MFA Painting 2010!

[majohnson]

Hi everybody! I noticed a lot of other categories have started their discussions for those applying for 2010, and I thought it's time we have some posts from mfa painting applicants for 2010! Is anyone on here that has been through the process a few times who can offer some advice? What is everyone doing to prepare for their applications this year?

I am so motivated this year. It would be great to see postings from some others who are applying!

[andimags]

Hey, I applied to 9 schools last year (during the application boom, unfortunately), with a waiting list response from UT Austin and an interview at Yale. I'll be applying to those schools again, since they seemed genuinely interested, but I'm looking to expand my list of schools to include several that I was unaware of last year as well as several abroad that were decided against for sanity-maintenance purposes.

Is anyone familiar with Kunstakademie Dusseldorf? I'm somewhat obsessed with the idea of going, but am unfamiliar with the language requirements. I know that Tony Cragg is the new director, but I don't know if his native language of English would have any sway over typical applicant procedure.

[majohnson]

Hi, I am not familiar with Kunstakademie Dusseldorf, and so I looked up their site and could not figure out how to get it in English! I did however do some more research on it and it seems very interesting.

What were your 9 schools you applied to last year? This will be my third time applying however, I don't think I was very focused last year. The first time I applied was right out of undergrad, and I only applied to one school, Parsons. The second year I was trying to find a new job at the same time, and so I applied to Parsons again and University at Buffalo and still did not get in. This year though, I think I have "my ducks in a row" and have been steadily working on my portfolio and doing a lot more research and have found 7 schools I am definitley going to apply to, hopefully increasing my chances. I am applying to SUNY Purchase's dual MFA/MA art history program, SUNY CCNY in Manhattan, Pratt, Boston University, SFU in Tampa, PAFA, and Temple (Tyler) in Philadelphia. Each of these places has varying rates of difficulty to get into, but I feel my work fits much better into them than some other schools. I am also thinking of applying to Syracuse University, but I have not been able to find out vey much about it except what the school syays about itself. Does anyone have any info? I think I may also apply to UB again, however, I am not super hopeful as their acceptance rate is 18%.

I would really want a TA position at whatever place I attend because I would like to teach at the University/College level, and so I am paying a lot more attention to those possibilities at schools.

I am a little lost on an MFA SOP. I feel like a lot of advice given for SOPs is not really that helpful for someone applying to MFA programs in the visual arts, whether it be painting, sculpture or photography, etc... Does anyone have any suggestions or pointers?

One more questions...is it OK to include sculpture among paintings in portfolio? I know this was OK for undergrad or even on a website as many other artists are involved in multiple things, but would a painting department see me as unfocused?

[andimags]

OK, there's a lot in that post...

I don't think it would be wise to put a sculpture into a portfolio for a painting program, but if it has painterly elements , as in, a sculpture that is hung from a wall-- that could be different and easier to talk about as an extension of your painting practice as well as being an example of how you're "pushing the boundaries of what can be considered painting." But, this could also just as likely be considered by the admissions officials to be pretentious and verbose wankery.

Dusseldorf's site doesn't have an English translation outside of the google translation. It's unfortunate, but I feel like I'm starting to understand it just from how much I've wistfully gazed at it...

About writing a Statement of Purpose, all schools have different desires for their "dream pupil" and varying strengths of their own... Some are more conceptually grounded, others focus more on practice. Hopefully most schools have a good balance of theory and practice, but that''s not necessarily the case everywhere. I didn't do this last year, but I'm considering tailoring my SOP to each school I'm applying to. THey're going to basically say the same things, but I think the emphasis on certain parts of my practice, artists that I look at, et cetera, have to shift around for different schools.

I can only remember 7 off the top of my head from last year's list. So bad...

CCA

Cal Arts

Yale

UT Austin

Hunter

Columbia

MICA

Also, It's important to apply to a LOT of schools if you actually want to get into one and get moving forward with this decision, and aren't stuck in some weird vortex of only applying to "the top" schools like I was last year. There are still about a billion people who want to be in an MFA program, no matter how much Dave Hickey talks smack about them.

[andimags]

RISD too, of course. Now I'm going through all my files trying to figure out the last one...

[john3dc]

Is anyone considering SFAI for painting. We have heard about the financial issues last year, but this situation appears to have stabilized. Any opinions on the quality of the painting program? I believe it is rated 14 or so by US News ranking.

[majohnson]

Yes, I realized how long that was after I posted it!

Thank you so much for your advice, it was very helpful. I think I will look into some more schools to apply to, I really really want to get in this year.

I think tailoring our SOP for each school is a great idea! It takes a little more time, but I think not only will you feel more confident when sending in your application, but it will help you stand out among all the applications.

[andimags]

SFAI is interesting, I've heard so much about the quality of the program, but I'm unfamiliar with the work of the faculty members. On the other hand, the galleries on the website are quite good, the site is VERY professional (you might be surprised how many of them haven't been updated in years... which is just piss-poor marketing) and I like the depth of their mission statement. So, yeah, I'm going to have to look into it more deeply.

Anybody know anything about Otis? I've been sniffing around it and really liked their visiting artists list.

[RKSim]

I think that tailoring your SOP for each school is a must. The way I wrote mine last year, and plan on doing so this year, is having a ready-made statement about my personal work, and a little additional material on "why grad school now?" (which every school seems to ask). But from there, you need to sell yourself to the specific school. Mention what you like specifically about their program and show them that you have done the research on their school and that you are serious about applying.

And for SFAI, they have an excellent faculty/visiting artist roster, and excellent studios (esp. for painting). But you'll either need a miraculous funding package, or to sell a kidney to pay for it. Last year they offered me $30k in grants/work study, with the rest of the program costing $70k. Their MFA program puts out around 60 graduates a year from what I remember (more graduates from the MA programs on top of that), so considering how many students they have, I'm not sure how much money there is to spread around to them. If you want to go, make sure that your application is top notch so you can get their full-fellowship (I think only one is offered every year).

[john3dc]

RKSim: Did you choose not to go to SFAI and if not was that mostly based on cost? Did your $100K figure for costs include housing?

I like that SFAI has about 35 grad painters. Better than smaller programs where you might, for example, be the only figurative or abstract painter, and with few to compare notes with.

[andimags]

Ehhh I really enjoy my kidneys...

[brianmc]

How much weight do schools put on your resume? I've been out of school for 10 years and haven't shown. I have new work from 2008-09. I will probably include a few pieces that are 5 or 6 years old in my portfolio, but no student work. But I have made no effort whatsoever to show. Should I even bother to apply for 2010? Do I stand a chance? I have very strong transcripts from a reputable undergrad program and I think my portfolio shows direction even if I haven't quite gotten the work where I want it. I need time to focus to do that. That is why I want to go back to school. I'm considering the University of Maryland, University of Delaware, Towson University (Baltimore), and Tyler, maybe American University in DC. I would love any feedback on those schools or any others in the mid-atlantic region.

[james]

brianmc- Tough to say if you should try this year dont know how strong your work is, but I will say most of the programs Ive looked into seem to put an emphasis on "recent" work, generally meaning from within the last two years. You may really benifit from taking an extra year to produce and to learn about the schools. I guess it depends on how eager you are, you say some of the work is recent, maybe youll get lucky. I also dont know how close people are watching either, seems unethical but dates could be fudged a little. Anyone have input on this? My portfolio could become a lot stronger if I include a few older works from 2005/6 but I have enough recent work not to need them. (They are still from after my undergrad). Anybody?

[andimags]

I think resume only matters in the sense that if you have an artist in residence gig, teaching art gig, recent shows, art assistantship work--ANY of the above, it means you're actively trying to pursue the art thing with your whole BEING. No Sunday painters allowed!

[Crayons574]

Where is everything applying for MFA Painting for Fall 2010??

I still haven't made a set list yet, and just wanted to see where everyone else was hoping to go.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Crayons574

[RKSim]

RKSim: Did you choose not to go to SFAI and if not was that mostly based on cost? Did your $100K figure for costs include housing?

I like that SFAI has about 35 grad painters. Better than smaller programs where you might, for example, be the only figurative or abstract painter, and with few to compare notes with.

$100k includes room/board estimates from the school. It was based on costs and my feelings about their program at the time... They also offered me about $30k in financial aid. Their painting program is the largest of their grad programs from what I remember. And the studios are really, really nice too, if you don't get a chance to visit. They're in a shared 'creative' building in a more industrial district in SF. Students with seniority get the studios with windows.. When I went to visit Keith Boadwee was leading a parade of MFA students down the street, all playing a variety of instruments. It was pretty amusing.

[andimags]

Definitely:

Yale

Columbia

MICA

Hunter

RISD

Otis

CalArts

UT Austin

Perhaps:

UCLA

SVA

U SoCal

and others I can't remember right now.

Would consider applying to SFAI but at Grad Portfolio Day in NYC, the man that I spoke to as SFAI's representative gave me a lot of really wankery advice and said things like my figures were "too centered," which is a load of subjective aesthetic bullcrap that implies a rule-based artmaking structure.

The woman from Otis, on the other hand, was DOPE. She seemed genuinely interested in my thoughts and was willing to answer all of my questions and even go on a couple tangents about the program with me, which was probably the most helpful thing she could have done.

The man I spoke to from CalArts was a European gentleman slightly uncomfortable with the idea of promoting the school to an avowed painter such as myself, even though he himself was a painter. To be expected from a theory-based program.

The younger man I spoke to from MICA was smart and funny and didn't seem to take the reputation of MICA too seriously, but obviously wanted to see things that pushed the envelope aesthetically and theoretically. Favorite quote, "Anyone can make a dick joke."

And, of course, no one from the other schools on my list bothered to come to grad portfolio day because they would cause a riot and clog up the works.

[d6herzer]

Did anyone go to the grad portfolio review in Chicago this year? I wanted to make it and am disappointed that I couldn't.

[d6herzer]

Is anyone thinking about going to MCAD? I got an email from them saying that they will preview and critique your portfolio before you apply! That seems pretty amazing, however, they would like to look at your portfolio through flickr or a website. Does anyone have advice on making a professional website? I have never taken web design, so I had to build mine using yola, and the image quality is horrible.

[andimags]

If I were you I wouldn't bother putting together a website when you can throw your images and artist's statement into the Irving Sandler Artist File Online or make a really simple blog. As long as it remains professional looking with good photos of your work, there should be no problem.

[lazycatfish]

Hello. Painting, yay! I just want this application process over with! I am applying to ten schools. Should I be worried about exhausting my recommenders? And along that line anyone have thoughts on letters of recommendation? I was going for a mix. Old professor (established artist), artist who i have collaborated with but is older and actively showing, and my boss (museum director).

[andimags]

I have 15 schools on my list this year, but only 7 new ones that need recs. I knew a girl last year who applied to 30 schools and got into ONE. So, having more schools is better than fewer. Your recommenders might not be completely stoked, but they should appreciate your dedication to actually getting in somewhere and going.

[andimags]

Also, the people you want to ask are all working professionals in the art world, so you should be totally fine.

[lazycatfish]

Thanks for the Feedback andimags. Thirty schools? Thats insane, not to mention a fortune, and only ONE? Was she any good? I decided to go with that list of folks, dropped off a super famous artist in favor of an emerging artist with creds who knows me well and can honestly talk about my work with heart. Im agonizing over the essays now... stage two of panic.

[andimags]

What essays? You mean your statement of purpose or essays for particular schools (I know ut austin requires an essay particularly about why you want to apply to their program, but that's it)?

I think that particular person was/is a good enough painter, but she had a very narrow and inflexible way of approaching her work, which was rather loosely structured. She had tons and tons of paintings about the same subject matter. So, basically, the problem was most likely that she should have spent some time out of school thinking about her work, thpughtfully continuing to produce (especially drawings and sketches leading to more complete work), that expressed her desired subject matter, instead of the multitudes of finished but seemingly "sloppy" work, before applying for an MFA.

More than anything, the problem seemed to stem from a personal inflexibility regarding how she approached her paintings, which is an indication to me that she wouldn't feel comfortable in a higher-level critique as she seemed to have no true wish to change or "better" her work.