randomroad

I was accepted to Pratt for the MFA in Fine Arts program! If anyone is going to Pratt please feel free to PM me.

Congrats Kazoo!!! I just knew that you would end up getting into a great program!

http://nancyelsamanoudi.blogspot.com/

I am in the same boat and I feel the same way. I think that not having a BFA or at least a studio post-bac is putting me at serious competitive disadvantage. In terms of competiveness, the killer combination is the double degree (a BFA and BA in Art History). I think that even if you have a strong portfolio that admissions committees like to be reassured about an applicant’s seriousness of purpose, motivation, ambition, artistic drive, and background and that BFA or a studio post-bac may speak to that. It might also be hard for the faculty vetting applications to pass over someone who has the BFA (and probably a stronger studio arts background) over someone who has a BA in some random field. I think that this is especially true at highly competitive programs, since most of the applicants have a BFA or a studio post-bac and some actually have both. Before I applied, I asked my painting prof about this and her advice to me was don’t worry about it and apply anyways. But I am beginning to worry, since it looks like I am going to be applying next year too. Granted, there is a lot that I could have done differently, most obviously apply to a lot more programs and a range of programs. But even programs that are not particularly highly ranked seem to want applicants to have a BFA. Kent State and SMU say so explicitly on their website.

Here's my new website. It's still a work in progress. http://sites.google.com/site/nancyelsamanoudi/

Yeah, I really wish I had applied to more programs too.

animal crackers

Congrats, Kazoo!!!

Thanks, RortyRorty. I'll definitely check out Margolis’s book. I'm not familiar with Margolis's work, but the title of his book sounds promising. In terms of contemporary philosophers of art, I am mostly familiar with Arthur Danto and David Carrier. Thier books tend to be very interesting and very readable. I was especially impressed by David Carrier's Museum Skepticism. It's a great book for artists who want to think about art and art institutions philosophically.

I looked up "The Craft Reader" on Amazon and it looks like pretty heavy reading to me. Mentioning books in applications is tricky business, because even if you've read it, studied it, and written about it, it can come off like you're just saying what someone else wants to hear. I don't like jargon filled theory, but I'm a philosophy junkie. I like Nietzsche and Merleau-Ponty. I also like Danto's Andy Warhol, because it's smart and written in plain English.

I am just posting this out of curiousity and a need for a serious distraction from the admissions waiting game. Anyone else intimidated by art history/art theory? Does anyone else have a list of books they feel that the need to get to at some point? What are you reading or what have you read?

I love your work! It's fantastic. _____________________________ Yale UC Berkeley Rutgers Boston U

conjoined twins _________________ Yale UC Berkeley Rutgers Boston U

This is my first post. But I was denied to. ________________________________ Yale UC Berkeley Rutgers Boston U