Linda Arbuckle on sat 29 oct 05
"You want to make great pots take the
money that you would spend on an MFA and put it into kiln, studio etc.
You
want to teach go get an MFA."
Well, I beg to differ. The MFA is NOT a teaching degree, although many
people say this. It's true that it's the credential university people
ask for in hiring someone for teaching other people who want to learn
about working as an artist, but it's NOT a teaching degree. A Masters in
Art Education is a teaching degree.
The MFA is about making one's personal work in a way that communicates
to an external audience. This sounds deceptively simple, but it's not.
It's learning about learning, and a tool for the rest of your art life.
The MFA show is not a plateau you reach, it's an artifact of the work
you've done on your thinking. In the programs I've experienced, there
are no studio assignments, only crit deadlines (although there are
assignments for things like professional practices skills,
presentations, etc.) . It's the student's mission to figure out - if you
can make anything, what should your work be about, and how do you
express that in ways that other people can read?
Undergrad school gives assignments and builds technical and experiential
vocabulary (do sculpture, learn to throw pots, raku, high fire, low
fire, etc.) . Grad school asks what you want to say with the vocabulary
you have, and possibly whether you need to expand that vocabulary to get
the point across. You are expected to work in a train of thought and
progress through that to a focused expression of your interests. This
includes a lot of searching, a lot of blind alleys for most people, and
a certain amount of failure along the way to understanding what your
personal nugget is, then working to polish it until it shines. And, clay
being clay, along the way there are the usual technical issues that
supply failure in between the aesthetic and conceptual mis-steps. People
often need to develop new skills, learn more tech info, and polish
skills they have to speak effectively through their work. While all this
is happening, the calendar is relentless, and you usually have to take
other classes as well (at least at state schools), and probably have a
TA doing tech support or teaching. Makes for a very lively 3 years at
our program.
Another VERY important component in grad education is one's peer
community. Outside school, it's very hard to find a group of people who
are on the same page in entertaining difficult critical questions of
work (my mother loves everything I make, and I have a friend who loves
all the blue ones), or who have the time and interest to meet weekly to
look at work and talk about it while reading and learning about art.
Having a community of people who hear what you say, and compare that to
what you make, and give considered, constructive response is a special
tool. Clayart is a great forum, but imagine doing this in real time with
the pots/sculptures on the table in front of you and a studio in the
next room, and having the same community over a protracted time.
The reason to go to grad school is to have a hot-house to grow your work
in a way that having the best studio and most expensive equipment won't
do. Grad school helps you get good feedback regularly, and the calendar
pushes you to focus and do it now.
I've watched a lot of students work for 3 years of grad study, and wish
I could show you the portfolios of the work when they entered, and what
they are making when they leave, as well as the growth in their ability
to think critically and effectively, analyze the work they see and their
own motivations in work, and talk about work. They grow so much in that
time.
I don't think people should go to grad school to teach. They should go
to grow their understanding of their work and insights into making
personal work that communicates their interests. If they do this well,
it certainly is the basis for good teaching. Good teaching does take
more than making good studio work, but learning to make your own work
effectively is a transformative experience, and a place to begin when
looking for someone to teach.
I don't think our MFA students work for the grade. The grade is feedback
to what they do, and a check if they really fail to do work, but they
mostly are self-driven and work to the best of their time and ability.
In grad school, a "C" average will put you on probation. You are
expected to be self-motivated and above the average C.
We have had a wide variety of people do MFA study, from people just out
of undergrad school to people retired from another career, and people
who have been studio artists for years. I think some programs believe
what Kelly said about not being teachable beyond a certain age and are
reluctant to accept older students, but we don't feel that way. There is
much to learn, and people with other life experience bring a lot to work
with that usually makes them more interesting. The pace of our grad
program is a bit daunting. Being older usually means you get more done
w/your time, although your life is often more complicated (i.e. kids,
family, et al.) than someone just out of undergrad school, and you may
have more to juggle.
Teaching is not a bed of roses, as Kelly pointed out. The time demands
and pulls in different directions are constant and include
administrative things as well as studio teaching. While most students
are there to learn, you still have to deal with a few people who are
skating through and telling you the equivalent of "the dog peed on my
homework" while out doing other things. Kelly lamented not having a
grade to hold over someone's head in her community classes. I really
HATE grading, as I feel compelled to be very careful, very justified,
and as even-handed as possible in my response to varied work. Takes a
long time to do grading. I get very little studio time during the school
year, and if I weren't on sabbatical this fall I would be too busy to be
reading ClayArt. But teaching does reward teachers with being immersed
in a community of people willing to talk about clay art all day, who get
together as a group and make interesting things happen, and is never
dull (do I sense a parallel to ClayArt?). Watching people grow their
work is inspiring. It's a good balance to the drain of bureaucracy and
the other less fun aspects of teaching. And after all that chaos, you
have summer off to have 2 thoughts in a row in studio.
As a p.s., my sabbatical was granted to do studio work for a solo show
and feature show. At a research university, you do get occasional
support for your professional career (and return for the fact that
school often makes it impossible to get to your studio). Check Nov. 4th
online:
http://akardesign.com and
www.bluespiral1.com
Linda Arbuckle
14716 SE 9th Terr
Micanopy, FL 32667
(352) 466-3520
arbuck@bellsouth.net
http://www.arts.ufl.edu/artex02/html/ceramics/arbuckle.html
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