i think if you live in a city, you should get involved in community of artist surrounding you. for example go to shows and be friendly. and look for some kind of work in galleries or otherwise art related if you can. maybe you could try reaching out to past teachers youve had for advice?
i also don't really think forming relationships out of the blue via email is likely to produce much. ive seen this advice before and maybe someone has experience that indicates otherwise, but i would imagine, that a lot of these professors at the big schools you mentioned have a lot to deal with as is, and just don't really have time for random emails.
IF youre going to do something like that, I would pick a teacher whose work you admire in some way and work the conversation out of an interest in art, but looking for advice in a kind of teacher student dichotomy. And I would think about the time of year you send the email, are they busy with finals or whatever else.
wrt to dialing in your artist statement - i would read statements from artists you look up to. maybe look for artists whose content is circulating around similar ideas to your own and see what they had to say.
good luck!
