TheStranger

Sometimes you have to fail before you success...just don't give up!

Wow...so many heads of departments leaving at the same time...can't be coincidence. It does sound like internal politics...probably a good thing. Are they leaving by this year?

Sometimes you just have to stare at something like that and just smile. "There are no answers. Only choices." Put yourself in the best position you can and you will end up where you should. Janet Echelman applied to seven different art schools, was rejected by all seven, and became a well known and renown artist soon after. Life is funny like that. Embrace it for every impossible statistic that it is. If you really & truly want something and are confident in yourself, you cannot fail...you can only give up. If you aren't confident, ask yourself why and fix it. If you aren't sure if you want it as badly as every other applicant, ask yourself why. Good luck to everyone applying soon.

Thank You. I will look more into rutgers.

Well I must admit you seem very knowledgeable of graduate programs. For someone who's portfolio will be a hybrid of drawing, painting, digital projection, sculpture and installation...what would you recommend? I am only interested in east coast schools, preferably in New York and with a good name. Thanks for the advice.

Are the percentages your ballpark estimates based on anything in particular or is there a site that shows the statistics? But yeah I guess it all has to do with diversity in styles...can't explain it beyond that.

Turned 25 this year. Planning on applying to an MFA program end of next year 2012 when I'm 26....so I should be in a program at 27... Is there an average age for MFA students??? I will be done with my art education by 30....sounds somewhat strange to say.

Just wanted to reply back about how I dealt with this issue. The curator and I ended up using two white painted wood blocks to distinguish where the lines attatched to the floor. During the art opening, a professor, worried about the piece being walked into, assigned two students to stand at each point where the string attached to the floor like body guards. It worked and no one walked into the piece. I joked often about how I was just waited for someone to walk into it but having two people stand guard did the trick, and when the gallery was not busy, the small white blocks did the job. Thanks for the replies guys.

I am very open minded but I would appreciate how one can decipher the importance of such work as the two below I found on the Yale Art website. I want to be enlightened...I am not here to be sarcastic. I am genuinely interested in knowing why this "kind of work" is being produced in Yale's MFA program...a school I am very interested in. Conceptualization? Outsider Art? Etc. I thought this question was most appropriate to be asked here where I would not receive purely sarcastic remarks but remarks which lends to experience in the art world, the higher art education system and contemporary art. I understand Yale is number 1 for their MFA Drawing & Painting program. I understand the top schools in the country generally are very much geared towards conceptual art or art which takes risks and attempts to be Avant-garde. I actually have done enough research to abandon my observed realism approach for a very fresh and much more conceptual and 'interesting' approach I feel certain is appropriate for such conceptual lenses these schools view portfolio submissions with. I feel like realism in schools like Yale seem to be in an extreme minority form my observations (it feels like 10%-20%!). While I love the work I am doing now, I do feel like my love for the observed figure will return once I am in an MFA program and I hope to take my adventurous approaches in my art now to figurative painting later. I suppose the artist below is using figurative art and approaching it in a child-like manner for some kind of statement...but I would imagine the statement would be more than that...seeing how that idea has been done many times before. My ultimate goal/dream is to get into a top art school (Yale, RISD or Columbia). Part of it is to move from the west coast to the east coast and get a totally different take on things and be in or near New York. My backup schools so far include USC and maybe Hunter. My current belief on my art is that I want it to cross between several genres (drawing, painting, sculpture, digital, installation), be intellectually and conceptually inspired yet retain a good deal of aesthetic value (I do not like conceptual art with a great idea and good essay but a poor visual). Yale MFA 2nd year student work

I have this suspended piece of paper using two long strings on each end from the wall to the floor. How do I make sure people don't walk into the string? I had two people already walk into it, ripping the paper, and a curator who almost walked into it even though he knew where it was! I taped around it but I know that won't be enough. I was thinking about an inch or so high piece of cardboard type 'wall' around the string areas...hoping people will see something raised as opposed to flat tape? Any suggestions? I'd hate for it was get walked into and destroyed....the show is suppose to be up for almost a month. At the same time, the invisible string with the suspended paper is what makes the piece so I can't just put flags on the string or something. Thanks!

I was told it is a waste of time and money. If you're going for your masters, than GO FOR YOUR MASTERS. Post Bac is their way of telling you, you did not get selected into their MFA program....but they see potential in you.

Would it be a good idea to split my portfolio into two different approaches with the same theme (one going slightly more sculptural with material and another using light and projectors though still using painting as the main focus?) Would that look bad or does having two strong thematic approaches viable?

I was just wondering if you can apply to a school using two portfolios of work. I have a set of work that is traditionally approached and another in the works that is much more conceptual in how it's made. I was wondering if I could apply twice to a school the same time. Could I do this? Under the same category, Painting? Or would the only way to do this is by applying to two different discipline at the same school? But basically, can I do it? And if I could, would it look bad as if I didn't know a direction to take?

Wow, you got an interview at Yale! Do you have a website of your artwork if it is for painting? I would love to see what kind of work Yale is gravitating towards!

Thanks guys. I called about National Portfolio Day, apparently held at Calarts on the west coast, and the next one is next Fall semester. So I will definitely wait to go to that when the time comes as I live in CA and I should have the majority of my work completed by that time. Has anyone else been to one of those Portfolio Days? Are their evaluations quite accurate to application acceptance results? Did you bring in large originals or did everyone just bring in digital copies? I'm going to call some schools up and ask them about 'pre application portfolio reviews' as well....it seems like it could save me a lot of time and money if certain schools already want to weed you out in the preliminary stages. I don't want to apply blind with naive hope if the school only swings certain ways. Thanks again guys!

So I've stayed to a basic common theme of urban/nature as well as social aspects. I'm doing an installation piece using gaint sheets of paper and rubbing surfaces. So it's a drawing but it also uses lights and it's suspended in space. I also have a piece that uses a projector to view and it was about not using the artist's hand. So it's somewhat abstract/conceptual but the same theme. And I wanted to know if I could mix these 'drawings' with my portfolio of paintings and drawings. Also, my paintings consist of broken mirror adhered to the wall sculpturally, and a piece that uses glass and metal and is 4" deep to use the void space. My stuff is mainly painting and drawing but because it beginning to merge into other things, I wanted to know if I could just add things that are even more different but stick to my theme and concept.

So I was looking over how fast I finish paintings and drawings, and even though I want to apply at the end of this year, I don't think I'll realistically finish on time. Therefor, I was thinking maybe I could use as much as I could to apply to my dream school and just see what they say about what I have so far. So I feel I'd go in unprepared and ready to be rejected. So my question is, is it okay to turn in mostly the SAME art pieces the next year to the same school but maybe removing a couple of weaker pieces and adding several stronger pieces? Would they frown upon seeing a portfolio with a majority of the same things they saw last year? Example, turn in 16 pieces. They reject it. Next year I replace 6 pieces with stronger newer ones but have 10 of the same pieces from last time.

That's pretty cool. BTW, I'm also going to check out Vitamin P today. The book is out of press so it was hard to find but I'll be driving 20 miles out to take a look. Thanks!

This painting I'm working on right now is all customized in terms of the frame. It's 4'x4'....4" deep on the wall... and it's about 100 lbs...if not heavier. Do I have to use wire and look for studs in the wall to mount it? I plan to mount it in class on those white walls that students usually pin in their art with thumb tacks.

@ Demain: Thanks for such a great breakdown of your experiences of schools. It seems money is always going to be a big factor. Do you find out all the scholarships and possible financial aid a school will offer upon being accepted to a school? I am hoping financial aid will make going to an expensive school possible. I'd hate to apply just to be accepted and find out I can't afford it. My folks keep asking me how I plan on paying for school and I just keep banking on the idea that I'll get financial aid or possibly a scholarship. From what you say, MICA and Tyler seems to be a damn good school. I live in LA so I don't really want to take classes at UCLA as I feel the art world is in New York and I must go there for the experience and change. I guess I'll try to find out how generous they are with financial aid. I only work a part time job and live in an apartment with 3 other roommates. It's not like I'm rich.

I'll fudge my art around a bit in terms of the order. It makes little sense to put yourself at a disadvantage for....seemingly no reason at all.

Yeah, first impressions are very important... To add to my other inquery on schools.... I always hear Hunter is a good art school, plus it's in New York. But it's also a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I am a little uneasy to think about applying to a community college after all my hard work and money...the idea that if I got in, I'd be flying across the country after 2 years of work and be like,'wtf!' So how is Hunter?

Oh one more general question to anyone who's gone through the interview process. I plan on applying for next year's admissions (December 2011). So I would be showing art I've done over the course of two years. I know my art will evolve and improve and become more sophisticated. I've only finished 6 pieces so far but my next few in progress are much more interesting and stronger in idea. I know Yale states on their website that they want you to put your work in chronological order....but I've always been told to put your strongest piece first and last to give a good impression. And I don't want to put my 'first' piece first because it would be the weakest one! Considering their 'rules,' is this chronological order rule one to be broken easily? Would they care? Or does a portfolio that starts out weak and then gets better in actual chronological order something to stay with and use to your advantage? I'd hate the panel to look at my first painting in my portfolio and just say "No!" when I have much stronger and more recent work I could use as a 'first impression.' As of now, I feel like I should pick my strongest piece and put it first, and then put the rest in chronological order. Kind of like a compromise....or you could think of it as a cover to a chronological portfolio???

What were your thoughts on Tyler, MICA, Hunter, NYU, and UCLA in respects towards figurative artists and not super-conceptual artists? Those are all very strong big name schools.

That's really refreshing to hear. I've been getting more aware of the art of today. Looking at New American Paintings magazine, Blue Canvas and looking to find the book Vitamin P. I hope to keep evolving my work...and I hope the panel who judges my portfolio will see how I've been growing during the making of my work and take that into consideration.