6. -Emily Carr Graduate website
“Emily Carr offers you the highest calibre of interdisciplinary faculty and
progressive research opportunities as the only Canadian institution solely
dedicated to creativity. As a practicing artist and aspiring professional the applied
arts master degree or design master degree will enhance your opportunities to
contribute to contemporary creative society. “
7. -Emily Carr website
“The MAA is intended to link studio practice in Visual Arts, Media Arts, or Design to
professional practice. While the focus of the MFA degree may be directly related to
developing a substantial body of work in preparation for an exhibiting career and, in some
institutions, to developing teaching skills, the MAA has a broader intent.”
9. When is the deadline
you ask?
January 15th 2016
12. Reasons she chose Emily Carr
-strong aboriginal presence
-Gained valuable work experience, improved skill set
-opportunities to intern at galleries, as a teacher’ s assistant
13. Thesis
• Thesis comprises of a visual
project and a thesis essay, plus
students must take part in a
final exhibition.
• The internship will require
submission of a 1500 word paper;
the thesis project proposal require
2500 words and the final thesis
project will require submission of an
8,000 to 12,000 word paper.
21. The awesome parts:
• Large studio space. 24 hour access
• MOA and UBC libraries are amazing and close
23. Thesis
-round table defensive
-thesis essay must be no less than 30 double-spaced, typed pages on a topic
related to the student’s own interests and artistic practice.
26. “SFU Contemporary Arts is an intimate art school in a university setting. The Master of Fine Arts in
Interdisciplinary Studies (MFA) program provides advanced professional training for artists in the fields of
music, dance, theatre, film, video and visual art.
….Several kinds of artist thrive in this program: those who have a strong background in a single discipline and
value the stimulation of an interdisciplinary environment; those whose studio practice fuses two or more
disciplines; and those who want to develop the theoretical or scholarly context of their practice.”
31. “The Urban Studies program is designed to meet the needs
of our diverse student body. All of our courses are scheduled in the evening,
and the option for part-time study allows our students to pursue their diploma
or degree while working and/or raising a family.”
41. Thesis
The University of Alberta’s MFA degree is based on a visual thesis
“There is also a writing requirement of at least one page about your work. Though the writing
requirement may seem low compared to other programs, you will still be reading, researching and
writing a lot. You will write more than what is required for your statement, but necessary in your
discovery and understanding of your work”
“This format was the best for me because I am an artist, and having a visual thesis makes
a lot of sense. There is real value to the writing element but I am glad that I was able to
express my art through a body of work instead of 50+ page document. Visual art isn’t
expressed or experienced that way, so why make it the requirement for an MFA thesis.”
42. Grace Sippy
What kind of opportunities has pursuing your Masters degree given you for your art practice?
Being part of the printmaking program at the University of Alberta was absolutely wonderful. The support
I got from the program and my supervisors enabled me to go to printmaking conferences in Germany,
Scotland and San Francisco. In addition to the conferences, I also was able to meet artists and
printmakers from around the world through their visiting artist and artist talks programs. This was all
very important in meeting new people, sharing ideas and techniques, and connecting with people through
art; I feel I have a much better awareness and connection with those in printmaking and art. We also were
able to exhibit through shows organized by our supervisors. I’ve exhibited all over the world in part to
them.
Specifically speaking about art practice, in graduate school I learned a methodology to working, whereas
before I didn’t have one. Finding a way to work is really important in art practice. My supervisors
challenged me but at the same gave me confidence as my work began to grow and develop further. It is
still very hard to establish yourself after graduating but I have to wonder where I would be if I hadn’t gone
to grad school at the University of Alberta, or grad school in general. I feel graduate school started a fire,
which has continued to burn and spread. It gave me knowledge, direction and confidence in establishing
myself as an artist.
44. U of A
-I had access to faculty and resources across disciplines where it was relevant to my project.
-Students get 24 hour access to their space. And their studios are quite spacious. The print
making studios are smaller, because of communal use of equipment.
-scholarships and funding available to students
-a weakness is that the print making studio is shared and smaller compared to other
institutions.
45. Campus Life
“Being in a research university (as opposed to an art based university) exposes students to what’s
happening in other areas of research across the humanities or sciences.”
“Campus culture is diverse, with many student groups and funding opportunities to attend conferences
or exhibit work. The city of Edmonton has many festivals and a spirited “DIY” community. I found
Edmonton small enough to make meaningful connections within the artistic community and found
opportunities for exhibitions, employment, and artist grants. The proximity of Edmonton to Calgary was
nice, especially to get to the Banff centre, where I attended some residencies and conferences on
multiple occasions.”
Hello I'm Caley, I am a 4th year artist with a painting and drawing focus. And I'm Nicole, I work in drawing and illustration.
We will be presenting today on the topic of MFA’s.
In the beginning of the semester we were doing quite a lot of research on her own regarding Master of fine art programs. We were interested in this topic for a number of reasons.As fourth year student set to graduate in spring next year, we have been researching options for ourselves after we graduate. Life after Emily car. We have been mulling over quite a bit whether or not to pursue a Master of fine arts, the advantages, and the disadvantages such as cost and length. Also, we were very interested in learning more about the thesis component in an MFA program. We particularly wanted to know, how much emphasis is given to the written thesis compared to producing art works. An MFA program that really stood out to us is the MFA program offered at the University of Alberta. We have heard great things about their program, the facilities and the dstructure the program. We were particularly interested in comparing the traditional thesis option, to the visual thesis option. WE will get into this more later on in the presentation.
So in our proposal we had initially wanted to focus only on the University of Alberta, looking into these two thesis options. But after talking with Annie we realized that we need to have some other schools to compare to . The schools we are comparing are Emily Carr, UBC, Sou and U of A. Why we chose to look at local schools, was because international tuition is generally more expensive compared to domestic schools, and in the future we want to be close to family and to our partners. So in preparation for this assignment we interviewed graduates of the MFA programs.
Caley- I am interested in pursuing further education after I graduate. Perhaps a residency. But I do really see myself pursing a masters degree or a teaching certifaction. However, spending the majority of my time in front of the computer writing a 50 page + thesis developing carpal tunnel just doesn't appeal to me. And so Niki and I wanted to see what other options are available to art students? We wanted to shop around for programs.
So we hope this presentation is helpful to those of you who are interested in pursuing an MFA and who are interested at any one of these school.
So here we go. The first school we are going to take a look at is Emily car and it’s MFA.
SPECS:
We have had generally great experiences at Emily Carr. We all know Em Carr is a very creative space, and many disciplines study here.
Emily Carr prides itself on being interdisciplinary. Also, Emily Carr has a new campus being built. I am sure will be state of the art, new fancy things and all of that. So future students have that to look forward to.
Here is some information about the Master of Applied Art program:
“The MAA is intended to link studio practice in Visual Arts, Media Arts, or Design to professional practice. While the focus of the MFA degree may be directly related to developing a substantial body of work in preparation for an exhibiting career and, in some institutions, to developing teaching skills, the MAA has a broader intent.”
Emily Carr Offers 4 masters options, A Master of applied arts, master of applied arts low residency, master of design, and master of digital media. The master of applied arts low residency option is a three year degree program and the others are 2 years in duration. The Low res program requires that students work on campus for 3 four week summer intensive residencies. It works out to be a total of 38 months to complete the program.The Low res program si designed to be a more flexible program, geared towards students who do not live in Vancouver, maybe international students or or those who have pursued mentorships outside of Vancouver. Again, students are only required to be on campus in Vancouver during the summers. I will emphasize here that the lo-res is not a part-time option but it is it is a flexible option.
An applicant needs a minimum grade point average of 3.0 which is a B to apply.
The tuition cost can be found online.
Some of you may have heard that it is not recommended that a student receive both degree from the same instutition. Although it is rare that students do this, it is not impossbile.
To learn more about the program, we met with Michelle sound at the AGP. Michelle is a part of the Administration staff and the aboriginal program assistant at Emily Carr. Michelle sounds work focuses on topics of culture, family, aboriginal aesthetics, and she works in a variety of medium such as painting and traditional work and installation.
Michelle did her BFA at SFU. She didn't pursue her masters degree immediately, but took a couple of years off after graduation to be with her young son, and also get a more clear direction of where she wanted to take her art. She went thru the master of applied art.She told us that some of the kinks in the program when she attended have been worked out and that the program has change somewhat and been refined over the last few years.
She chose Emily car because she felt that Emily Carr had a strong aboriginal presence. She wanted to attend a school that was in her home province and wasn't far from her family. Michelle heard that Emily Carr had a great rep as an art school.
What Michele enjoyed about the MFA program at Emily Carr is that there is a summer internship requirement. So this helped Michelle gain very valuable skills, and she gained experience working with kids. She gave working in the gallery space a shot, but didn't feel it was right for her. She did discover that she was passionate about teaching. She chose not to attend UBC because she heard that it didn't have a great rep is an art school as compared to Emily Carr.
Students are required to submit a final thesis project that comprises a visual project and a thesis essay plus take part in a final exhibition.
The internship will require submission of a 1500 word paper; the thesis project proposal require 2500 words and the final thesis project will require submission of an 8,000 to 12,000 word paper.
IN the end, Michelle was happy to complete your MFA at Emily Carr. And currently has a dream job. she says that she gained she made valuable connections and was able to network. When we asked about the weaknesses of the program, she said that Emily car has addressed the issues that former students had with the program. Michelle was a busy young mom and so wasn't able to participate as much as she would've liked to in extracurricular activities. Some advice that Michelle wanted us to pass on to you all is that networking is a valuable skill to develop. Visit art shows and galleries, and gain experience. Apply to exhibtions! apply for funding!
On reflecting on her time as a student at SFU pursing her BFA, she had generally a good experience there. The classes were very small 16 students in the cohort studio and seminars. At times she did feel very disconnected from other students and other programs though.
We asked her whether or not she thought that art students need to pursue a masters to be successful as artists.
She said in her opinion to be a practicing artist she doesn't think that you really need to pursue a masters degree. But the Masters degree does offer some advantages and benefits. For example if you want to teach in the university level most often masters degrees are a requirement. Also she felt that pursuing her masters degree gave her more skills she was lacking as just a BFA holder.
All right moving on. So the next school we chose to look into is UBC.
from the website, “ UBC is dedicated to helping students understand both the making and theorizing of art against the background of the diverse intellectual environment of a major university, and within the context of local and international art communities." Each and every student receives his/or her own private studio which is approximately 250 ft.² and access to the departments extensive facilities including a state of the art photo lab printmaking unit and workshop.”
Tuition costs can be found online.
The MFA programs are offered on campus, ful time studies. Deadline to apply is january 10th
Raymond Boisoly is an alumni of the UBC master of our program. Some of you may know him he is a professor at Emily Carr.
As a BFA student at Emily Carr, Raymond applied to UBC as an assignment in a professional practice course. He got in and decided to attend right after his BFA. Raymond liked the convenience of pursuing his Masters near his family in Vancouver, as he said he couldn’t ‘pick up and move’.
Raymond states that he liked UBC’s program because he appreciates working with performance and creative artists. It is a small program, that supports its students and offers scholarships. The facilities at UBC are unparalleled in his opinion.
When we asked Raymond about the facility he said “ UBC masters students receive their own private studios with 24 hour access ..he says they are very nice studios with large windows and a beautiful view.
Museum of anthropology is close, the libraries on campus are amazing.
When we asked Raymond about the Masters program he said that it is self directed,there is a higher level of discussion, and Ubc often brings in guest speakers.
We asked Raymond what students could expect in terms of classes at UBC. He said it is very self directed focuses, which he really liked. This was different for him than his BFA. The level of discussion more intense. Definielty prepared him for the life as a professional artist.
We asked about his thesis. He told us that when he underwent his thesis it was a round table defensive. He met with mentors and faculty to refine his area of focus. He used this time as an excuse to study what he wanted to.
Students are expected to be active in their studios and as well students must write a thesis paper. The major paper will be a well-researched, well-argued essay on a topic that relates to the student’s artwork which touches on process, materials, ideas and research. This thesis essay must be no less than 30 double-spaced, typed pages on a topic related to the student’s own interests and artistic practice.
ALSO the grad show is really hyped up. The students get to exhibit work at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
Approximately four weeks after the final exhibition,the student will deliver a preliminary draft of the major paper in a roundtable presentation open to the public. The MFA roundtable is an opportunity for the student to develop and refine the major paper in response to critical input from students and faculty members of the department for final submission. The presentation is not graded but rather acts as a public occasion for sharing ideas with one’s peers.
Raymond feels that there are many strengths to the program. The studio space, the access to world class mentors and professionals. Also, you are a student along side people in different fields, such as performance, writing, art histry, visual art.
In his opinion there was quite a lot of apparent institutional politics and administrative headaches
Next, we will be looking into Simon Fraser University,
“SFU’s MFA program provides advanced professional training for artists in the fields of music, dance, theatre, film, video and visual art.
….Several kinds of artist thrive in this program: those who have a strong background in a single discipline and value the stimulation of an interdisciplinary environment; those whose studio practice fuses two or more disciplines; and those who want to develop the theoretical or scholarly context of their practice.”
To complete the Master of Fine Arts degree, candidates must complete a minimum of 35 units: 25 units of course work and a 10 unit Graduating Project. In most cases, this Project will be the presentation of an artwork, accompanied by a Defence Statement and appropriate documentation. Completion of the presentation, Defence Statement, and documentation will be followed by an Oral Defence
Application Requirements
Applicants should have an undergraduate university degree (or equivalent) coupled with substantial training in an art discipline and evidence of an active art practice.
All required documents must be received by January 23, 2016.
To learn more about what studying at SFU is like, we interviewed Laurie McDonald,who is the executive director of student union at Emily Carr. Lori is pursuing her masters degree currently at SFU in the urban studies program. Lori has earned a BFA from SFU in the performance arts in which she studied dance. We met with Lori last week to ask her a few questions about her program.
She said she chose SFU for a number of reasons. First the graduate program is flexible. It is designed for people who are working. She works at Emily Carr full-time 40 hours a week and is a very busy lady. So she was looking for a program that could accommodate her busy schedule but she still wanted to pursue further studies. This program allows her to study part time. Currently she attends SFU as an end as a part-time student taking classes at nighttime after she's done work.
The urban studies program seems super interesting. Although Lori is not pursuing a Masters of Arts, we found her program and her thoughts on graduate studies relevant to our project. There are many options and opportunities for students who are interested in graduate studies. A BFA student does not necessarily have to pursue a an MFA.
Laurie does have a background in the arts haven't earned a degree in performance artist at SFU. But Laurie decided to pursue an area of interest that she is really passionate about. Which is urban planning an urban studies.
So here is some information from the SFU urban studies website.
“The Urban Studies program is designed to meet the needs of our diverse student body. All of our courses are scheduled in the evening, and the option for part-time study allows our students to pursue their diploma or degree while working and/or raising a family.”
Lori said despite the mix of part-time and full-time students, strong bonds form between students. Campus culture is supportive and friendly.
Lori's area area of interest is public transit. She is currently studying whether or not the U pass has attracted more users, and what thie effect will have on urban planning.
What Lorie finds great about her program is that fellow students pursuing a masters don't necessarily have the same area of interest. For example, Lorie is studying public transit and the effects on urban planning..A classmate of hers is studying beekeeping in urban spaces. Another student is studying the economy of yoga.
So the thesis component is pretty typical of other graduate programs. There is a large written component to this program you need to find a mentor, develop and refine your topic. Defend and present your thesis.
A grade point average of at least 3.0 is required for application.
Fees
Tuition for the Master of Urban Studies and Graduate Diploma in Urban Studies totals $1099.60 CAD per course.
**http://www.sfu.ca/urban/prospective-students/fees---finances.html
I will just say that navigating the urban studies website was so much easier and accessible than SFU’s Masters of fine arts website. it was easier to find information on urban studies website such as tuition, which i wasn't able to find a clear number for the MFA program. So if this program interests you, I highly recommend checking out the SFU website.
And now lastly, we will take a look at the University of Alberta, which is located in Edmonton. So the U of A was our first choice of university to pursue a graduate degree. As I said in our intro we have heard many great things about this program in regards to program structure and as well as financial aid.
The U of A offers MFA’s in Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture or Drawing/Intermedia.
Taken from the U of A website regarding the painting program.
“The major emphasis in the graduate painting program is the development of the particular student's painting concerns, both technical and conceptual. The creative work, which determines advancement from first to second year, and which finally constitutes the thesis exhibition, is self directed under the guidance of the graduate student's supervisor.”
“Awards and Funding”
Raymond told us that the U of A has one of the most generous awards and financial aid programs in the country, and among the highest graduate student funding rates in Canada.
Graduate students generally finance their education from a variety of sources including Canadian federal and provincial governments, university departments—in the form of awards, scholarships, prizes—as well as from external funding or employment.”
Minimum GPA of 3.0
The U of A offers MFA’s in Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture or Drawing/Intermedia.
*Deadline to apply is January 15th.
We wrote and interviewed two artists who attended the U of A. Artists Grace Sippy and Emilie St.Hilaire. Here are their thoughts on the program….
In her email, Grace wrote that she began her MFA in August 2011
We asked Grace why she choose U of and about the program attracted you?
She is originally from the states and chose UA for a few reasons. I was impressed by their facilities and realized it had much to offer her. The U of A also offered her a scholarship with her acceptance, which helped as an international student.
We asked. What should students wanting to pursue their Masters expect? Ex. Work load, classes, etc.
If you pursue your Masters at the University of Alberta, you begin work on your thesis right away. In the first year you are required to take an art history course and a seminar course. Beyond the first year, you are not obligated to take any additional classes. Expect to put in many hours of hard work and to be challenged. It is a rebuilding process in a way, discovering new ways to make art or think about art. One thing graduate students may not fully realize is how precious this time is for them. The environment, facilities, and support will be very different or absent after graduation. It is important to take advantage of the facilities, your peers, your supervisors, the studio space, funding, time and anything else the program can offer you. Don’t waste your time.
During the first year you have two major critiques with the entire visual arts faculty. After that you choose a primary and secondary supervisor, with whom you will regularly meet. When your work is almost ready (on average it takes about 2.5 years at UA), you choose a defense committee. You will have a pre-defense and a defense before your thesis show is exhibited.
Overall, expect to be challenged, expect to work hard, expect new ways of seeing things.
We asked her to explain the Visual thesis.
She wrote
The University of Alberta’s MFA degree is based on a visual thesis, as you said. There is also a writing requirement of at least one page about your work. Though the writing requirement may seem low compared to other programs, you will still be reading, researching and writing a lot. You will write more than what is required for your statement, but necessary in your discovery and understanding of your work. You also have a pre-defense and a defense, with your chosen committee. After that your work is exhibited for a month in the Fine Arts Building Gallery. In short, you begin your visual research immediately starting graduate school, which culminates as an exhibition and statement.
This format was the best for me because I am an artist, and having a visual thesis makes a lot of sense. There is real value to the writing element but I am glad that I was able to express my art through a body of work instead of 50+ page document. Visual art isn’t expressed or experienced that way, so why make it the requirement for an MFA thesis.
Grace has travelled extensively as an artists, and thanks her time at U of A as providing her with many of these oppurtunites.
She wrote,
“This was all very important in meeting new people, sharing ideas and techniques, and connecting with people through art; I feel I have a much better awareness and connection with those in printmaking and art. We also were able to exhibit through shows organized by our supervisors. I’ve exhibited all over the world in part to them.”
Specifically speaking about art practice, in graduate school I learned a methodology to working, whereas before I didn’t have one. Finding a way to work is really important in art practice. My supervisors challenged me but at the same gave me confidence as my work began to grow and develop further. It is still very hard to establish yourself after graduating but I have to wonder where I would be if I hadn’t gone to grad school at the University of Alberta, or grad school in general. I feel graduate school started a fire, which has continued to burn and spread. It gave me knowledge, direction and confidence in establishing myself as an artist.
Emile St.Hilaire is also a graduate of U of A’s MFA.
Emile attended the U of A for her master’s from 2012-2014.
As for the strengths of the program, Emilie writes:
A strong point is the University itself. UAlberta is a top tier (top 5) school in Canada and I had access to faculty and resources across disciplines where it was relevant to my project.
Another strong point was the funding I was offered, this is not equal for everyone but if accepted you would then learn what funding is available.
Studio space and teaching opportunities are also excellent.
The weaknesses are that the studio art department is a smaller department compared to some institutions so are fewer faculty to work with. This is somewhat countered by the size of the whole University - for example the English and Film Studies department is very big. This means you can find faculty in other departments to work with formally or informally.
There is also a cross disciplinary relationshop between art and design graduate students which is unique and fruitful.
MFA students receive gallery space for their final exhibition. Average time to completion is 26 months.”
Our final question for Emilie was to ask her about the campus culture:
The Art and design department has several researchers doing exciting work. Being in a research university (as opposed to an art based university) exposes students to what’s happening in other areas of research across the humanities or sciences. This exposure and the support from faculty led me to pursue a practice-led “research-creation” PhD. I’m at Concordia university now in the Humanities PhD program.
Campus culture is diverse. The city of Edmonton has many festivals and a spirited “DIY” community. I found Edmonton small enough to make meaningful connections within the artistic community and found opportunities for exhibitions, employment, and artist grants. The proximity of Edmonton to Calgary was nice, especially to get to the Banff centre, where I attended some residencies and conferences on multiple occasions.
Overall I enjoyed my time at UAlberta. Grad school is a transformative experience I recommend to anyone hoping to work as a professional artist and educator. Knowing this, most people I speak to agree that going right into grad school after a BFA can be difficult. Time spent developing work and gaining life experiences that can inform your artistic practice and purpose are really valuable.”
Caley and niki final thoughts.
Broadening our research and comparing programs has proven so beneficial for us. We feel like we have a clearer picture of the schools, the atmosphere, the studios… I am already imagining myself at one particular school… Should I say?
U of A still stands out to me. As a visual artist wanting to progress as an artist, their visual thesis greatly appeals to me. This program seems like it would suit my needs so well. For myself, spending time in the studio with my peers and with my mentors, is how I will grow and improve as an artist.
In closing, we have researched these local schools and have discovered that there are strengths and weaknesses to every program. Our advice, do your research. Phone academic advisors, plan a trip to tour the potential school. Realize that you have earned a fantastic degree at Emily carr, and that you can go many ways. There are many programs out there, do some investigating. Follow your interests and honour your talents.
Thank you for taking the time to listen. All the best.