I have decided that I want to start saving up for graduate school. With your help, I can do that! For the price of a cup of coffee a month, you can help me get closer to the goal. My endgame here is that one day I do want to be a professor. I want to be a professor that has lived the artist life so that I can confidently tell my students that this life is possible, and in more ways than they know. I feel like my next step now is working to further my formal education. I have been researching schools off and on since I finished my undergraduate degree, and I have a strong desire to continue learning and better myself.
I've been mainly focusing on schools in areas that I would find inspiring. I'm finding that it is difficult to find schools that have an MFA in painting in the beautiful mountainous areas I love. I also find nerves creeping up on me, delving more into this. I find more questions coming up, like what year should I be trying to get into graduate school? 2020, 2021? Will I be able to have the funds by then? I can't take out more loans right now, so I have to mainly rely on scholarships, grants, and the help I get from my patrons (Link). Then more questions arise, is how I want to pursue painting enough to get an MFA? Are my paintings "deep" enough? Will my style of painting be accepted in this fine art setting? I know this is something I want to pursue... but am I ready?
For me, it'll be important for the school to either be in or be incredibly near somewhere that I can disappear in nature. Seeing that my master's education will be a significant amount of somewhat guided self-exploration, and a "finding myself" journey in what/how I want to communicate as an artist, I need to be somewhere that inspires me.
Out of the 20 schools I've looked into, that's the only two that has really caught my eye, for their proximity to nature and the art emerging from their school. Reading the excerpts of the artist statements of the grad students has made me think about my own artist statement, as well. As true as my artist statement is for myself right now, I feel that there is more to be said... and in a more eloquent fashion. For the past week or so I have been re-reading art philosophy from one of my textbooks from JMU and have found some of the words of Tolstoy to be particularly insightful.
"...[Art] is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals, and of humanity."--Leo Tolstoy What is Art?
"Every work of art causes the receiver to enter into a certain kind of relationship both with him who produced, or is producing, the art, and with all those who simultaneously, previously, or subsequently receive the same artistic impression.--Leo Tolstoy What is Art?
I really hope I can make Grad School happen. If you know of any grants or scholarships, or would like to contribute to this dream, yourself, please reach out <3
Much love to all of you,
Silver Arrow