A Gift to 2011

[atrawickb]

The "Alternate Schools Ranking" post was a good idea that went sideways, and then got hijacked by people writing about totally different stuff. Part of the problem with it from the beginning was that most of the attempts to re-rank the programs amounted to a re-organization of what were already considered to be the top schools. (I too, am guilty as charged.)

But there is a reason for that. The top schools don't go down easy.

Most of the top programs have earned a great deal of respect in the art community over a long period of time. Of course there will be some shuffling up and down, and even though some of us may think that many of the private, pure art colleges will fade in the sun of the big universities, it's not like RISD is about to become irrelevant anytime soon.

That said, there are a number of other programs out there that are up-and-coming, and/or offer and interesting alternative to the classic MFA model--like New Mexico's new Art and Ecology MFA, http://art.unm.edu/ecology/

I am thankful for all the opinions and information I've read on this forum, and only wish I'd found it earlier so that I could have been better informed when I was applying. So that's what this thread is for--it's a gift to those that are applying in 2011, from those of us who have already gone through it.

I'll start it off by bringing up PennDesign's program. Their facilities are not top-notch, but the university it's attached to certainly is.

Joshua Mosely is the acting chair and so if you're into stop-motion you should have a look. Terry Adkins is there for sculptors, Luis Gispert for photography, and Jakie Tileston for painting. Interdisciplinary-thinking Matthew Ritchie is already on the faculty and is rumored to be taking over the chair, and so it looks like Penn is making a run for it. http://www.design.upenn.edu/fine-arts/faculty-fine-arts

You can hop a bus right from campus and be in downtown New York in less than 2 hours. Philly is cheap, has a growing art scene, and Penn has the endowment to throw a lot of money behind a burgeoning MFA program with a major art star about to take the helm. Check it out.

[littlenova]

OMG!!!!!!!! Did you just say Luis Gispert??!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE his work and have followed him since his Miami days. I've seen so many of his shows when he was still working in still photography. Wow, didn't know he taught at Penn. Yeah, I have been singing UPenn's praises on this board for a while. They are the hot school to watch. I disagree about UNM....but, I explained that on another thread...

Here's my inside "gifts" to the 2011 applicants:

1) Research the programs you apply to:

• Schedule campus visits
• Look at alumni work (huge factor)
• Ask about an institution's history in extending aid/ Examine your financial situation if you attend,etc.
• Don't rely solely on U.S. News rankings that may change or not relate to your body of work. This is a personal decision.

2) Apply to a few schools...You'll have more variety in your choices especially in a competitive year.

3) Most people need a year or more off after undergrad to really develop a mature body of work.

Attend residencies, show, edit for consistency...in preparation for applying.

Littlenova's picks (if you haven't already guessed by my other posts...)

East Coast/ Hot Schools To Watch (I can't speak for the West Coast as much...)

Columbia

UPenn

MICA (I'm not biased at all...*wink)

Carnegie Mellon

MIT

Bard

Way, Way Underrated and Amazing

Univ of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Columbia College in Chicago

Hunter

Maine College of Art (yeah, really.)

University of Florida

Syracuse University

George Mason (cash and facilities, 20 min. from DC.)

[There are so many..and you never know until you go in person and see the work and meet the faculty...A bunch of up and coming programs!]

Good luck!~

Edited April 8, 2010 by littlenova

[kewpies]

sadly, i don't have any recommendations for programs just yet. but, i just found this page, & i wish i had found it earlier:

Ten Tips for Those Considering MFA Programs

also, to add to littlenova's list of tips -

before i began researching programs, i contacted alumni from my undergrad who are practicing artists and asked if i could shadow them for a while, to see what their day to day life was like. by having a real visual of where i'd like to be one day, i got a better sense of what i needed to learn from an MFA program. i hope that makes sense, i'm feeling a little tounge-tied

[atrawickb]

sadly, i don't have any recommendations for programs just yet. but, i just found this page, & i wish i had found it earlier:

Ten Tips for Those Considering MFA Programs

also, to add to littlenova's list of tips -

before i began researching programs, i contacted alumni from my undergrad who are practicing artists and asked if i could shadow them for a while, to see what their day to day life was like. by having a real visual of where i'd like to be one day, i got a better sense of what i needed to learn from an MFA program. i hope that makes sense, i'm feeling a little tounge-tied

As it seems there is a persistent east coast/west coast divide, I'll offer up USC's program for the east coasters who don't know that it's gone from nowhere to basically the top, challenging UCLA for the pole position out west. Their program is highly funded, many students receiving not only a full-ride but also stipends on top of that. Their program is small, ensuring plenty of contact with a faculty studded with all-stars as Andrea Zittel, Charlie White, and Sharon Lockhart.

Plus the Los Angeles art scene is always growing in terms of both size and influence, it's a lot cheaper to live in than New York. Gets a lot of sunshine too, if you like that.

[atrawickb]

Anybody adventurous enough to try to take their career to Europe might want to think about the various German HDK programs.

They are next to free compared to US programs, and also tend to have later application deadlines (early March). They claim to require proficiency in German, though at what actual level is in question--inasmuch as many of the programs have prominent American and/or British faculty. Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, and Hamburg all have very strong programs. For example, have a look at some of the faculty at Hamburg: Matt Mullican (Sculpture), Ingo Offermanns (Graphic Art), Dr. Michaela Ott, Anselm Reyle (Painting), Andreas Slominski (Sculpture), Pia Stadtbäumer (Sculpture), Wim Wenders (Film)

http://www.hfbk-hamburg.de

[grad_wannabe]

What a great idea for a thread!

I feel strongly about issues surrounding new and emerging models of master's programs because they dictated my search for a grad school from the beginning. Coming out of UG I had a very diverse outlook: I wanted to make work, and write, and curate, and do research. I had taken classes in everything from the full slate of studio art curriculum to digital arts, art history, art criticism, humanities, psychology, linguistics, women's studies, etc., and I wanted to keep up the same rate of inquiry in grad school.

When I started looking at grad programs, I got frustrated with the "classic MFA model." I didn't want to declare allegiance to one medium, or even one field of working. I don't consider myself a photographer, or a painter, or a sculptor. Hell I don't even like saying "I'm an artist." I prefer to say, "I'm a thinker, I make art to help me think and figure things out." I started to bemoan my lack of focus, and worried I wasn't cut out for grad school - especially daunting since I wasn't cut out for the job market either.

Then, I started stumbling across programs that encouraged the type of thinking I like to indulge in. Cross-disciplinary and academic, with an eye towards investigation and awe. Then I found MIT and couldn't believe it; their graduates had what I can only describe as "grown-up" versions of my own CV, with idea-based (rather than medium-based) bodies of work. When I read the line in their promotional literature, "we see art making as the creation of knowledge" I was hooked.

Short version: KEEP LOOKING for programs tailored to what YOU want to do. There are so many different programs out there, NEVER settle for what you think someone else is expecting of you.

[littlenova]

@atrawickb: About USC; You are sooo right! I keep hearing more and more about that program and other UC schools offering funding, opportunities to show, amazing faculty, etc. My friend is a painter and didn't do so hot applying to schools this year (even though she is insanely talented and has the sickest CV--like ever) and I told her to try her luck with the west coast schools next year, after everything I read on this board.

So, thanks to all you folks who shared your experiences.

Edited April 10, 2010 by littlenova