SocialKonstruct

Ironically I am not baffled, MICA painting is a huge heavyweight program that graduated some the legends in the art world: 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Koons 2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Sherald 3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesley_Dill 4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Baechler 5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Enright 6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_H._Fallah 7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Louis But honestly, I don't think that your question was an issue but considering that they are pretty open to interpretation, one can see how those get twisted here.

I am embedded in what you are saying about the elitist aspects of the contemporary art world and artists tend to be very democratic or caring about each other. However, the power players and art dealers are going to be elitists (and museum directors I wouldn't even comment) so if you are trying to get museum shows and gallery representation, any idealist concept about the happy little Bob Ross community about the art world will be burst immediately. The scare tactic gets to be very brutal. As I have been making the rounds in the contemporary art world, the fact that I have seen much ugliness like my art friend getting paid by his former art dealers with bricks of cocaine instead of cash or another artist getting her artwork sabotaged by her assistant because of jealousy are more commonplace stories of how the elite and non-communal aspects of the contemporary art world function.

Knowing a few folks from MICA I am not surprised especially as their painting program is tops. Without knowing what you exactly asked in your interview this is pretty much conjecture. However, asking the director that question can be read as not a good idea and to be honest as directors are not artists but tend to be the power players in the contemporary art world they will see any question which denigrates their program as a negative. To ask what their favorite part of the program exists suggests that you see some parts of their program as second-rate or even questionable in quality. So I am not surprised that she got pissed off slightly by that question. Plus you also are asking for her opinion about the program and she is acting as an administrator and not in her artist (if she is even one) capacity so that question could be seen as very indiscreet. Thus not really an over reaction but considering the elite status of MICA, I can see the flip side of what seems to be an innocent question being overinterpretated as an intrusion.

One of my friends applied twice to Yale sculpture and she got in on her second try

https://www.chronicle.com/article/art-school-confidential/

I admit that my life story is going to be the craziest one possible :D...

https://vasari21.com/the-value-of-an-mfa/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/qkwwa7/the-price-to-pay-artists-weigh-in-on-getting-an-mfa https://brooklynrail.org/2017/10/art/The-Cult-of-Creative-Failure https://brooklynrail.org/2017/10/art/The-Cult-of-Creative-Failure

Indeed, the rate of failure is very very high for artists. Most folks who get a MFA never continue their art practice. The school sees you as an investment of their resources to have you graduate from the program with a MFA degree. If you switch to working in another field not related to art then they see that as a failure. Considering the scarce nature of art related things they want to know that you will continue doing art regardless if you have to work another job or taking 1-2 jobs to make ends meet. That's their viewpoint as I see it.

I think that's common because most MFA programs are interested in mature and experienced candidates. So if you are aged 20-25ish then will examine why a MFA for sure...

Any word from Hunter or Columbia yet?

I think that your portfolio was of exceptional quality so they couldn't decline it Positive thinking here

I suspect most folks don't get more than 1 MFA degree because of cost?

If you are into bio-art then SVA would be just perfect tbh.

No worries. In fact I have an actual syllabus from one of their courses and I was blown away... Like very thoughtful and cutting-edge. You will be thinking out of the box. For example, science fiction and digital imaging/sculpting is an example... If you like classical painting from the school of La Brun this won't be it ?

I don't quite agree with the assessment with CalArts based on my friend's experience. Regardless, CalArts has a ton of weight in the contemporary art world. Also it's a West Coast art so things are going to be less formal then if you were to hang out on the East Coast. Geography and culture are going to be key factors in the art world environs.

Grats and I heard that Stamps is pretty awesome. Experimental?

It was so so awesome! His name is Patrick Winfield Vogel and we are very close friends. Expect a huge amount of tough but creative readings as well as a very open type of practice. If you want something with lots of direction or instruction by the numbers this would not be a good fit however.

I have a close friend who is right now in the CalArts Art and Tech program!

Agreed. Talks like these suggest that the MFA route could be extinct soon? Or just like painting... never will die out? https://www.vvrkshop.art/is-it-time-to-kill-the-mfa https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ebd8d21e3ef9659c2b9fec9/t/6019fe8692748b7055973b22/1612316295146/Is+It+Time+to+Kill+The+MFA+Press+Release+(1).pdf

Indeed, for me, gallery representation and being able to engage with the critical dialogue of the contemporary art world makes me happiest. Let's look at a sample gallery to see which MFA programs the graduates went to. Rachel Uffner Gallery (NYC gallery)- https://www.racheluffnergallery.com/artists Represented artists- 1) Bianca Beck- MFA from Yale University 2) Strauss Bourque-LaFrance- MFA from Tyler School of Art 3) Gianna Commito- MFA from the University of Iowa 4) Joanne Greenbaum- BA from Bard College, Annadale-on- Hudson, NY 5) Hilary Harnischfeger- MFA from Columbia University 6) Maryam Hoseini- dual MFA degrees from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL and Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. 7) Shara Hughes- BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design ? Leonhard Hurzlmeier- N/A 9) Arghavan Khosravi- MFA in Illustration from the University of Tehran 10) Anya Kielar- MFA from Columbia University, 11) Pam Lins- MFA from Hunter College 12) Hilary Pecis- MFA from the California College of the Arts 13) Sara Greenberger Rafferty- M.F.A. Columbia University 14) Curtis Talwst Santiago- Studio School, New York, USA 15) Sally Saul- MA in American Literature from the San Francisco State University 16) Roger White- MFA from Columbia University 17) Molly Zuckerman-Hartung- MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago RATIO PERCENTAGE- 5/17 of the roster are Yale or Columbia MFA graduates... Not a bad batting average! (plus SAIC is dope too)...

Yes but consider art school like in baseball as a batting average. Perhaps going to School A will give you a roster's batting average as .250 but then going to Yale would be .400 in that case. The question isn't whether success is guaranteed but in many cases, the connections which the Yale faculty, colleagues, and staff could be invaluable. Admittedly we could do all of the hustling on our own and proclaim that all MFAs are worthless. Maybe... My definition of success in my own practice would be manifold. But selling work at 7 million dollar auctions doesn't mean anything to me. Else I would have gone the Peter Max route, right? ?

I really like that program at U of Chicago. If I recall correctlly I think that Theaster Gates and Laura Litinsky are there... Magic!

I think that can happen but the name holds weight- https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mfa-degree-successful-artists-620891 This quote is striking- "Yale and the “Power Law” If you can, is it worth going to graduate school for art, though? The answer is fairly clear. Yes—if you go to Yale. Over this 50-year period, Yale’s Graduate School of Art has pumped out nearly 10 percent of all our successful artists. Indeed, if you look at the distribution of schools on the list, it follows what statisticians call a “power law”—it has a tall head and a long tail. As one blog on the concept explains, “power law” distributions are ones in which “a small number of outcomes have dramatically higher values than the remaining population.” and "Yale’s weight in this Top 500 is already more than its next two competitors, UCLA and Columbia, combined. Looking just at the MFA-trained artists on this list, a full 17 percent went to Yale." Maybe things changed since that article came out. Tradition is hard to break.

That's pretty commonplace. My friend applied twice to get in.

UCLA is very mysterious but they prefer to be low-key. Very low-key.