Apply for art history master with no background in AH?

[snufkin]

Hello everyone, 

 

I'm one of those people who tries to start over their career/education by taking master classes in a totally different field. My education background has nothing to do with neither art nor history (it's finance/accounting, actually), but I have been doing relevant readings out of a strong passion for art history. Having realized my great disadvantage and also the possibility that my passion might soon fade away during challenging research, I guess it's best to start with a master program. 

 

So...I've got a few naive questions to ask you guys...

 

1. What are the major differences between the art history master programs offered by art schools and those by comprehensive universities? Perhaps the latter is more academic? 

 

2. As an international student, I need visa sponsorship to stay in the country. Do art institutions sponsor work visas? I know that colleges/universities definitely do, but I'm unsure about other employers. 

 

3. How hard would it be to apply for funded PhD programs at prestigious universities if I receive my master's degree in a much lower-rank school? 

 

4. Would it be helpful if I do art-related internships for one year? 

 

5. Is it possible to combine my business background with art history knowledge(hopefully) in future job hunting? 

 

Thank you so much!! And apologies for any grammar errors in my post....

[m-ttl]

 

1. What are the major differences between the art history master programs offered by art schools and those by comprehensive universities? Perhaps the latter is more academic? 

 

Many "Art schools" in America do not also have Art History programs. I say many because for example, my comp. University puts art historians in the Art/Design college, but this is not the same as a Fine Arts School. For example the PAFA (Penn Academy of the Fine Arts) is a BFA/MFA program which wouldn't confer an MA in Art History. But SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) does have an MA in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism. 

 

 

2. As an international student, I need visa sponsorship to stay in the country. Do art institutions sponsor work visas? I know that colleges/universities definitely do, but I'm unsure about other employers. 

 

An Art Institute would also be an institution of higher education and would (as far as I know) sponsor a student visa. 

 

 

3. How hard would it be to apply for funded PhD programs at prestigious universities if I receive my master's degree in a much lower-rank school? 

 

I don't think it would be impossible, but you would obviously need to be an excellent student with a high GPA, experience, and work on conference presentations/publications or other such CV boosters. 

 

 

4. Would it be helpful if I do art-related internships for one year? 

 

5. Is it possible to combine my business background with art history knowledge(hopefully) in future job hunting? 

 

It could be helpful to have gallery or museum experience, yes. And yes, there are some places which would let you combine Arts Administration and Art History (SAIC again, for example) in a double MA. Arts Admin would be great for your business background. 

[snufkin]

Thank you for replying! The information is really helpful! 

 

You both mentioned that accounting and finance knowledge are useful for arts administration jobs. I totally agree with it. I've applied for art management programs and got admitted to an art school. Last week I contacted their art history department. I think it's not hard to transfer once you got into the school. However, taking a gap year also sounds good to me, considering that I might get into a more competitive program with some internship experiences. 

 

As for Art history MA in art schools, I've looked up programs in the three NY art schools: Parsons, SVA, and Pratt. Parsons offers MA in History of Decorative Art and Design; Pratt has MA in History of Art and Design with an optional museum studies certificate; SVA only has MA in Art Criticism and Writing. I barely saw discussions about them so I hope put the information here for other people's reference. 

Edited April 12, 2014 by snufkin