US News Ranking and Tools
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/arts/artsindex_brief.php
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/tools/index_brief.php
Fine Arts Ranking Methodology
Our ranking is based on a 2003 survey of deans and department chairs, one per school,
at 213 master of fine arts programs in art and design.
Methodology: The master of fine arts program rankings are based solely on the results
of a peer assessment survey. Respondents were asked to rate the academic quality of
programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Scores for each school were
totaled and divided by the number of respondents who rated that school. The response
rate was 48 percent.
The institutions below received the most nominations from survey respondents at peer
institutions for their excellence in a given specialty. Rankings from 2003
Fine Arts Specialties: Ceramics
1. Alfred U.–New York State Col. of Ceramics
2. Cranbrook Academy of Art (MI)
3. University of Washington
Fine Arts Specialties: Multimedia/Visual Communications
1. California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts)
2. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Fine Arts Specialties: Painting/Drawing
1. Yale University (CT)
2. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
3. University of California–Los Angeles
Fine Arts Specialties: Photography
1. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2. Rhode Island School of Design
University of New Mexico
Fine Arts Specialties: Printmaking
1. University of Wisconsin–Madison
2. University of Iowa
3. Arizona State University
University of Georgia
University of Tennessee–Knoxville
Fine Arts Specialties: Sculpture
1. Virginia Commonwealth University
2. Yale University (CT)
3. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
An online database resource: http://www.artschools.com/
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Thinking About Grad School
It is helpful to consider Art in parallel to business in the sense that there is any number of
ways of approaching a career in the Arts. Here are a few scenarios to consider that may
help you along in your decision process:
Location versus Program: "Do I go to a city with plenty of art and culture where I can
use school to begin networking and launch me into an arts career in that city or do I go
to a place where there may be less networking and the arts community may be smaller,
but where I may have more time and space to focus and work?"
There are great programs where you will be able to focus, have a strong community with
faculty and peers but are located in small cities, college towns or isolated rural areas.
OR you may decide that being in a major city with a strong and diverse arts community
comprised of a gallery district, several non-profits and available grants for artists is
where you would like to go to grad school in order to begin to establish a lasting network,
this primarily means schools in or near New York City or Los Angeles. To use graduate
school as an introduction to the art world on a national or international scope is amongst
the primary reasons that people choose schools in or near NYC and LA as many of the
faculty may be represented by galleries in these cities and can help introduce one to the
galleries. This of course can be particularly important to artists hoping to achieve an
independent studio practice maintained by the sales of one's work. This question may
point to differences between a school that is gallery oriented versus teaching oriented.
Theory versus Craft: "Do I enjoy a research oriented practice informed by an
understanding of cultural theory or do I prefer to jump right into the materials and allow
the process to define the work?"
These two certainly are not mutually exclusive and less so as post-modernity is entirely
indoctrinated into art instruction. However some schools will offer a strong theoretical
underpinning to help develop the conceptual strength of your work and put less
emphasis in technical instruction. These schools tend to be less conventional, have
adopted a post-modern approach to art making and have little interest in craft. Here is
an example of a description by/of this type of program:
This interdisciplinary program prepares artists of all genres—film and video, painting,
performance and installation and sculpture—to successfully enter the contemporary art
arena. A significant proportion of its alumni have achieved international and national
reputations.
(Art Center College of Design, MFA description)
More traditional programs divide their areas by medium - one must apply to painting, or
sculpture, or photography, etc. These schools may put a greater focus on technical
skills and the development of one's chosen craft and less emphasis on theoretical and
conceptual background.
Strongly craft oriented: Cranbrook Academy of Art, Alfred University
Where would you like to situate yourself in the arts?
Do you envision yourself as an artist working in a creative field with a company,
such as a design firm, an ad and publicity company, an animation or film
house...?
o It is best to seek a school that is located where that industry is stong
o Does the school offer internship or job placement with companies – what
professional associations does it have?
Do you envision yourself as an independent artist with a personal studio?
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o Would you seek to establish a relationship with a gallery?
o Would you seek a teaching position to split your time between teaching
and studio work?
o Would you seek to maintain a studio through freelance work...?
o Would you prefer to establish yourself as a regional artist with an
emphasis in establishing roots in a specific community?
o Would you prefer to establish international credentials?
o Would you prefer a studio practice versus a site specific practice versus a
community based practice?
o Are you an object maker versus a time-based artist (performance,
electronic arts)?
Financial Reality
The point of graduate school is to seriously focus in your work as an artist, without the
dilemma and distraction of a full-time job. Consider grad school your full-time job, if you
are unwilling to do so, it's most likely not worth your money or time to attend a graduate
school in Fine Arts. Look for programs that offer generous funding and positions as
teacher’s assistant.
Personal Suggestions
Take time off from school to test your dedication and perseverance - will you
continue producing work without the framework of school?
Be willing to live minimally or simply in order to give yourself time to continue
developing your work without the strain of a full-time job.
When it comes to applying to grad school – research the faculty at the school, look
at the work they have produced, look at the work of the current grad students, find
information on the facilities, does the school provide generous funding for their
graduate students, make an appointment to visit the school if possible, and of course
request all their materials.
Go to the program that offers you the most money, avoid debt if possible.
With or without graduate school, a career in the arts requires a great deal of
perseverance, dedication, and patience. It is important to establish sustainable
systems for your work and yourself.
It is useful to create for yourself a three year plan – where would you like to be in
three years, what do you need to accomplish now to get to that point? After the first
three years, evaluate where you are and your personal
satisfaction/happiness/accomplishments and establish a new three-year program.
Eventually the three-year plan may become a five-year plan…
Top programs in the United States
The two "art centers"
New York
Columbia University
City University of New York Hunter
School of Visual Arts (SVA)
Pratt Institute
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NYU – Tisch School (film and interactive media)
Parsons / New School
Bard College, http://www.bard.edu/mfa/
International Center for Photography and Bard (photography
Yale University
Mason Gross, Rutgers University,
Rhode Island School of Design
Los Angeles
University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)
California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts)
Art Center College of Design
University of Southern California (film)
Otis College of Art
University of California in San Diego (UCSD)
Cities that are considered more "regional":
Austin
University of Texas at Austin, http://www.finearts.utexas.edu/aah/
Boston
MIT
School of the Museum of Fine Arts
Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago
University of Chicago
San Diego
University of California at San Diego
San Francisco
San Francisco Art Institute
California College of the Arts
Mills College
San Jose State
San Francisco State
Syracuse
University at Syracuse (photography)
Minneapolis
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Tyler School of Art
Temple University (Film and Media Arts)
University of Pennsylvania
Drexel University (digital media)
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Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon University
Seattle
University of Washington
Tempe
Arizona State University, http://art.asu.edu/graduate/mfa.html
Smaller cities and rural areas:
University of Iowa, Ames, Iowa
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Vermont College
Alternative Schools - meet only during the summer or limited periods of the year
Bard
http://www.bard.edu/academics/programs/
Vermont College
http://www.tui.edu/current/ma/mfav/
Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, New York City (no diploma)
Schools with traditionally strong gallery associations
Yale
UCLA
Columbia
RISD
Bard
Schools considered strong for teaching
Carnegie Mellon University
The Art Institute of Chicago
UCSD
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Post-Baccalaureate Art Programs
The Art Institute of Chicago
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
http://www.mica.edu/PROGRAMS/postbac/
University of the Arts (in crafts)
Programs in Digital / Experimental Media and the Cultural Study of New Media
Film and Communication Studies Programs in Canada / Programmes de cinéma et
communication au Canada
http://www.film.queensu.ca/FSAC/Schools.html
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University of California at San Diego, Visual Arts
http://visarts.ucsd.edu/
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Electronic Arts
http://www.arts.rpi.edu/index02.php
San Francisco State University, Conceptual Information Arts (CIA) Program
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/%7Einfoarts/
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Art & Technology Studies
http://www.artic.edu/saic/programs/depts/graduate/ats.html
UC Irvine - ACE, Arts, Computation, Engineering
http://www.arts.uci.edu/article.php?nav_id=29&nav=29
http://www.ace.uci.edu/
Georgia Tech
School of Literature, Communication, and Culture
http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/index.html
Graphics, Visualization, and Usability (GVU) Center
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/gvutop.html
Carnegie Mellon University
Human-Computer Interaction Institute
http://www.hcii.cmu.edu/
Art Department
http://artserver.cfa.cmu.edu:8080/
Mass Institute of Technology (MIT)
the Media Lab
http://www.media.mit.edu/
Art Department
University at Buffalo
Media Studies Department
http://mediastudy.buffalo.edu/
University of Iowa
Department of Cinema & Comparative Literature
http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Ecomplit/
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