This will be a long, meandering blog entry. I AM NOT JOKING OR KIDDING.
I intend to walk you through finding the New York Academy of Art (sort of, I don't remember really that well), my experience taking their MFA, and more or less what has happened since graduating in 2015.
If you have any further questions, feel free to leave them in the comments of this entry.
If you have suggestions about future entries, please also leave them in the comments of this entry or inbox me on instagram.
1. Finding the New York Academy of Art
Before finding this school, all I knew was I wanted a Master's degree pertaining to art, and my first internet searches were really just "master of fine arts" and other simple shit I don't remember.
I do remember, however, finding a lot of things I had zero interest in, which is also important when you're looking for something.
So based on what I found at first, I discovered I didn't want schools where the art programs were just about art criticism, art theory, stritcly conceptual art.
Afterwards, I somehow stumbled upon degrees in scientific illustration. I'm not sure if I specifically narrowed down my searches or if just came upon them with the same "master of fine arts" search.
I remember finding John Hopkins had a degree in scientific illustration that was extremely tempting and interesting, and was actually kind of decided on this school for a bit, but I realized I didn't want scientific illustration to be my career.
This find was too in favor of medical anatomy in the pendulum, not enough "art".
I don't actually remember how I stumbled upon NYAA, but I remember finding it after the John Hopkins candidate, and that was it for me.
So for me personally, I really just wanted to draw more, study the body and anatomy, and was very ok with the hands on/theory ratio I got from their curriculum.
It's important when you are looking for where to study in any capacity, for you to figure out what you want. However you discover it, make an effort to figure this out.
Schools have a lot of information available on their websites. They have the degrees offered, classes, costs and fees, class descriptions, scholarships, financial aid, who are their teachers, links to the teachers' websites, description of the school's mission, application information.
If you're too good to futz around with a website, or if you're not convinced by the website, or can't seem to find something, write them an email with your questions.
Just fiddle around on their website and read. This is part of your research.
I had classmates who clearly had no interest in figure drawing or anatomy or really anything NYAA has to offer and I never could figure out why the fuck they were paying so much money to be somewhere they didn't want to. Not only were they paying a lot of money, they were also openly complaining about all the defects the curriculum had, as if they went into it not knowing what they were going to get and the surprise was spaghetti with shit on it (This is a Pablo Francisco reference from his Bits and Pieces stand up).
Even if it was just for the name or reputation of the school, Yale and Harvard are much bigger names with much stronger reputations where they could have gone for an art degree.
Maybe you can tell me your own hypothesis in the comments.
Anyway, it seems every class has this sort of people, and I will absolutely whine about them every chance I get.
NYAA has Open Houses, which also offer portfolio reviews (in these portfolio reviews, a faculty member looks at your portfolio and lets you know if applying to the school is a good idea), there's Open Studios which are open to the public (will talk a bit about this in the following section), and you can always schedule a tour for yourself. This can also be part of your research, specially if you want to see things with your own eyes, if you're close, if you can afford to visit.
tl;dr Figure out what you want and then do a lot of research.
2. My own experience with NYAA's MFA
Be ready, this part is extra long and meandering af.
- The exploratory and changing process/first and second year/critiques
For me, NYAA was an absolute oasis.
Drawing from life, studying the human body (the ecorche classes and anatomy classes are you freaking kidding me), and some art history. That was exactly what I figured out I wanted from my research.
I wanted to draw, study the body more, learn artistic anatomy, and at this point basically whatever else this school wanted to throw at me, I fucking wanted it. I felt incredibly grateful I'd been admitted, so I wanted to take advantage and enjoy everything.
Even the classes I disliked, and there was one every semester because that's how life is, taught me something I still remember five years after graduating.
NYAA offers a studio for their students both years of the MFA.
The first year, you share your studio with fellow first years, and in the second year, you get your own studio.
And the building itself, the ecosystem within the building, is bustling with an atmosphere of just making shit.
Being there, with new classmates making their stuff, the second years making their stuff, everybody decorating their studios with whatever work they want to show off, everyone accumulating assignments, ongoing ecorches, ongoign projects, seeing the work change in a period of two years, it is straight up creative FUEL being thrown at the voracious, demanding fire within all the participants.
When I first started at NYAA, I was still quite scattered. The entire first year, really, I was still painting on and off, doing collages, trying to recycle/reuse all paper. Also applicable to subject matter: all I had were these women with neutral facial expressions, kinda gothy dark stuff, parts of faces (isolated, floating eyes and mouths).
Unbeknownst to me, however, during the first year I was slowly being tempered by assignments and reading material.
And not in any bad way at all, lots of times people think you go to a school to be told what to do, and this might be applicable to very many schools and teachers, but I didn't feel it in any way. I never felt like my personal work had to be molded to what I was being taught in classes.
And if you need to be told, ***********your personal work doesn't have to be molded to what you are being taught in any class************ Class work and assignments =/= personal work.
What we learn in a class or workshop becomes a tool in our toolbox of skill.
I suppose what I mean with "being tempered" is I was being helped to find my way and just learn what I wanted to learn.
For example, the Cast Drawing class (which is mandatory for Drawing majors and damn well should) during the first semester, all things about relationships and measuring went right over my head. Only months later when I noticed my internal dialogue going on about "this is below this, etc", did I realize I finally understood what the teacher (Roberto Osti, a human marshmallow who draws like an angel) was talking about.
I'm just saying with this digressing wall of text: things are happening in your brain when you input information and do stuff.
I don't want to go into a whole ass stream of consciousness to specifically recount how my work changed and rather will stick to my experience during the MFA, but if you're curious about the work itself changing, I suggest scrolling back on my instagram feed. Link to my instagram account.
The second year is where students form and present their thesis work, and wow that still sounds scary, ominous, and overwhelming. HOWEVER, the first year I more or less learned to talk about my work and art in general and explored different themes, played with new materials, so I felt ready to start focusing on specific subject matter and talk about it.
Midterm critiques are for the purpose of showing what one is working on, generally. These happen towards the end of the third semester.
During final critiques, one shows the conclusion. These happen at the end of the fourth and last semester.
And listen, these are very lose terms, specially the midterms. There's nothing in particular you're *supposed* to do, except show you are putting in work, are interested, and talk about it.
I personally have mixed feelings about the word "critique", because it sounds so much like "criticism", and "criticism" is inaccurate and makes the situation seem unnecessarily intimidating.
It's a conversation about what you've been working on, where people who know a lot about art with A LOT of artistic experience tell you what they think about your presentation.
Each critique is 10 minutes (I don't actually remember how long they are) and the student gets to open with their own *short* introduction to the work, or you can start with a question, you can say what you are trying to do with the work and directly ask the faculty if your intention is coming through, you can just ask what do they see without providing your own intention/explanation if you'd rather they are unbiased by your explanation.
These are just some examples of many, many possibilities.
My own midterm critique was just terrible, I was extremely nervous and I cried when it was over because I was so nervous and had the impression the critique itself was negative, and just now looking for the video, it seems as though I actually had tiny paintings up there. I haven't watched my critique and it's unlikely I will, but this is just one example of how a midterm critique can go: Link to my own midterm critique
You can also watch many other critiques and lectures in NYAA's Vimeo page. Link to NYAA's Vimeo page.
For the second year, students get a faculty member as an advisor. Students say who they want in a form and then assignments are in a first come first serve basis.
You can get a different advisor each semester, or keep the same one for the fourth semester, depending on the first come first serve basis thing.
My advisor was Wade Schuman, who I didn't have classes with and sort of "ended up" with as an advisor because the teacher I originally wanted had reached his cap of students.
Wade, however, so pleasantly surprised me repeatedly in the third semester, I kept him as an advisor for the last semester.
Effectively, with our group and private critiques, my thesis work is something I am extremely proud of, it was fulfilling in very many levels, not just the resulting drawings.
I most definitely could not have done it without my advisor. Thank you so very much, Wade <3
Both years, I had private studio critiques with all the teachers. Even the first semester.
I made it a point to have a critique with all teachers, because I wanted them to see me and so I could also see them, talk to them and interact with them. This also worked really well as information to help me pick teachers for future classes, and also just to talk with people of differing points of view.
Don't use the excuse of "I have nothing to show", because it isn't entirely the point of a critique. Again, the point is to have a conversation with somebody who knows more than you and/or knows different stuff from you.
Also, if you don't like what somebody tells you during a critique, cry me a fucking river, bro.
- School art events and shows
There are art events constantly going on at NYAA. A few of them are organized by students (there was a student committee which put together student art shows when I was doing the MFA, I don't know if it still exists), others are organized by the faculty and staff.
There's shows going on in the Cast Hall/Wilkinson Hall and shows going on in the studio floors.
The work hanging in the building is by students the great majority of the time, and occasionally it's by "outside" people, alumni, and faculty.
(And a parenthesis here to mention if you attend NYAA in any capacity, MFA, CFA or SURP, you are part of/immersed in an ongoing art exhibition, because that is also what the studios are.)
For a few of the NYAA organized art shows, open call email blasts are sent (like Take Home A Nude and Tribeca Ball), other times faculty will go around the studios picking work to show.
For the student organized shows, they might just ask their classmates.
When that committee I mentioned was in the middle of mounting an exhibition, I approached them and asked what they were doing, they told me they were putting up a show, and I asked how could I be in one of those. Afterwards, I was effectively in a couple of shows they organized and I helped with mounting the shows.
In both cases, you should most definitely apply for things, apply for all the things you're interested in (whether an MFA, art exhibit, scholarship, grant, residency), and follow the application instructions for the love of Christ.
Also in all cases, if you missed an email blast, whatever it is, just ask.
I'm insisting on asking, talking and communicating (and it's almost the point of everything, maybe? >_>) because you can't sit around in your studio with a closed curtain, not talking to anyone, and then whine about how you're not in any Academy shows and act like it's the school's fault.
We are part of a community.
Perhaps, I am extra mega grateful, because I'd come form Panama and didn't know *ANYONE* in New York, except the people of this school, so a community formed around me all by itself. I made a concerted effort to interact with people, participate in things, and be supportive.
I particularly enjoyed walking around the studios during my breaks to look at my classmates' work and if they were there, chit chat with them about what they were up to. Support comes in different forms.
Back to being part of an ongoing art exhibition.
NYAA has Tribeca Ball and Open Studios, which are different versions of the same thing, and their purpose is to highlight the students currently doing the MFA.
Tribeca Ball is a super fancy, fun, dress up sort of open studio for which attendants buy tickets. There is a theme around which the building is decorated inside and out, and students spruce up their own studios however they want.
I remember the build up to this event in my first year to have been extremely stressful, I became very emotionally sensitive and got diarrhea ok.
I do wonder where the perception of pressure came from, because NYAA staff was very supportive and I was never told I absolutely *had* to do anything in particular. Rather I was told I could dress up if I wanted to, but plenty of times students just dressed with their studio clothes and made work during Tribeca Ball and others just set up their studio however they wanted and didn't show up, or didn't even set up their studio and also didn't show up.
Either way, like everything else, there is a lot of flexibility and wiggle room.
Open Studios is open to the public, and it's a "casual" version of open studio, it happens about a week after Tribeca Ball.
The same thing applies in terms of dressing yourself and your studio decoration, it's entirely up to you. In my case, I left my studio mostly the same for Open Studios after Tribeca Ball both years, because it looked so orderly and pretty.
- Residencies and awards
When my turn for residencies came at the end of the first year, my class was sent an email asking if we wanted to be considered for any residency in particular. I don't know if this is how it's done still, but I replied to this email by saying I didn't want anything that required paying, because I couldn't afford plane tickets or any sort of food and board, besides that in NYC (and of course, if I was going to travel, I would still have NYC rent to pay).
As a result, I didn't get any residencies. Or maybe I wouldn't have gotten one regardless. Who knows?
At the end of the second year, second years are also considered for a few residencies, we didn't get an email asking if we wanted to be considered for anything, but I also didn't get shit because that is how life is.
To be frank, however, that first summer I also kind of didn't want to go anywhere. I'd never lived anywhere except Panama, least of all freaking New York City, are you kidding me? So I sort of wanted to be in the city for summer and experience it.
This is very amusing now, because I actually just spent the summer at NYAA making stuff (I took this time to explore two subjects I was interested in as possible thesis themes) and only stopped going in August when the building was closed and I finally had no choice.
In the second year, and I don't remember if this is exclusive to the second year, partial scholarships open up for which one applies. This type of information is also on the website. Link to scholarships and grants page.
Things seem to be a little different now in terms of requirements, what one does as a scholar, and amounts of the scholarships, but the one I got was to give tours of the school to any and all interested parties. I did this gladly because I am a huge cheerleader for NYAA <3
During my class' graduation ceremony I was awarded the Hudson Valley Art Association "Anatomy and Excellence Award".
Dean then and now Provost Peter Drake announced it and what an amazingly lovely way of closing off my MFA.
- Lectures
NYAA offers lectures which are basically open to the public (Link to NYAA's vimeo). I had to attend all of these as a student, and they are meant to supplement, more or less, the classes. Some of the subjects addressed in these lectures were how to approach a gallery, how to price work, artist lectures where they'd talk about their career.
I didn't care for any of the lectures, but they also without a doubt, helped me learn to talk about art.
Actually, I did care about the Anne Harris lecture a lot. It was sort of the only lecture that happened in my mind.
Also, there was another lecture about pricing work, with Peter Drake interviewing a guy, who said "pricing of art has no logic" several times during the lecture, and goddammit guy, you are right.
I don't remember anything else he said.
This is an aspect which was criticized by that same handful of whining classmates: there not being enough "art business" type instruction, and I suppose if I wanted to play devil's advocate I could agree with them to a certain extent. Like ok, I want to study fine art, is it really the duty of the school teaching you fine art to also teach you the business of art?
I don't know, I suppose you could argue it is, but if this is what you want, back to part 1 of this entry: make sure art business or something like it is in the curriculum of the degree you pick.
tl;dr Basically a continuation of part 1. After I did my own research, I did the MFA, loved the shit out of it. Excellent service, would absolutely recommend, would do it again, five stars *****, 10/10
3. Relationship with NYAA after graduating
After graduating, I felt lost and aimless, depressed I wouldn't be attending the NYAA building anymore, seeing my classmates, and being in its super stimulating atmosphere. I kept going to the print shop to do lithography, like a stray puppy. Stray puppies do lithography.
I caught the behavior soon enough and realized I had to make something in my own home studio (I haven't had a "formal" art studio since NYAA, but a home studio) to break the feeling.
Once I did, I was able to start moving on and think of what I should be doing in the present, make money for rent, and my work.
I've been able to consistently show my work in NYAA shows and unrelated galleries, and it's basically because I apply for things often.
NYAA has shows for which alumni can apply, like the Summer Show, Deck the Walls, and Take Home A Nude. Other times an email will be sent to alumni to invite them to submit work for an art fair, other times an alumni I made acquaintance/friends with is curating a show and they will invite me.
Also, I've kept a line of communication with NYAA in the past by being a Teaching Assistant, and it may or may not help directly or indirectly to get into shows, but for me it's rather about staying in touch with the community.
A while after graduating, I decided I wanted to expand my artistic circle a bit more and make it go a little beyond NYAA. I've more or less done this by just going to openings, submitting work to group shows, and Instagram.
There's also the Alumni Association of New York Academy of Art, which occasionally sends out an open call, but it's also great to make contact with all sorts of NYAA alumn.
AANYAA also does crit nights occasionally, and it's awesome to be able to see what everyone is working on so long after having graduated. Or maybe not that long, it doesn't matter.
This also goes with being part of a community. You nurture your relationship with it by following up and sticking around.
I would say, however, one is responsible for one's art career and life after graduating. You already got what you paid for: the degree. And now you have an actual reason to get other people to call you "Master".
Similarly to "stuff is happening in your brain when you input information and do stuff", what you do with everything you've learned is entirely in your hands.
tl;dr You've broken out of the MFA egg. Go on out there and be a big, independent bird.
