For some artisans, attending an MFA program makes sense. Others are not so crazy about the results they’ve netted from graduate school.
Photo: Tom Perkins
Like any young, aspiring photographer who may or may not currently reside in his parents’ basement, I’m carefully plotting and planning my ascent to greatness.
All over the country, artists in their 20s are doing the same, and, for those with a bachelor’s degree, grad school is a reasonable and attractive option. Where else can one immerse themselves in their craft, get grants and loans to fund it, make contacts, receive feedback and, most importantly, learn for two years? But at what price?
Money aside, Seneca artist Kent Ambler, who attended Clemson’s grad school for a year in 2001, found that an artist’s creative capacity was largely drained along with the bank account.
Ambler signed up for grad school to surround himself with ideas and receive input following seven years spent in New Mexico, but left after two semesters.
“I probably went back for the wrong reasons,” Ambler explained. “I didn’t really have an intention to teach, but I had such a good time in my undergrad and it was isolating in New Mexico.”
He believes the biggest problem with the CU master of fine arts program is its parameters. Art students are forced to work, which Ambler feels pulls attention away from execution and clashes with his intuitive woodcuts and paintings.
“With the MFA approach it’s mostly sort of preplanned and it gets stale,” he said. “The ideas that people think are original are pretty trite, and, I’m not trying to lay a broad blanket, but a lot of people think they’re a lot more intellectual than they are.”
“Everyone in grad school is working so hard to figure out what they’re work is about, but they’re looking everywhere but inside themselves.”
Clemson artist Eileen Powell found her niche while earning an MFA in sculpture at CU, and in April exhibited work that speaks on environmental issues in her thesis show at the Lee Gallery.
For her purposes, the “MFA approach” and grad school environment fit.
“The main thing you have to realize when you go to grad school is that you become more academic with your art,” she explained. “You pick your concept, you have to do a tremendous amount of research and you become an expert in many different areas.”
“Building a concept is challenging and it’s not easy thing,” she added. “That’s a struggle for all artists whether you’re in school or not – by having a concept I think the work is given a deeper meaning and more layers.”
Powell’s route to Clemson’s MFA program stopped at Virginia Commonwealth University, which boasts one of the top sculpture programs in the country, but the anonymity prompted a move to a smaller program at CU.
“One thing I did find interesting is I didn’t have the connection with the faculty (at VCU), and I left because it my professor was pretty much non-existent at the time,” she said.
Ambler didn’t discover the nurturing community he had hoped for and that Powell had found at Clemson, but instead felt he was in a “ghost town” and drew little in the way of inspiration from his professors.
Moreover, his professors pushed hard for a concept when the source of his work was his gut or “subliminal,” which isn’t to say it lacked a common style.
“My professors would ask me ‘How does this one relate to this one?’ Well I made both of them,” he laughed.
Both are facing post-grad school life armed with very different experiences and lessons learned. Powell is taking the next year to work in her Clemson studio and get several shows for her resume before seeking a teaching position, which she believes will require no small amount of effort.
“I think it’s true that you can make it (teaching) happen, but it is not a slam dunk,” she admitted. “It means its going to take a little more effort and time to develop a better portfolio and develop my niche.”
Ambler looks at his MFA friends who deliver pizzas and wonders if attending grad school was a bit of a gamble.
“I’ve got quite a few friends who will probably never get jobs,” he said. “I don’t think there are enough jobs out there for people with MFA’s.”
