MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

[NoraEllie]

1 hour ago, erinwhomst said:

I would also love to see your websites/work! I wish you all the best in your interviews/future offers. I applied to Hunter last year and got rejected, so I tried again this year with a stronger portfolio and statement but haven't heard back - which doesn't bode well if they're already doing interviews for the painting department. So far I've gotten 5 rejections, and haven't heard back from the other 7, so I'm feeling a little discouraged after spending so much time/effort/money to apply.

I’m so sorry. I’m sure you’ll hear back soon. Best of luck to you!  I was surprised to see that Hunter wasn’t as competitive as other art schools even with the extremely low tuition. My website is mahnoorspallart.com! My entire portfolio isn’t on there since I have a separate one for set schools with all my work for school purposes and when it comes to copyright towards my ideas so I don’t share my artwork much and won’t until acceptance.  
Also, I totally feel you. My #1 was Yale but they’re just so competitive and almost impossible but I would be happy with any school that offers a good opportunity. Keep your head up! 
 

but please if you feel comfortable and applied to hunter share your work! I’d love to see what they’re looking for! 

Edited February 28, 2021 by NoraEllie

[erinwhomst]

10 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I would be interested in seeing your work

my website is https://www.erinsteinart.com/ ? Just out of undergrad so I've tried to keep my expectations in check, but still hoping I might hear back from someone.

[NoraEllie]

5 minutes ago, erinwhomst said:

my website is https://www.erinsteinart.com/ ? Just out of undergrad so I've tried to keep my expectations in check, but still hoping I might hear back from someone.

You got rejected from hunter????? LOL 

Amazing!! 

[erinwhomst]

1 minute ago, NoraEllie said:

You got rejected from hunter????? LOL 

Amazing!! 

Oh my gosh thank you so much! ? I was officially rejected for their fall 2020 session and haven't heard back yet this year. Fingers crossed still, but it's been a rough application cycle so far. I'm glad I found this forum, lurking through it has been really helpful. Also, thanks for sharing your website! I love your use of texture ?

[lizavetar96]

i am a photo major and I know very little about contemporary painting but your work is astounding and I would actually spend $$ to buy something from you if you sell. program that pass on you are definitely losing out in my opinion. 

[lizavetar96]

37 minutes ago, erinwhomst said:

my website is https://www.erinsteinart.com/ ? Just out of undergrad so I've tried to keep my expectations in check, but still hoping I might hear back from someone.

i am a photo major and I know very little about contemporary painting but your work is astounding and I would actually spend $$ to buy something from you if you sell. program that pass on you are definitely losing out in my opinion. 

[NoraEllie]

8 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

i am a photo major and I know very little about contemporary painting but your work is astounding and I would actually spend $$ to buy something from you if you sell. program that pass on you are definitely losing out in my opinion. 

I second that. These schools are losing out on some real talent. 

[-----------]

HI!

Edited February 28, 2021 by San Diego Stone
Forgot to quote.

[-----------]

18 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

i am a photo major and I know very little about contemporary painting but your work is astounding and I would actually spend $$ to buy something from you if you sell. program that pass on you are definitely losing out in my opinion. 

Glad to hear you heard from USC. USC is a huge deal to get considered for, whether or not you get in.

I also got the email this morning from Ms. Hosik for an interview on the 8th. The panel are some serious artists, but I hope you don't feel terribly stressed, they are people like you and me. I've never interviewed for anything academic, but I feel like the best thing to be is yourself. You can't go wrong with being exactly and authentically who you are. It's not always about the program and what it can give you, it's about what YOU are going to bring to the table to help the overall design. In an MFA program we will be working with a MUCH smaller group of individuals as a team, and it's all gotta all be for the team.

Still, it's kinda fun to be a little nervous, like when you were little and your parents announced you were going to Magic Mountain.

 

Best wishes to you and I hope the outcome goes your way!

Edited February 28, 2021 by San Diego Stone
I didn't edit anything. It's just your imagination.

[-----------]

Wanted to let peeps know that I got an interview with USC-University of Southern California Roski for March the 8th.

I hope you did too. 

Best wishes!

[lizavetar96]

Just now, San Diego Stone said:

Glad to hear you head from USC. USC is a huge deal to get considered for, whether or not you get in.

I also got the email this morning from Ms. Hosik for an interview on the 8th. The panel are some serious artists, but I hope you don't feel terribly stressed, they are people like you and me. I've never interviewed for anything academic, but I feel like the best thing to be is yourself. You can't go wrong with being exactly and authentically who you are. It's not always about the program and what it can give you, it's about what YOU are going to bring to the table to help the overall design. In an MFA program we will be working with a MUCH smaller group of individuals as a team, and it's all gotta all be for the team.

Still, it's kinda fun to be a little nervous, like when you were little and your parents announced you were going to Magic Mountain.

 

Best wishes to you and I hope the outcome goes your way!

What is a Magic Mountain lol? I am from Russia. 

I hate interview process to be honest. I think that I am pretty good at it, but my nerves just destroy me in the process of preparing. 

Best wishes to you too!

Do you think USC is a huge deal though? I don't how much rankings matter but after that cohort walkout it has been still recovering. I don't know how much weight USC has in the contemporary art market or if it is more of the name of the past. Especially compared to giants like UCLA or CalArts (who probs passed on me) next to it. 

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, erinwhomst said:

my website is https://www.erinsteinart.com/ ? Just out of undergrad so I've tried to keep my expectations in check, but still hoping I might hear back from someone.

I really like the technique of your work but conceptually I really do not know what direction your work is heading into without some type of statement. Some artwork may not be suitable like the painting of RBG which is a one-off and a committee will see that as a fan art piece.

I think you are a very good painter technique-wise but will need to sustain long series of focalized ideas and develop those much more strongly.

[SocialKonstruct]

4 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

What is a Magic Mountain lol? I am from Russia. 

I hate interview process to be honest. I think that I am pretty good at it, but my nerves just destroy me in the process of preparing. 

Best wishes to you too!

Do you think USC is a huge deal though? I don't how much rankings matter but after that cohort walkout it has been still recovering. I don't know how much weight USC has in the contemporary art market or if it is more of the name of the past. Especially compared to giants like UCLA or CalArts (who probs passed on me) next to it. 

A lot of USC graduates bailed from it and tbh it will be another 1-2 decades before you will see USC come back up in the contemporary art world... UCLA on the other hand is pretty solid year after year... many argue even more innovative and better than Yale does in certain aspects.

[erinwhomst]

4 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I really like the technique of your work but conceptually I really do not know what direction your work is heading into without some type of statement. Some artwork may not be suitable like the painting of RBG which is a one-off and a committee will see that as a fan art piece.

I think you are a very good painter technique-wise but will need to sustain long series of focalized ideas and develop those much more strongly.

Thank you so much for taking a look and giving me some feedback! I definitely agree with all of your points (the RBG painting wasn't included in any application portfolios - just on my website and social media). I'm considering adding a version of my statement to the website.

[lizavetar96]

I

5 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

A lot of USC graduates bailed from it and tbh it will be another 1-2 decades before you will see USC come back up in the contemporary art world... UCLA on the other hand is pretty solid year after year... many argue even more innovative and better than Yale does in certain aspects.

UCLA has been my dream school unlike Yale for a long time for many reasons (Catherine Opie is one of my biggest photo influences and she is the chair) so I was really sad they did not allow admissions for this year. I thought about applying for New Genres but that is just too much away from my practice and ultimately not what I want to do. 

Overall, I think about places like University of Washington for example which is ranked pretty highly, gives out funding etc and then about USC which is ranked much lower but then USC is in Los Angeles, has well established faculty, but I am not sure how much of a prestige the school really holds after the graduation. I don't know, maybe I am looking at this wrong.

[SocialKonstruct]

1 minute ago, erinwhomst said:

Thank you so much for taking a look and giving me some feedback! I definitely agree with all of your points (the RBG painting wasn't included in any application portfolios - just on my website and social media). I'm considering adding a version of my statement to the website.

Indeed, I do think that your style veers heavily towards neo-expressionism and I think your work is akin to that of Eric Fischl but a tad more contemporary in subject matter. As a conceptual artist, I think that finding topics which you like will help you to determine the trajectory of what you want to explore.

I tend to work very much in series (and yep, one project took me over 10 years to figure out) and I am used to that as a photography person as my foundation... Often we tend to hop and skip from one thing to another but even the randomness of Picasso, art critics were able to discern certain patterns in his work such as his erotic drawings or images of violence etc. etc. But you would need a lot more work to have future critics tell you that you are up to something.

[SocialKonstruct]

Just now, lizavetar96 said:

I

UCLA has been my dream school unlike Yale for a long time for many reasons (Catherine Opie is one of my biggest photo influences and she is the chair) so I was really sad they did not allow admissions for this year. I thought about applying for New Genres but that is just too much away from my practice and ultimately not what I want to do. 

Overall, I think about places like University of Washington for example which is ranked pretty highly, gives out funding etc and then about USC which is ranked much lower but then USC is in Los Angeles, has well established faculty, but I am not sure how much of a prestige the school really holds after the graduation. I don't know, maybe I am looking at this wrong.

I can't disclose my sources but I definitely can tell you that LA galleries look very much at which school you go to. Otis, Calarts, and UCLA are pretty much the three schools they are looking at. And very rarely Art Design (usually that pull is somewhat harsher). And my friend she has been painting for nearly 30 plus years and is represented by a top notch gallery in LA. I trust her judgment as a professional painter.

USC is going to be a better fit if you want to be in the LA scene. University of Washington ranking may be looked at if you want to teach but you want to exhibit, ranking isn't going to matter as much as geography. LA art critics and gallerists aren't going to drive (most likely) up to Wash state to look for artists or hot new talent.

[SocialKonstruct]

20 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

What is a Magic Mountain lol? I am from Russia. 

I hate interview process to be honest. I think that I am pretty good at it, but my nerves just destroy me in the process of preparing. 

Best wishes to you too!

Do you think USC is a huge deal though? I don't how much rankings matter but after that cohort walkout it has been still recovering. I don't know how much weight USC has in the contemporary art market or if it is more of the name of the past. Especially compared to giants like UCLA or CalArts (who probs passed on me) next to it. 

USC had some solid graduates. For example, Edie Fake is just tbh just fucking brilliant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edie_Fake ... they are also one of the very few trans artists who is active in conceptual work combining animation, comic books, and queer theory. I dig what they are doing.

[lizavetar96]

1 minute ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I can't disclose my sources but I definitely can tell you that LA galleries look very much at which school you go to. Otis, Calarts, and UCLA are pretty much the three schools they are looking at. And very rarely Art Design (usually that pull is somewhat harsher). And my friend she has been painting for nearly 30 plus years and is represented by a top notch gallery in LA. I trust her judgment as a professional painter.

USC is going to be a better fit if you want to be in the LA scene. University of Washington ranking may be looked at if you want to teach but you want to exhibit, ranking isn't going to matter as much as geography. LA art critics and gallerists aren't going to drive (most likely) up to Wash state to look for artists or hot new talent.

Thank you! I appreciate you sharing some info. I am.... very very very bitter that CalArts did not offer me the interview. I would have done A LOT for that school. 

[SocialKonstruct]

1 minute ago, lizavetar96 said:

Thank you! I appreciate you sharing some info. I am.... very very very bitter that CalArts did not offer me the interview. I would have done A LOT for that school. 

I wish that I could dispel your bitterness and no worries. I think that you will fare well wherever you select. Actually I would love to see your work if you have a website.  (Sorry right now I'm editing photos for my SVA residency class.)

[lizavetar96]

1 minute ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I wish that I could dispel your bitterness and no worries. I think that you will fare well wherever you select. Actually I would love to see your work if you have a website.  (Sorry right now I'm editing photos for my SVA residency class.)

Thank you! I honestly need to update my website with my most consistent work but tomorrow I a collection of my photographs will go online - it is  a part of the VR showcase Darkroom of a Virtual Gallery Blink Berlin in Germany. It is a part of a group exhibition that presents work of female-identified artists working in the analog medium.

the collection is the same work I used for my MFA applications so I will enclose it here for everyone to see. I would love to hear your feedback! You seem like an incredibly insightful artist

[SocialKonstruct]

1 minute ago, lizavetar96 said:

Thank you! I honestly need to update my website with my most consistent work but tomorrow I a collection of my photographs will go online - it is  a part of the VR showcase Darkroom of a Virtual Gallery Blink Berlin in Germany. It is a part of a group exhibition that presents work of female-identified artists working in the analog medium.

the collection is the same work I used for my MFA applications so I will enclose it here for everyone to see. I would love to hear your feedback! You seem like an incredibly insightful artist

LoL, perhaps insightful :). I like to help out other artists (and as a curator I do that all of the time). Definitely your driving concept sounds very fascinating.

Now about working in series, here is an example of a sustained exploration of a topic which is rooted in art history, the politics of labor, and commodification of form. https://albertabdulbarrwang.art/lowbrow-minimalism

[-----------]

19 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

What is a Magic Mountain lol? I am from Russia. 

I hate interview process to be honest. I think that I am pretty good at it, but my nerves just destroy me in the process of preparing. 

Magic Best wishes to you too!

Do you think USC is a huge deal though? I don't how much rankings matter but after that cohort walkout it has been still recovering. I don't know how much weight USC has in the contemporary art market or if it is more of the name of the past. Especially compared to giants like UCLA or CalArts (who probs passed on me) next to it. 

Magic Mountain: https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain

Do I think that USC is a big deal? You bet your ass I do. I ONLY applied at USC for an MFA. I only applied there because of two professors in specific that jive with what I want to accomplish, Nao Bustamante, and Edgar Arceneaux. There are others who I like at USC, but I've respected them for a while. Because of my experience in the arts and life, I feel that those are the two professors best suited for me to work with. It is also in L.A., where I have not got a lot of experience in and think I need to to round out my art direction.

Rankings are meaningless, period. It's about the faculty and staff and facilities. It's also about being in Los Angeles, right near San Diego, Mexico, and San Francisco in CALIFORNIA. But ultimately it's about you and what you are going to bring to the table. If someone thinks that a university sucks, well, make it BETTER, or don't go there. But they shouldn't be saying nasty things about what they saw on the internet that they had nothing to do with. Don't listen to these negative people. As an artist, it's not good for you.

You gotta ask yourself why you want to attend a specific school and go there and kick ass and do the best you can. I went to Sacramento State even thought I got into UC Santa Cruz, San Jose State, and other so-called "prestigious" schools, and I brought something to the community and student body and did my best to make it a good place to be. Why? Because Sacramento has been huge for Chicano Culture and art for decades, and I had access to great artists within the community. I also had that in San Diego, but now I've got that in Sacramento, and hopefully in L.A. this fall. Did some US News website rank it up with Stanford? NOPE! But I did my best and did well, despite someone's opinion about prestige.

My niece goes to Harvard, supposedly the best school in the world. But what use is the "best school in the world" if you do nothing with it? Well, It's of no use at all. Same as with going to a school not viewed as prestigious. If I go to a normal university and do awesome things, then hey, the university was a good university.

Avoid negativity. Listen to yourself, listen to your heart and what you want to accomplish. If you are doing what you need to do then you will bring success to yourself and to others around you.

[everyonelikesbubbles]

11 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

It could be a matter of perspective. Let's imagine a scenario here. If you were a curator for the Whitney Biennial would you be more likely to select from Columbia or RISD or someone from University of North Texas.

Granted, six figure debt is bad but if you were in law school or medical school that debt would be much larger :o.

I'm not too sure about your hypothetical. The biennial curators I know typically choose artists based on many factors but in general it boils down to weak and strong ties. A top school like Yale or Bard are able to secure good representation for grads at the Whitney Biennial, for example, because the faculty bring those curators and critics to the school. At Yale for instance, I've heard that every week two critics/curators /artists come for studio visits and you must arrange those meetings. This build a strong network. Not to say that prestige doesn't matter at all, but the artist' practice and their network/opportunity are the chief factors.

[SocialKonstruct]

2 minutes ago, everyonelikesbubbles said:

I'm not too sure about your hypothetical. The biennial curators I know typically choose artists based on many factors but in general it boils down to weak and strong ties. A top school like Yale or Bard are able to secure good representation for grads at the Whitney Biennial, for example, because the faculty bring those curators and critics to the school. At Yale for instance, I've heard that every week two critics/curators /artists come for studio visits and you must arrange those meetings. This build a strong network. Not to say that prestige doesn't matter at all, but the artist' practice and their network/opportunity are the chief factors.

And yes you hit the nail on the head. Yale's program is desirable because the pit crits are rigorous and nerve wrecking. No other program I know of has consistent and very often visits from all types of folks into your studio. For example, during my SVA online residency I get 3 crits/week and consistently. I ask for more opinions and am willing to show my work to anyone. It never stops. And I enjoy it. I don't see it as torture.