Alternative Paths for Fine Arts Majors

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>The most common path for a Fine Arts major (BA or BFA) who wishes to continue on to post graduate study is the MFA. It's a terrific way to go for the pure artist. The purpose of this post is to encourage thought and discussion about alternative paths of study. I'm not against getting an MFA by any means, I'm just trying to encourage thought and discussion in other programs.</p>

<p>Okay, so you graduated as an undergraduate student in Fine Art and you've got your BA or BFA in hand and you want to continue your education… where can you go? Tons of places. In addition to the MFA programs, you have hundreds of interesting art post graduate paths to look at and perhaps apply to.</p>

<p>Masters programs
You could get a masters degree in Art History. Some colleges don't offer a stand alone MA in AH, instead they offer a PhD program, but there are hundreds that do offer MA's. Too many to list here. The most common applicant to these programs is a student with a BA in Art History, but they get kids from many different majors including Studio Art.</p>

<p>You could get a masters degree in a very specialized arts field. </p>

<p>There are many specialized programs in Museum Studies. Here's an example with good related info: Museum</a> Studies: Tufts University</p>

<p>And here's one you can do from home —> Johns</a> Hopkins University | Advanced Academic Programs | Krieger School of Arts and Sciences | Master of Arts in Museum Studies | Home</p>

<p>The Smithsonian has a lot to say on the subject —> Museum</a> Studies Training and Careers</p>

<p>So far we have looked at the traditional MA in Art History and MA programs in Museum Studies. But that's not enough for you is it? Alright, then how about going really specialized like these two:</p>

<p>Want to change the world with activist art? Then how about going to NYU's MA program in Arts Politics? -->M.A</a>. in Arts Politics: Tisch School of the Arts at NYU<a href="I%20call%20this%20the%20Banksy%20degree.%20:">/url</a>)
If this degree looks appealing then you will love this video: [url=<a href="http://www.insideoutproject.net/%5DInside">http://www.insideoutproject.net/]Inside</a> Out
Amazing stuff! If there were a Marvel Comic art superhero it might very well be based on this guy.</p>

<p>Or maybe you want to bring art outdoors and you see things in a big way? Then I would point you to a program like this: USC's Master of Public Art -->Art/Curatorial</a> Practices in the Public Sphere - Roski School of Fine Arts
Here you would most likely work with architects to enhance large interior and exterior locations with art.</p>

<p>Do you like chemistry and art? If so, then how about a career in art restoration that could be started here —> IFA</a> | NYU - Prospective Students</p>

<p>And there are of course many other specialized art masters programs. To find them you just have to do a thorough search on a school's website. </p>

<p>MA prerequisites vary widely depending on the program but always include a good GPA. Masters programs generally take 2 years to complete.</p>

<p>PhD programs
A Masters degree is nice but hey, why stop there when there are so many PhD programs around you. In fact, they're everywhere. Pretty much every large university has one as this goes to the core of academia. Not too surprisingly, the Ivy's and other likely suspects hold most of the top ranked spots. To give you an idea, here's the top 13 from the USNWR 2009 ranking (plus a few links):
Art History PhD
1 NYU (IFA</a> | NYU - Academics)
2 Columbia (Graduate</a> Program - Department of Art History and Archaeology - Columbia University)
3 UC Berkeley (The</a> History of Art - About the Graduate Program)
4 Harvard
5 Yale (Yale</a> University :: Department of the History of Art)
6 Princeton
7 Johns Hopkins
8 Northwestern
9 UPenn
10 UChicago
11 U Michigan
12 CUNY
13 UCLA</p>

<p>Want to see something funny? Look at how ugly and outdated the Berkeley site is! And the irony is that the site is about ART History, you know, the beautiful stuff in life. Sheesh!</p>

<p>PhD programs in AH are generally 6 to 8 years in length. They are usually listed as MA/PhD programs because after year two they grant you an MA in Art History while you continue on to complete your PhD. Sometimes you will see it listed as MA/M.Phil/Phd (ex. Columbia). In this case the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) is granted after year three. In either case, at the end you pop out with 2 or 3 degrees, all in Art History.</p>

<p>Some programs offer additional specialization in a closely related subject and they call this an Advanced Certificate. Certificates generally take one year to complete. A Museum Studies Certificate is often available but there are several other types as well. Here's a Wolverine example: Certificate</a> in Museum Studies</p>

<p>Two thirds of Art History PhD's go into teaching at the college level. Of the remaining one third, most go to museums or archaeology programs and some to private practice (advising art collectors).</p>

<p>How do I get in?
Well, I'm glad you asked. Here's an FAQ from Berkeley's Grad Art History website and this FAQ is more or less repeated on most of the others:
"FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is an Art History major required for acceptance into Berkeley’s graduate program? Most students admitted to the program have majored in Art History. However, we welcome applications from majors in other disciplines, and have admitted students from majors including American Studies, Sociology, Comparative Literature, Medieval Studies, East Asian Studies, Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Studio Art. The most qualified non-Art History majors have taken upper division art history courses in their area of interest and have experience conducting writing and research in Art History."</p>

<p>Things that are commonly seen as prerequisites include:
1.) Languages. Man, these guys are big on language! Almost all PhD AH programs require 3 out of these 4 languages: English, French, German and Italian. To get in you must have native English plus let's say French through the 2nd year of undergrad study. Then you commit to adding another language (maybe German) while in your program.
2.) Getting a good score on the GRE (Graduate</a> Record Examination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Just as we saw with the SAT, the higher you climb the rankings ladder the higher the GRE scores must be.
3.) A sample of your Critical Writing.
4.) At least 4 classes in upper division Art History. Some require more.
5.) A good undergrad GPA. </p>

<p>How possible is this?
Well, good news and bad news. The bad news is these programs are VERY competitive. On UCLA's site they state that they accept 6 to 8 students per year into their Art History PhD program out of 200 applicants. The good news is there are hundreds of programs and many are much less competitive. Many of the Masters programs are much less competitive as well.</p>

<p>The two areas that a Fine Arts/Studio Arts major would most likely have to augment would be languages and adding upper division art history classes.</p>

<p>I see all of the above as very possible for the right Fine Art student. If you cruise through Columbia's PhD AH site you can find a link to their current PhD candidates (Current</a> PhD Students - Department of Art History and Archaeology - Columbia University) where you will find two students with BFA's (one from RISD and one from a European school). So we know that Fine Artist's aren't common here in the upper reaches of Art History, but we also know that it is possible to get here. I think Fine Artist's would be seen as unique in this world and that could both help and hurt an applicant trying to get in. </p>

<p>If you have an interest in any of the above programs then I would call the admissions office at that program to discuss it further. Explain where you are and ask if they would recommend adding anything to strengthen your future application. Ask them how they view Fine Arts majors… and then report back here! :)</p>

<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>

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<p>Very thorough post, Wheaty!</p>

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<p>a little post script from someone with their MA in Art History from UCLA:</p>

<p>You really need to be LITERATE in the required languages. A few years of undergrad French or German usually does not suffice. You may get into a program without the language skills, but you will be worn pretty thin by language study. IMHO, I would not recommend pursuing a graduate degree in Art History, unless you really want to go the distance with a PHD and become an art historian.</p>

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<p>Musicamusica,</p>

<p>Some language questions:
1.) How far along were you in languages when you entered the MA program?
2.) Are you saying having to learn additional languages while in the program wore you down?
3.) Looks like I’m underestimating language requirements. What would be ideal?</p>

<p>General:
1.) You regret getting your MA?!? If so, how come? That seems pretty cool to me.
2.) What are your impressions of the UCLA grad program in AH?
3.) What advice would you have for a Fine Arts major that wanted to someday work in the museum world?</p>

<p>Thanks, this is very helpful!</p>

<ul>
<li>Wheaty</li>
</ul>

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<p>I wrote in Cooper hijack thread this morning about MoMA curator who scored Picasso’s guitar sculpture which his superiors failed to acquire. It must be different time yet here is another example
Barbara Haskell is now a bigshot curator of Whitney for 35 or so years. she got only BA from UCLA when she started out at Pasadena museum doing inventory as a summer job.
worked up her way to eventually mount shows that impressed Geogia O’Keeffe enuff to become her favorite, then headhunted by Whitney’s board prez.
but her biggest achievement might be to gotten married to possibly the best East coast “in” circle guy.
If she did no go up to Bard college on her own, it would not have happened. The reason being plain she was a fan of Milton Avery and wanted to see the opening.
there is no proof here but one would not plan something as
“I am gonna wear this dress and met up with Leon Botstein and he will ask me out or else!!”
say, not usually, like Steve Jobs’ wife had done.
It is her intelligence, charm, poise and whatelse whatelse brought her this status and famous ski hi achieving hubby, not her pedigree nor phD.
when you compare say, Williams grad and Bard CCS grad school’s requirement, you’d wonder how that can be even start to measure up if you are supposedly getting a degree that lead you to eventual museum job?
If you need to research and read old catalogs written in native language, sure you’d need German Italian Latin French Sanskrit whatnot.
But if you are only going to deal with conceptual contemporary art and able funded enuff to hire translator just in case the other guy would how dare not speak English, you don’t really need it.
It is hard to say at this point for art kid to do this then that then this would happen.
we never know.
language skill is something one should know if you are good at or not by the end of high school. It is very hard to catch up if you don’t “have” it. like musica said, it is not just be able to buy loaf of bread in German Italian French.
wish big is good, I am all for dreaming, yet misguided false hope is cruel thing to give. If you are not that kind of student, you are the one know it best. love what you love and do the best on what you do.
love art and have one thing that you are really passionate about, that reading researching pile and pile of miniscule information is never a chore, but pure joy.
^ that’s what my kid learned from his mentor while interning at a museum and seeing what the guy had to deal with made my kid stop talking about becoming bigshot curator, at least for now.</p>

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<p>Good point Bears, so many take a round-about route to where they end up. In real-life, outside the professorial world, it’s not always about where you went to school and or your GPA. Also the hidden benefit of internships, see if it’s really something you want to do by doing it and observing the thing being done. I have a couple of stories of people that spent years and years studying a field, thought they loved it, got jobs and found they hated the reality of doing it. 6 years of college…kaput!</p>

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<p>D’s first art teacher dropped out of medical school to teach and work as professional artist. Loves life now.</p>

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<p>Wheaty—I lived in Europe before grad school and had solid skills in Italian and Latin. My French and German where just so-so( I had studied both as an undergrad-2 years each) so I spent a great deal of time in language study my first two years of my MA. It took me 3 1/2 years. I also studied art restoration in Italy for 18 months thru a UNESCO program. Language studies required depend on area of concentration. My area of study required translation abilities in Latin, Italian, German and French.
UCLA still has a great program. Art History and Museum studies are very very very competitive fields and I would not encourage someone to take on grad school as some sort of “practical alternative” to Fine Arts study. If, however, you do decide to pursue this field, be sure and go to one of the top schools where you can be mentored by the best.
I didn’t stay in Art History, I did work in the museum field, but discovered that it was not for me.</p>

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<p>BY THE WAY:
If you have a strong art and science background and are looking into graduate study combining practical arts, Art History and science, check out the UCSD Center of Interdisciplinary Science, Art and Architecture. Study with Maurizio Saracini.</p>

<p>[CISA3</a> :: Home](<a href=“http://cisa3.calit2.net/]CISA3”>http://cisa3.calit2.net/)</p>

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<p>Musicamusica,</p>

<p>“I also studied art restoration in Italy for 18 months thru a UNESCO program.” Wow, so was that as interesting as it sounds?</p>

<p>So it seems like you’d want to have lets say a Minor in French and maybe one year of German at the completion of the BA. And then once into grad school you continue on with both… does that sound right?</p>

<p>Thanks for the link on Mr. Saracini! Jeez, talk about being on the cutting edge of the field. Wow! </p>

<p>Also found this newish and interesting PhD program for Fine Art majors on the UCSD site:
[UCSD</a> - VisArts -](<a href=“http://visarts.ucsd.edu/node/view/530]UCSD”>http://visarts.ucsd.edu/node/view/530)</p>

<p>When you were at UCLA were you by any chance involved with their Experimental Critical Theory program? [url=&lt;a href=“http://ect.humnet.ucla.edu/people-/11-welcome]Welcome[/url”&gt;http://ect.humnet.ucla.edu/people-/11-welcome]Welcome[/url</a>]
Just curious.</p>

<p>Thanks!

  • Wheaty</p>
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<p>One year of French or German is not enough to be a masterful reader of the language. There really is no formulaic approach to the field.
And nothing in the art conservation is “as interesting as it sounds”. :wink:
I was at UCLA when dinosaurs roamed the earth and there was no program called “experimental critical theory”. You have to understand that Art History departments are constantly reinventing themselves. At the time I was there, I studied with a loan formalist in a sea of Marxists. In fact a student is better off choosing a professor or approach to follow, rather than a generic system based on some arbitrary ranking. Find out what you want to do and what school is producing the newly minted graduates who are “doing it”.</p>

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<p>For those interested in working in the classical realism style, here are a few schools:</p>

<p>[Florence</a> Academy of Art, School of fine arts Italy](<a href=“http://www.florenceacademyofart.com/]Florence”>http://www.florenceacademyofart.com/)
[Angel</a> Academy of Art :: Dedicated to the Continuance of Classic Realist Painting](<a href=“http://www.angelartschool.com/]Angel”>http://www.angelartschool.com/)
[Grand</a> Central Academy of Art](<a href=“http://www.grandcentralacademy.org/]Grand”>http://www.grandcentralacademy.org/)</p>

<p>These schools can be attended without getting an undergraduate degree, and are cheaper than attending most US art schools. Many graduates of these programs do well as free-lance painters, because they can take on portrait commissions in addition to their own work.</p>

<p>My daughter, now 24, attended two of those schools, and is doing very well as a freelance painter. She never attended college.</p>