Art School Preferential

July 22, 2008 2:43 PM

Is there a point to art school?

I'm coming up on completing my BFAs in about a year, and I'm looking at my option for postgraduate degrees (or not).

Arts doctorates do not exist in America (though the possibility at some build-your-own doctorate school doesn't seem to be excluded). America is where I live. However, they do exist in Europe, New Zealand, etc. So, the "terminal degree" is a masters here and a DA in some other places.

These seem to be my best options:
1. Get a masters here (USA).
2. Get a DA in Europe or New Zealand.
3. Don't bother.

Bringing up:
Who cares about a foreign DA? Does it carry any weight here? Could I teach with it, or would I need an American masters to teach in America? What foreign art schools are most prestigious? Most progressive? Do galleries, endowments, etc. care about degrees at all?

posted by cmoj to education (10 comments total)

These guys only do an MA. However, it's about as weighty as they come (as far as I know.)
posted by Magnakai at 3:01 PM on July 22, 2008

School is a good place to learn how to teach or to build a stronger portfolio. Are either of those your goals?
If you are graduating with a BFA soon, you probably will already have a good portfolio. Ask your teachers, see if they think you need more work (i.e. masters) under your belt before you enter the art world.

This year, think about your goals, meet some artists in your area (other than your teachers) and see what kind of life you would like to have post-whatever-degree-you-end-up-with. If you know you want to teach, a masters is a good idea.

If you don't know, which is ok, then why not take some time after school to apply to grants and fellowships and see if you can get time and money to make art and get into some galleries. In some circles, where you've shown counts more than where you've been schooled. In more academic circles, the opposite might be true. But getting into galleries is always a good thing to strive for.

If the independent artist thing doesn't work out the year after school, then you can apply for a masters.
posted by rmless at 3:15 PM on July 22, 2008

If you plan on teaching art, the MFA is usually looked on favorably.

If you are good and/or work really hard, the MFA does not really matter.

If you get an MFA from somewhere with an astounding reputation, like Yale, it might trick people/galleries/juries into thinking you are good even if you suck.

In the end, the "point" of art school (feel free to disagree here!) is to give you time to produce a body of work in a supportive environment, with feedback.
posted by gyusan at 3:21 PM on July 22, 2008

Previously...
posted by ManInSuit at 3:47 PM on July 22, 2008

As with all questions academic, if I were you I would post this on the appropriate forum at The Chronicle of Higher Education. I can remember reading a thread there about PhDs for creative artists, and whether this will be an issue in the years to come. In my field (music composition) a DMA or PhD is a prerequisite for teaching at university level, and there was some discussion about whether or not this would be the case in other creative arts fields in the future.
posted by ob at 5:39 PM on July 22, 2008

I taught within an art school (college) with an MFA degree. Due to accreditation, those without graduate degrees needed to jump through many more hoops and prove professional equivalent, etc.

In the 5 years I taught there, I never met a DA. However, my area of specialty is advertising, so I wasn't spending the majority of my time with the fine art teachers, but rather advertising, graphic design, computer arts and film folks.

If you win awards or have some other 3rd party endorsement of your quality, an MFA is less critical to teach.
posted by Gucky at 5:39 PM on July 22, 2008

It really depends on what you intend to do. If you want to teach in the U.S.A, get an M.F.A. If you want to teach in Europe, get a D.A.

If you don't want to teach, stop wasting your time! Go and make art! (Unless you are a theatre director. Then you actually should go to grad school, but take a few years off first and get some experience.)
posted by thebrokenmuse at 6:11 PM on July 22, 2008

I have a BA in studio art, as do quite a number of friends of mine. I've never particularly held any desire to go back for an MFA, though I have toyed with getting a Master's in education in order to teach.

The only reason to get an MFA is to teach college. Anything from preschool on to high school is better served by a Master's in education. I have a friend with an MFA in illustration who still needed an MeD to teach high school. She now wants to teach college, and needs to go back for an MFA specifically in *PAINTING* to do so. So, if you do want to teach college in the US, be sure to major in painting, drawing, or sculpture and not in one of the more esoteric specialities.

Beyond that, everyone I know who has an MFA or any other Master's in the Arts (art history, etc) has offered me the same advice: Don't do it. Graduate school in the US, other than the sciences, offers little hope of career advancement and no guarantee that you'll have a job afterwards that pays you enough to pay back your massive, massive loans.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:05 PM on July 22, 2008

If you're interested in professional practice, QUT in Australia has a Doctor of Creative Industries you may be interested in.
posted by divabat at 7:45 PM on July 22, 2008

Professorships for Fine Art will only be looking for an MFA, and of course an impressive CV and body of work. Having experience abroad can definitely improve your chances of standing out in competitive applicant pools, especially with universities.

If you can take on the debt that will likely come with getting a DA/DFA abroad, and you'll enjoy it, then do it.
posted by fontophilic at 9:54 PM on July 24, 2008