The-Fourth-Dimension

Holy moley! Dude, you're a BAD-ASS. Those are absolutely beautiful. You will get in where you want to go fasho. The one with the hands gripping the body, Persiphone, and the blue color-field Rothko inspired piece, Balcony, are fantasique! The psychedelic acid trip eyes and bugs and brains are just plain rad. Bravo. ??

GOOD LOOKIN OUT!!! ? YUP! I just figured this out a couple days ago with Stanford WAY after I paid the $120.00 bux for the app and the $10 or $15 or whatever it was for the Slide Room, and even emailed the faculty directly. I learned that I should ALWAYS read EVERYTHING, because schools aren't the same across the board. With Stanford you have to upload your unofficial transcripts to the last couple colleges you attended, that's a given across the board. I thought that was it and you give them your officials if they contact you. I JUST figured out that the CertiFile thing needs to be done IMMEDIATELY. I, like many others, am living very close to the bone, and at this point I can't reconcile another $50.00 for CertiFile after I already blew $135.00 for the other stuff. It would just be throwing away almost $200.00 bux. That sucks, and it's disheartening. It's all my fault and I own it. Still, tho... ? I also blew it with the letters of recommendation for Stanford. I had two recommenders that are Stanford MFA grads, one Harvard grad, and two of my professors from CSUS. I know it said only put in THREE LOR's, but Stanford gives you SIX spots! So, I put in five to be all kool. C'MON NOW!!! But that's not what I messed up on. I'm okay with that and I bet Stanford is. What I messed up on was the submission date for the LOR's. EVERYTHING was due December 1st, including LOR's. That was DUMB to turn in my thing on the due date. My first LOR went in on the second of Dec. The rest of them went in WEEKS after. The UC is mostly different except for Berkeley, same with USC. You can turn your stuff in and LOR's go in later. Fuck it. Live and learn... I'm doing my MFA this round no matter what. I can't do another season of this. It gives me too much of those anxieties. ?

MEEEE TOOOOOO!!!!!! LOL! It's kool to see some ENERGY in the forums!!! So your focus is on painting, and right now you're into installation art, but your name is Anti-Social Printmaker? PERFECT!!! You're hired! ? Are you into sharing your art? I like to share mine. The link is somewhere in my sig. I ask people to share theirs with me, but most avatars don't even want to show their identity, much less their art; so no worries if not. I looked up "Bard Art College MFA+Memes" in the Google image search but the memes were mostly about lute playing bards from the old days and the video games. But then I did a regular search and found a site called, "Meme Lab." "THE BARD MEMETICS LABORATORY (BARD MEME LAB) is an interdisciplinary research group focusing on digital memes, online media, and content dissemination." I checked out their videos and work and it reminded me too much of The Guerrilla Girls, not memes. Years ago I went to a Guerrilla Girls exhibition and one of their lectures, they aight. But like the Bard "memes," way too wordy. Memes are supposed to be concise and to the point, slapstick, not lectures. But, eh... Whatever brings one joy. That is what you're talking about, yeah? Ha ha! When I talk to non-artist people who I'm just getting acquainted with and I introduce myself as an artist, this is the kind of thing that a lot of people assume that artists do in school and practice. And they're not totally wrong. In my opinion, far too much time is spent on theoretical yakity yak yak that would be better served in the studio doing artist stuff, or just calling yourself a philosopher, instead. But, hey, it's fun, I get it I get it. The memes college, LOL!!! That's rad. ? It would be awesome if you get into the EXACT school your HEART desires. BEST OF LUCK!!!

I FEEL this right here, my dood!!! That's interesting you're applying as a painter but you're a sculptor. Yeah, these past two years have been sorta crazy in the arts, right? Since COVID I've had to stay inside a lot more because I'm a caregiver. I spend limited amounts of time at my studio because it's also a few other peoples studios connected that all have their own ideas of how when where and why to mask up. A few weeks ago a bunch of peeps who work at the studio goth the Rona, so they shut it down for a couple weeks. Like you, I've taken up some more painting, lately, and I do it in my apartment. It's cool because I have high ceilings and really tall windows, but it's a small flat, square footage wise, which is kinda wack. I've done some restorative painting and some murals, but painting is not my thing like sculpture is. Are you down to share some of your sculpture work with me? For some reason this year people are all sketched out about sharing their work or even identities unless it's in private. So bizarre. I think it's also because a couple of these accounts might be the same person. It was like that last year, and the year before that, too. If you want to share your work you can pm/dm me. That's what other artists on the board have been doing. I'll keep your identity on the low. I've been taking up painting mood textures. It's lazy, but it keeps me creative when I can't be at the studio. I was going around for a while with this girl that did a lot of moody texture painting, but really colorful like her mood. I ripped off what she was doing but when I do the mood painting it comes out all gloomy. LOL!!! Here's a pic of a couple pieces I'm working on, right nao. Which university did you apply at?

Any other sculptors up in here??? I know that a grip of you are painters, and a couple of you shot me some cool stuff you're doing in new media. That's awesome! BUT WHERE MY 3D DESIGN PEOPLE AT???

Whazzz crackin 123123435!!!!! Got all my apps in. The only colleges I want to attend are in California, and the only California institutions I would want to attend are UC Irvine, San Diego State University, USC, Stanford, or UCSD. I feel really good about UCI and maybe SDSU. UCSD would be rad but I'm not sure they want Chicano arte, there. I'm already on deferral for USC, but when I deferred last year I thought that the C0VID festival would be here for a limited time only, which would make time for me to work a grip to save up some money because USC is mad expensive. Well, here we are with C0VID being more infectious than ever. I wish C0VID would just go away. C0VID is like that super annoying guy who stayed at the party WAY too long and killed millions of people. I have NO idea what to think about Stanford, as far as chances go. We'll see how that goes. All in all if every one of my new applications falls through I've got USC, and that ain't so bad. Expensive, tho. But I'd tear it UP at USC. I love L.A. Plus, USC is my numero UNO, anyway. Where did you apply? Do you think your chances are good? How come you only applied at one place?

Fasho. I appreciate you. But this other avatar posted claiming to be a UCSD student who is full-on recommending UCSD. They even answered questions of a poster besides me. Kinda odd they completely ignored me. How come you answered when I asked the "Artsy2000" poster? Are you at UCSD? Because if you are then maybe you could answer these inquiries instead with some images? I would really appreciate that! ??

IS ANYONE GETTING THE "CRAZIES," YET??? I know I'm all middle aged and everything and I'm supposed to be jaded, but when I applied last year I was freaking out. I have a very select handful of joints I would like to attend where I feel like my life experience would benefit their department, and I don't want to share my accomplishments and skill-set with just any school. LOL!!! I KNOW I'm worrying for no reason. But on one hand it's sort of fun to worry!!! And on the other it sucks. BUT I WANT THIS TO BE FUUUUUN! During last application season when I got my interview notification I was like "WHOA!!!" Then I thought I screwed up my interview because I was super sick and felt like I came off incoherent. Later when I was accepted to the program and the school that I wanted, I was floored and felt kinda like I was dreaming because this MFA thing is a HUGE deal to me and where I attend is paramount. I knew exactly where I wanted to go and only applied to that one institution. I'm getting the crazies mostly over my written stuff. I wanted to be totally genuine in my delivery, so I was. But what if they're all like, "this fool is too rough around the edges," or whatever? I'm also worried about agism. Yes, agism is a real thing, and all of you will face it once you hit about 40 years old if you're not with a union. Also, it doesn't seem like there are a lot of schools interested in Chicano artists. This is unfortunate, especially in Califas. I narrowed down my schools pretty significantly. A few months ago I was going to apply at about a dozen schools. I ended up applying at only 4. I know you're SUPPOSED to apply at mass amounts of schools so they can fight over you or whatever, but I didn't feel ethically correct applying to programs where I definitely wouldn't attend. What if I bumped someone from consideration to a program I never intended on going to??? That would be very terrible. The schools I ended up applying to are as follows: SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY: I applied at SDSU because my parents went there and I am used to the campus. I spent a lot of time there in the late 80's and the 1990's sitting in on art classes when I was a kid. I made friends with Professor Jesus "Jess" Dominguez and he guided me in bronze sculpting for my first sculpture public art project. I used to skate the campus a lot, too. I can't think of any downsides to SDSU at all. It's a kick-ass school all the way around and anyone would be lucky to go here. UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO: I like UCSD because of the great smelling campus and beach location. It's right by my old surf spots, and I used to work at UCSD as an audiovisual engineer/stagehand at the La Jolla Playhouse, so it also has that familiarity. One downside is that the public transportation between downtown San Diego to the UCSD campus area kinda sucks. Also, the campus is all over the place in sections. But it's a really wonderful and romantic place that gets this beautiful fog in the morning, and it smells nice everywhere you go! You haven't lived until you've sat on the cliffs at Blacks Beach with your girl and enjoyed the sunset. ❤️ STANFORD: From a pragmatic perspective it's a no-brainer. The stipend is unbeatable, as are the work and teaching opportunities, not to mention the cost of campus housing compared to the Bay Area in general. Attending Stanford would solve a lot of problems for me regarding living and housing. I want to have a part-time job that doesn't require a lot of thought so I can focus the maximum amount of my time on my art and craft in the studio. I've spent a little bit of time in Palo Alto, and it reminds me of places like San Luis Obispo, Davis, Berkeley, etc... It's aight. SF is right there if you want to go off, but the traffic is insane. If you're into the gamour thing, Stanford is considered an elite level prestigious school. Ya knoe, I think Stanford needs a Chicano Artist. ? UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, IRVINE: Two of my friends attended UCI in the late 90s - early aughts. I love the beach vibe and the campus is pretty modern if you're into that look. I have a lot of fond memories of partying with UCI students in Newport Beach and acting all crazy. The proximity to surf spots suits me well, plus its in between San Diego and L.A. I also like the high density of Chicano laborers in the area. But it's in Orange County, and that makes me a little uneasy. If you have body or looks insecurities about yourself, Irvine/Orange County and that area will probably make you feel worse because that area is dense with people who are physically beautiful, and they know it. One thing I REALLY like about UCI is that they guarantee housing for up to 3 years for MFA/Grad students. Thats crazy/ausm! There are the professors for these institutions, too. I've got my opinions on who I want to work with, but that's more personal than I want to share in a forum. I would feel honored to go to any of these schools. I hope that YOU get into the EXACT program you want!!! ☮️???

Hello! I used to work at UCSD in the La Jolla Playhouse. I really like the campus. I recently turned in an application for the UCSD MFA program. I'm actually from San Diego and have been living in Northern California for while. Are there any artists that focus on Chicano Art in the UCSD MFA program? What about sculptors, specifically sculptors who create large-scale art? Do they have a good metal-work studio? What about bronze? Do they have a metal forge? Are any of the professors interested in large-scale metalwork?

GOOD MORNING! As far as I know, you don't have a choice. I'm not sure why they do that. Hopefully you've gone over what you would like your letter writers to highlight about you and made sure that the letter that they write will be a FANTASTIC letter and not some boring thing. I've never asked to read a LOR. I make sure that I approach the people I have the best relationships with who know me and my work on a deep level.

NAHHH G!!! Art is the way of the WALK. Art is always interesting. People are always interested in it. There are TONS of applications going in, and I know you are gonna get in, too! If you do the numbers, (which I did), this year is actually popping off harder than the past five years, and I didn't even count the other 2022 "COVID" FOF. Peep this: Let's use the 2022 Freak Out Forum as a baseline, okay? We will look at the date that the FOF threads were launched each year, how many days they were up from original posting until December 24th, how many posts were initiated, and how many individuals posted in each FOF from beginning up to December 24th. ? 2022 FOF started on 3-October. It has 82 days online up to December 24th. The 2022 FOF has 130 posts, and 29 posters, (individual avatars posting). ? 2018 FOF was created on 3-September. Compared to 2022 it had 112 days online up to December 24th which is 136% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2018 FOF has 41 posts up to December 24th which is 31% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2018 individual posters number 22 up to December 24th which is 75% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th. The 2018 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 30 days. ? 2019 FOF was created on 2-October. Compared to 2022 it had 83 days online up to December 24th which is 101% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2019 FOF has 76 posts up to December 24th which is 58% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2019 FOF individual posters number 24 up to December 24th which is 82% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th. The 2019 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 1 day. ? 2020 FOF was created on 25-September. Compared to 2022 it had 90 days online up to December 24th which is 109% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2020 FOF has 29 posts up to December 24th which is 22% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2020 FOF individual posters number 18 up to December 24th which is 62% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th. The 2020 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 8 days. ? 2021 FOF was created on 9-September. Compared to 2022 it had 106 days online up to December 24th which is 129% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2021 FOF has 156 posts up to December 24th which is 120% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2021 FOF individual posters number 27 up to December 24th which is 93% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th. The 2021 FOF showed less posters, more posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 24 days. Of note, one poster in the 2021 FOF posted 54 out of the 156 posts counted up to December 24th which is 35% of the total up to December 24th. That skewed the average significantly in relation to 2022. To put that in perspective: I've personally posted 29 times in the 2022 forum, the most posts thus far. This means that out of 130 posts, I've contributed 22% of the total to this forum to date. In statistics anything above 33% is significant. I don't care if someone posts a lot, I welcome it. It would be rad if people were posting more! I just had to point that out because of the statistical implication. ? But, yeah... 2022 is rocking it!!! ❤️?????❤️

Hi!!! I don't do social media or spend a lot of time on the internet, so I don't have much of anywhere online to give out any sort of good will to but this forum! ? I just ate a big Christmas Eve dinner and laid down on the couch all lazy to listen to some music the enjoy the evening and check out some internet stuff. I figured I would wish everyone here a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! ? This is my favorite time of the year, you know??? There's the Charlie Brown specials, and sparkly Christmas trees, the colorful lights, the kids running around acting crazy, and presents and food and candy and EVERYTHING! I'm so happy to see the gente appreciating it all and never forgetting about giving gratitude for what we have and understanding that there are billions of people out there that don't have the good things that we do. ? Thank you to the big man upstairs for my familia, for love, for coffee (of cooourse), for friends, for ARTE, for all of the things that make life worthwhile, and for everything else. ?‍?‍?‍? From the bottom of my heart I want to wish YOU Feliz Navidad próspero año y felicidad! I want YOU to know that no matter what, there is someone special out there that loves YOU EXACTLY for who YOU are! ?❤️????????

In case you were going to be applying to Cornell, this week, as I had planned to; I was bummed to see the following on their arts page, tonight: "As of December 17, 2021, the Department of Art at Cornell AAP and Cornell Graduate School will pause the acceptance of applications for our Master of Fine Arts program for the 2022–23 academic year. We thank you for your patience and understanding as the college plans for transformative updates to The Foundry, a historical building housing the art department's private M.F.A. studios, flex spaces, and sculpture studio. We look forward to reopening a state-of-the-art facility to our community as soon as the renovation is complete. We expect to open applications next year. Please contact the AAP Admissions team at artinfo@cornell.edu for more information." Cornell Graduate Admissions Art Page ?

THIS made me LOLIRL. ??? It's true! BBBBBAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! LoOLoloooL)o)l0olO0lo0OL)Ol!!! Thanks for fixing the "at." ?

Expecting privacy as a community contributor and critiquer is not the equivalent as using an MFA forum to air your personal grievances and accusing an entire Art Department and campus police of conspiring against you to commit rape and theft without offering any supporting evidence or personal identity. I can't just go into court anonymously, firing on all eight cylinders, accusing someone of jacking my van without any proof and then expecting everyone to take me seriously just because I SAY so. I put my personal information out there because I like people to know who I am when I share opinions and information with them. If others want to post anonymously, then that's what they do and is their business and right. Plenty of people here on the FOF have PM'd me with their portfolios and personal info to check out. I respect their privacy and would never share their identity. That is the correct way to behave. If anyone on any forum is anonymously posting other people's personal information by first and last name with addresses and phone numbers and places of employment included and then accusing them of rape and theft without any sort of factual content or proof, then at the very least the inquiry should be addressed as to who THEY are. I did that in a kind way, and the poster accused ME of harassing them. Now I'M the bad guy, too? Okay... Yeeesh... That's not justice, that's trolling. There cannot be an expectation that people are allowed to post other peoples DIRECT PERSONAL INFORMATION, accuse them of heinous acts, and then feign outrage when an individual asks the poster about their identity. That's not justice, nor is it fair. That is called slander. Evidence is crucial and is expected in a justice oriented society where the accused are afforded the Presumption of Innocence. The United States has several amendments to the constitution that outline this. Even the International Criminal Court has Article 66 that accused individuals are given the Presumption of Innocence. If ALL of that doesn't matter to a society and we should just believe every anonymous poster because they SAY SO, then why should we have ethical and moral expectations of one another at all? This poster I am addressing didn't "reach out" for help. Their first comment was an attempt to WRECK people, by NAME and PERSONAL info, anonymously. Fuck that. I'm going to drop this, right now, because I gotta say that this years FOF is kooky and I feel like I'm being trolled. From the OP who started this years 2022 FOF and never posted again, to the intermittent anonymous argumentative posts, to the rando pop-up posters that just appear out of thin air to upvote, to the drama posters... this years forum is off, and it's impossible to ignore. I hope it gets better.

No one is trying to "out" you. What I stated is that I would appreciate it if I knew the identity of the person who is accusing the police, and entire MFA faculty of theft, rape, and assorted illegalities. I am not insensitive to your alleged situation, but I am thoroughly skeptical of ANY anonymous posts on the internet, about ANYTHING, especially accusations of rape and illegal acts. My "management" of ths forum??? This is not MY forum, and I don't "manage" anything. Because of your assessment, I've gone back and reread every post I've dropped, and zero of my posts are "harassing" anyone. This forum is about opinions and academic discussion, and that's what I engage in. I am private messaging you the remainder of my original post because I think it is worth reading, but I don't think it's appropriate for this forum. (I edited this post for length and forum decorum)

This sounds bad, and I would not want any student, or ANYONE to be in the sort of position that you outlined. People from around the world have access to this forum, including those who would wish to harm the United States with "fake news" and propaganda. So please let the forum know who you are so there is a human being in this story. At this point, apparently, there is no further recourse that the school can take against you, so you have nothing to fear, and it could help other scholars to interact with you. As a scholar, myself, I've learned that information must be sourced from peer reviewed material that is open for discussion and scrutiny as to bias and fact-checking. Because you feel like you are in the correct side of this, it stands to reason that you would be best representing yourself as a primary source. Again, I feel for anyone encountering a situation like you've put forth, but asking people to believe you just because you say so isn't ethical or reasonable, especially to scholars. To put it more succinctly... Who are you?

HI! Anyone else attend the UCLA thing, yesterday? I'd like to hear other people's impressions of what was discussed. Here's what I thought: When I did the panels with USC, Stanford, UCI, Berkeley, etc... I have so far felt that the professors were interested in the student body and what was going on, and that the students felt that there was something worthwhile at their particular learning institution that set them apart from others, besides the big name. I did not get that impression, with UCLA. I brought up a question as to if UCLA has, is, or was ever directly involved with public art, specifically with respect to the Chicano community. The moderator took my question and muddied it up with two other peoples questions and gave it back as an incoherent statement about how rad it was to be in L.A. because people in L.A. like to dance, have art shows, and do art stuff. Great... The question came up several times asking the panel, "what makes UCLA stand out as a particular institution for the pursuit of art?" Again, "people in L.A. like to dance, have art shows, and do art stuff." The entire panel completely lacked focus. The painting instructor was talking about how she wishes people would talk to her about sculpture, the photography instructor was talking about New Media, and the sculpture instructor did not have much to say about anything relevant to what I do, in art. The student body was really bizarre and had to constantly be coerced and pushed into speaking. One of the students was a major in Russian linguistics, and didn't even claim to be an artist. Another student was an English major, or something??? They were trying to be all like, "look how kool and diverse we are," but it didn't feel like that. It felt disjointed. Between the non-art students who never introduced their craft in depth, and the professors who had no center, I couldn't make heads or tails of what the point was. The most asked question was, "what does UCLA want to see in a portfolio?" The heck... YOUR ART. The panel offered few reasons to consider UCLA as any more relevant than any other school other than, "we're UCLA." One of the big selling points of pursuing an MFA at UCLA, however, was 24 hour studio access. I already had that during undergrad. Third year upper division undergraduates at my university got their own studios, too, and that was at Cal State. The other big selling point for UCLA was the ability to learn and do whatever you want, which seems totally unstructured and reflects as such in the student bodies artwork. And, of course, they kept repeating "people in L.A. like to dance, have art shows, and do art stuff." I looked up the professors and students in the panel, during the discussion, and their art certainly did not blow me away, and the community outreach was non-existent, especially compared to USC. Seems like the perfect students for UCLA are the kind who like to yakkity yak yak about philosophy, social justice, and "critical art theory." If that's what they do there, then kool, that's awesome. But I don't think that's for me. I need to continue to create PUBLIC ART FOR THE PEOPLE. I'm still going to apply at UCLA because they have Rodney McMillian, and I really would like to be either in L.A., or the Bay. Plus, I'd really like an opportunity to work in an environment and be that person who takes other artists with me into the public art domain, but that USC deferment is looking better and better, every day. Did you have a different experience? What are your thoughts? Did UCLA come off to you as AMAZING as the students & faculty claimed it was? Do tell.

UCLA FACULTY AND STUDENT PANEL FOR PROSPECTIVE MFA STUDENTS Saturday, December 4TH, 1:00PM Pacific Time "Please join us as UCLA Art faculty and students discuss the MFA program and application review process. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions of panelists following the discussion." --> UCLA MFA WEBINAR REGISTRATION <--

IT'S PICKLE! Hi Pickle! ? How come everyone here is called foods and animals??? There's Pickle, KillerDonut, KatFūde, Strawberry Kat, AncientQuail, and then TheRealSriacha. Strawberry Kat and KatFūd are interesting because they are both foods, both animals, and both kats. I don't know if you being as anxious as me makes me feel any better, but at least I know that you and I are in the same boat and feeling nervous about the same thing together. Ha ha! For realz, tho. ??? Would you be willing to share your art? If you don't want to put it on the board you can D.M. me. I'm gonna submit tomorrow. I know there's at least one other person on here that applied at Stanford. What if we all got in? Wouldn't that be weird? I appreciate your kind words. Good luck to you, as well!!!

DOOOOOOOOOOOOD! Is anyone else applying to Stanford??? Tomorrow is the due-date for MFA applications, and I'm still sitting here not finishing my app. I don't know why, but I feel nerve wracked about it. I'm mid-aged, so I shouldn't be phased about this, but i am, I'm totally phased. I realize that it's just school, and I've got several other programs I'm applying to, but Stanford is special to me. I feel like I've got a good shot at acceptance, and that I'm a really strong candidate. Still, I've lost some sleep over this. There are a few schools that mean a lot to me: Stanford, USC, Yale, and a couple of the UC's, as well as San Diego State University. I've lived in San Diego, L.A., and the central valley, and I think that living in the Bay Area would round out the Califas experience, but I'm torn about Los Angeles because L.A. is the edge of the world, and where I NEED to be for art, period. Is anyone else currently accepted to a good program but exploring other options? Is anyone as nervous/excited as me, or has the pandemic and crazy politics over the past few years burned everyone out and jaded us? Times are still so weird. I feel like I did a couple of years after the 9/11 terror attacks, like everything is fundamentally different now, but it hasn't caught up yet. We're STILL in this COVID thing with no sign of it slowing down. What if this new strain really starts taking people out again? Will we even be in class next fall??? What is the future for the arts??? Maaaan... Crazy stuff.

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!! It's friggin 10 DAYS & counting for Stanford. That's the day I'm turning in all my applications, as well, I think... I'm not a studio artist who does shows, so I don't have tons of studio art to add to my 2021 portfolio for this year since last round. I've got two 2021 moving picture pieces I'm completing using MAX 8, TouchDesigner, and After Effects. I have a good amount of art from 2020 and the years before. I've also got a few public art pieces that I'm gonna use in my portfolio that aren't complete yet that will not be finished until Late December 2021 and January 2022. I'm posting them in my submission portfolio as "works in progress." PLEASE SHARE YOUR PORTFOLIO LINKS! I would love to see what's up with everyone. Plus, I'm certain it would help you! We're all artists, and the goal is to let others see our art, so It's fun to share. ? Please check my partial portfolio, out. I'll provide the link below. It's my art group's site, but all the art below the first few painted pieces are all mine, starting with the large bronze sculpture of Zapata. I'll prob add the last couple moving pictures vids in the next week. If you were here for the last round you might have already seen my portfolio. I'm excited to see what all the kool kidz are producing!!! Plus, it's good to put someone's art and face to their name and avatar. ? Stone 1 Art ?

YES! ∆∆∆THIIIISSSSS∆∆∆ Some of the programs I'm applying to are very much in this "art theory" type of thing. I've never seen the use of it when I see dirt or paint shavings strewn about a gallery with some plastic hanging over here with a broken chair, and calling that "art." In higher education, I've felt bullied into accepting this... situation... as something that society MUST endure. Like "Piss Christ," things of that nature. The art that I create is public, fine art for the PEOPLE, not studio art for elite ivory tower intellectuals who like to mill about with their wine and talk about the academic side of whatever they do. It's boring, pretentious, and doesn't serve the public good. All through my lower division education I was told that "Chicano Art isn't 'high art,'" and that I need to get more "experimental," whatever the heck that means. There's been experimental art from the Dada all the way through the Fluxus and Postmodern. It's been a hundred years, and we've WON at that kind of bleeding edge art. I try to create beautiful things that the working class finds relatable, and that's what I'm going to stick with. I've definitely felt discriminated against for being Chicano, and creating that type of work. This year I've created a few experimental art pieces for the EXACT thing you state about having to conform to this old Postmodern/theoretical motif, but I recoil and feel awful when I look at my own art, in that style. I believe that reluctance to experiment is keeping me back in the academic art world, for sure. I'm not trying to bag on anyone on a personal level if they work in that sphere, but it's not me, and I'm tired of being told that my representational public art just doesn't hold up against a bunch of paint being thrown against a wall, or a blank canvas that's supposed to make you think about oppression, or whatever. I won't be including anything in my portfolio that doesn't represent me and the working class. Everything I include will be beautiful and for the people.

That's really good advice. I'm a year out of graduation from the CSU, and I don't really have any peers up here in Northern California to talk to about it because I'm from San Diego. Since I've been in Sacra I really haven't gone out of my way to form a peer group, so reading people's ideas like yours on this board is helpful. I think you're right. I need to put this material away for a while, to be sure. I've read it every day for the past few weeks. I know it's not good or productive to do that, but getting an MFA in the program you want is one of those things you do in your life that can and should change the course of everything you've got going on. I feel like what I'm doing with my education is one of the most impactful things I'm doing with my life, because it is. There is so much opportunity to be had while working towards an MFA when you go to school in a city that is NEAR things. It's why I want to be in L.A., San Diego, or the Bay. I've been looking at "higher level" art schools like Cranbrook and Yale. they look cool, but they aren't near anything. That doesn't seem worth it to me. I learned how to be creative when I was like 5-10 years old. I refined it in my teen years. I got good at it as an adult. And as an undergrad I learned why I WANT to do this as a full-time gig. Now that getting my MFA is a thing, I want to make sure that I'm in a situation to link up and do awesome things with others like myself, and be in an area where something is always going off. I NEED to work with professors that are on the same trip as me, that's why I clicked with Nao and Edgar and Jennifer and Ruben. I don't need to up my art game, I need to up my DOING COOL STUFF in a great area game. That's why my write-ups are flipping me out. I'm going to stop reading my stuff for a week. I'll read it once moar, next Monday, then I'll turn in all my apps next week and see what's crackin.

HI!!! ? I've got my letters of recommendation confirmed, my portfolio is as solid as it's gonna get, and my history, backstory and all that is good. At this point I feel confident about submitting my applications. But at the same time I don't feel confident at all. SOME OF YOU GUYS OUT THERE CREATE SOME DAMN GOOD ART. It's intimidating. ? I don't remember if it was the Stanford or UC Berkeley open house where I heard this, but allegedly, the earlier you get your application in, the better. But I keep getting this feeling of dread every time I think about submitting what I've got, like all of a sudden something in my life is gonna happen that's going to take me to the next level because I've still got a few public art projects that won't be finished until years end. But if I don't submit till January then I don't submit till January, which sucks. Has anyone submitted yet? Do schools ACTUALLY care if you submit early? Specifically the UC or Stanford? I have no reason not to hit the go button, I'm just really nervous, which I shouldn't be. If for some reason all the other programs tell me to kick rocks, I'm still already admitted to a fairly prestigious art program via deferment, but it's SO expensive and the funding isn't that great. But that program is the straight up PERFECT fit for me. Has anyone been in contact with department faculty at their chosen institutions? Did it go well? Meh... Ranty thoughts... Anyone? ?