it sucks. I'm glad you enjoyed your time in Ithaca though. And major props to your hubby. Getting into (not to mention through) Cornell is no easy task. He must be very gifted indeed.

Hey All, I've been following along for a while now and figured I'd speak up a bit regarding this topic. I'm not really sure why people have been so enthused with Cornell. I went there for my BFA and graduated a couple years back and therefore have an insiders point-of-view that maybe some perspective students might appreciate hearing. Granted, this info might be slightly out of date since I graduated two years ago, but for the most part it should be accurate. First off, it's free (plus a stipend) and you graduate with a ton of teaching experience, since you are guaranteed a TA position as part of the financial package. As far as the facilities go, I'm interested to hear why they are limiting, since the impression I got was that they are pretty good. I mean, the building was recently revamped, gutted completely and redesigned, so the facilities haven't even reached the ten year age mark. Compare that to programs like Columbia- whose facilities are god awful in every way, ancient, falling apart, super small and cramped etc etc. Granted, Cornell's program is super small, a BFA class averages 15-20 students and an MFA class averages only 5-6 students, so the facilities don't have to be as extensive as, say, Tyler School of Art's, which is a four story behemoth. But you get a private studio as an MFA (like, completely private, door and all). They have two media labs, one for advanced digital media and large format printing, the other for everything and anything else (and about 30 iMac's). They have 10 printmaking presses, including a private graduate and professor printing area with 24 hour access. For photo they have 20+ black and white enlargers, 8+ color enlargers, alternative processes lab, seriography labs, and private grad/professor areas with 24 hour access. Sculpture is a little on the aged side, but they have all the tools and equipment you could possibly need, including a foundry. Pair this with Ivy Leage resources, endowment, and notoriety, and you have a LOT of tools at your fingertips. In the end, I have never heard of a single student having issues with facilities, or being limited in any way. Additionally, they are drastically expanding their space, as the College of Architecture, Art, and City/Regional Planning are building a massive structure designed by Rem Koolhas. So that is important to keep in mind. They just started construction on this building in the past year I believe. Ther fine art library is amazing. AMAZING! The best I have EVER seen in my life. And they are connected to all the other Ivy League libraries, so if you want anything that they don't have, which is rare, they can get it for you lickity-split. The Johnson Museum is world renowned, and right next door to the art building. They have a great span of art from ancient to modern to contemporary, and they constantly have visiting artists and lectures visiting. And, because the art program is connected to the world renowned architecture, creative writing, and industrial design programs, we got a TON of interesting lecturers visiting campus all the time. And they have been introducing really interesting cross disciplinary projects between art and other programs (like creative writing). The campus is BEAUTIFUL. Gorges, plantations, gardens, fields, woods, rolling hills, Gothic architecture. Cathedrals. Lakes, ponds. Oh man, I'm just getting excited remembering it, haha. As far as faculty goes, like any school it can be hit or miss. Some professors are older and have a distinct viewpoint they might try to impose on a student. Others are wonderful. You just have to do your research and find someone who you cangel with. But this is not unique to Cornell. As far as the 'legacy' comment goes, I'm a little shocked this would be looked on as a problem, since the very notion of networking and building connections is fundamental to a professional artistic practice. And, might I add, getting connections is a primary reason why many people on this board have chosen to apply to or attend top notch institutions like MICA SAIC Columbia or Yale etc etc. So I don't see any issue with using a family or friend to get into a grad school. That being said, I know ALL the grad's and professors personally (at least the one's that came through from 2004-2008) and I can say with almost complete certainty that none of the professors are related, to each other or to any of the students. If you think I'm wrong, I'd be happy to discuss this over PM, cuz there is always a chance I missed something, haha. And if we are gonna compare Cornell to Syracuse (which I know little about first hand, but a lot about second and third hand) I just wanted to mention that according to US News, they rank equal to each other, but as we all know, what is really going on in these rankings is a mystery, haha. And as far as Grads go, I know of a few MFA's that graduated straight into gallery representation and others who went straight into teaching positions. I don't know the specifics of these instances, but it isn't uncommon. Also, our alumni consists of rock star artists like Susan Rothenburg and James Sienna, and we have people showing in the Whitney Biennial right now (Storm Tharp). Professors like Maria Park, Carl Ostendarp, Buzz Spector, Todd McGrain, Michael Ashkin, Kay Walkingstick, etc have shown internationally, are represented in NY galleries, have work in huge museum collections, and have been included in some interesting contemporary art literature. Also, writiers and critiques Buzz Spector and Patti Phillips have graced our programs administration as well. However, Patti moved on to become Dean of RISD's grad program, and Buzz moved on to a WashU in St. Louis I believe. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to clear the air about Cornell, since I do think it is a good program and it is definitely getting knocked around a little here. Haha.