Chicago v. east coast v. west coast

[BKCHICAGO]

I dont know about all of you, but is is kind of coming down to where do I want to be (assuming I get into the schools I want. Its easier to be optimistic now)

anyway, I am living in Chicago now and going to school here. I love my school and the city, but the coasts have some appeal, ya know?

this weather is pretty awful. Im a wuss, moving on.

But there is kind of cap on the market here, and I am kind of tired of hearing about second city status. That sort of attitude is kind of draining...

what is everyone else thinking in terms of location?

schools:

columbia

yale

hunter

saic

ucla

usc

cal arts

[Another]

I live in San Francisco now, and I love it here — however the only school I'm applying to in the area is UC Berkeley. If I get into UCB, it's free, and it'll be really easy for me to just move across the bridge. As far as location goes, it would be by far the most comfortable option, but I'm not sure if comfort is a good thing. I guess the real cost would be missing out on all of the other experiences that are out there.

I'm applying to schools all over the map: Berkeley, Hunter, SAIC, USC, VCU, and Yale. I'm not really that excited by any of those places though. I guess I'm a creature of stability, and I feel a little anxious about moving across the country all by myself. I keep telling myself that I'm not going to grad school for the weather, but winter in Chicago is a pretty intimidating prospect for a California boy.

Everybody talks about New York as the place to be career-wise. It may be true that NY has the most robust art market in the States, but it's not like you're going to walk right in and be handed a contract with David Zwirner. I recently spoke to a friend who just finished up at Columbia. Yeah, she had studio visits with some very famous artists, but now she's struggling to get her footing just like everyone else — plus she's saddled with some massive student loans and living in perhaps the most expensive city in the country.

LA has warm weather, a decent art market, and some great museums and schools. But IMO the city isn't a very pleasant place to be. I find driving there to be a really frustrating necessity, and all the roads and cars and smog isn't a very pretty sight. I'm applying to USC because I think they're a really strong program right now. If I get accepted, LA will take some serious getting used to.

Anyhow, those are my thoughts. No particular area of the country is calling my name, so instead I'm applying to programs that seem like a good fit for me. Hopefully I'll be surprised to discover a new place to call home.

[BKCHICAGO]

are you engaged in the art scene in SF/bay area? what is that like? I read fecal face and I thats about it for me.

SF is a much better drinking and eating town than LA, I will give you that. (simply bc you have to drive everywhere)

hey, good luck with UCB!

[Another]

are you engaged in the art scene in SF/bay area? what is that like? I read fecal face and I thats about it for me.

SF is a much better drinking and eating town than LA, I will give you that. (simply bc you have to drive everywhere)

hey, good luck with UCB!

I'm engaged in that I go out to art openings almost every weekend, I studied at SFAI and I've taken a couple of classes at CCA (so I know a fair number of people), and I show my own work every now and again. I guess the quality of the art scene depends on what you're into. I don't really follow Fecal Face, and I don't know much about the street art/graffiti scene here. There seems to be a lot of activity and energy around it though. One thing I would say is that the art scene is generally pretty accessible. It's a small enough city that if you want to be involved, you can quickly become a part of it.

Anyway, there's this guy Alan Bamberger who documents a lot of SF art openings on his website, http://artbusiness.com/openings.html. He'll photograph anything with little judgement so you can get a good idea of the breadth of things going on here.

The Oakland scene also seems to be picking up momentum with their Art Murmur (first Friday openings).

[BKCHICAGO]

I'm engaged in that I go out to art openings almost every weekend, I studied at SFAI and I've taken a couple of classes at CCA (so I know a fair number of people), and I show my own work every now and again. I guess the quality of the art scene depends on what you're into. I don't really follow Fecal Face, and I don't know much about the street art/graffiti scene here. There seems to be a lot of activity and energy around it though. One thing I would say is that the art scene is generally pretty accessible. It's a small enough city that if you want to be involved, you can quickly become a part of it.

Anyway, there's this guy Alan Bamberger who documents a lot of SF art openings on his website, http://artbusiness.com/openings.html. He'll photograph anything with little judgement so you can get a good idea of the breadth of things going on here.

The Oakland scene also seems to be picking up momentum with their Art Murmur (first Friday openings).

thanks, that was very helpful!

[LeeP]

thanks, that was very helpful!

I go to calarts if you want any info..

[BKCHICAGO]

I go to calarts if you want any info..

thanks for that! I do have questions... I looked at your open studios via tryharder blogspot and i was surprised on the amount of painting. All of the work was really strong, obviously.

Anyway, I was wondering if it was still the micheal asher sort of crits, if painting is seen as insane, and what the interview process is like.

ya know, all the cliche stuff. how are you liking it?

Do you feel disconnected to the scene in LA? and what is it like in terms of the market, ie, do you have dealers coming into your studio?

[LeeP]

there is a return to painting it seems at CalArts although the majority of students to installation art and sculpture it seems like more and more are coming with panting backgrounds. i feel they organize the class based on common interests witn in work more then common mediums seeing as the school is non-medium specific the only divide is between fine art and photography/media.

I am a grad student in the aesthetics and politics program so it is not quite studio art, but i have a lot of friends who are in that program.

painting is not insane although you will get challenged if you only paint. there are three teachers dealing with painting specifically at CalArts but every faculty member works and meets with grad students.

there is a bit of a disconnect between la and valencia, valencia being 30 minutes outside of la. although the majority of the graduate students live in los angeles. the open studios do not get a lot of traffic as one might expect. but still a fair amount.

the graduate students organize a final exhibition that is somewhere in la. this last year they took over all the galleries of chinatown for a week and then also produce a publication in conjunction with the exhibition. the exhibition is usually curated by fairly well known curators so it all works out in a way.

as far as i know dealers do not just pop into the studios.

the funding and ta positions are in my opinion are not very good though. there are very few students who are being fully funded, but i think it is decided on a case by case basis. as well as ta positions are not given out until your second year.

but the faculty as well as the visiting artist are amazing as well as the kind of community calarts provides.

they do not do a Michael Asher type critique anymore because he is very sick and i believe they don't feel comfortable doing that class with out him, because it is very much his class. although the mfas are always pushing for another class like it. there is an mfa 1 cirt class that is 3 or 4 hours long i believe.

[PennyChrome]

I like this topic because Location was an important factor for me too. The only 'landlocked' school I applied to is Cranbrook. The others are more or less NY or LA.

PS I'm totally winging it. Now that my apps are in I better apply for some residencies.