October 2011
28 posts
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Art on the Town
As I’m sure you are all aware, October is almost over. As tragic as this is, it means that it’s time for another First Friday Art on the Town!
This coming Friday there are several very exciting events going on at the DCCA. Boshko Boskovic’s new show Not So Distant Memory is opening at the DCCA and Boskovic will be giving a gallery talk at 6:30 p.m.
Now if that wasn’t...
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What is a Biennial?
So with all this talk about biennials, some of you may be wondering what a biennial is. According to the Asia Art Archive,
The word ‘Biennale’ is Italian and means “every other year”. Thus, biennale describes an event that happens every two years. Biennial is the English spelling of the word Biennale. The first international biennial was the Venice Biennale inaurgated...
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Turning
Check out this article by writer, curator, and Goldsmiths University of London professor, Irit Rogoff, about the educational turn in curating.
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Can an Exhibition Be a School and a Work of Art?
According to Moscow born artist, Anton Vidokle, the answer is yes. Why? Find out in this article Anton Vidokle and Martha Rosler wrote for Art Lies about the project, unitednationsplaza.
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What Are People Saying about the MFA Biennial?
Curious how people are responding to Masters of the Visual Universe? Check out what one viewer had to say below.
“I thought Master’s of the Visual Universe was extremely engaging both mentally and in the physical sense. Each artist’s work expressed a unique underlying message that caused me to truly think about what I was looking at. I found Emily Erb’s silk interpretation of...
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Carnegie Mellon's MFA in Contextual Practice
If you’ve check out The Schools of Masters of the Visual Universe, you may have noticed that one of the schools in the show has a community-based MFA program.
Carnegie Mellon has a component of their MFA program called the Contextual Practice. Contextual Practice encourages students to create art which is socially engaging and responses to a a particular context. Click here to visit...
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The A/P Blog
Curious about the in’s and out’s of a community-based MFA program? Check out the School of Visual Arts’ blog dedicated to their new Art Practice MFA program: The A/P Blog. Their blog is hosted by Tumblr, so don’t forget to follow!
SVA’s Art Practice MFA program is mentioned in this article in the Huffington Post about community-based art by Daniel Grant. Grant also...
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The People's Choice Award
Hi everyone, take a moment and vote for your favorite artist in Masters of the Visual Universe. The artist with the most votes will receive the People’s Choice Award. Voting runs until February!
VOTE
The Art of Community Engagement →
Here’s a great article about the shift many MFA programs are taking towards more community-based art.
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Artists Talk: Reactions to the MFA
Curious about what the Towson MFA students thought about their work in the MFA Biennial? Read what Ursula Minervini and Peter Eide had to say in the excerpts below or check out their full responses here.
Peter Eide
Q: Do you feel the project was successful and if so, how? If you did not feel it was successful, how was it not?
PE: I think the piece was moderately successful. I think the...
Fun Facts from the Guerilla Girls
Here are some fun facts about biennials, particularly the Venice Biennale, brought to you from the Guerrilla Girls.
PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN ARTISTS IN THE FIRST BIENNALE, 1895: 2.4% PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN ARTISTS A CENTURY LATER, 1995: 9% MORE COUNTRIES ARE REPRESENTED IN THE BIENNALE THIS YEAR THAN EVER BEFORE, BUT EXCEPT FOR EGYPT AND MOROCCO THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA IS M.I.A. (missing in art) ...
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Blockbusters and Biennials
Hello! I just wanted to update you on a exciting opportunity on Tuesday night. This Tuesday, October 18, Maiza Hixson, the curator of Masters of the Visual Universe, will be giving a lecture on biennials from 5:30 p.m to 7:00 p.m. The lecture, entitled Blockbusters and Biennials: Historical and Present Views, will cover the motivations behind biennials. Maiza will also discuss the history of...
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Maiza Hixson
One of the many things that I have learned from working on Masters of the Visual Universe is that the curator of a exhibition is just as important as the artists in the exhibition. Get to know Masters of the Visual Universe curator, Maiza Hixson, as a curator and as an artist in the following except from Hixson’s Curatorial Statement.
“I treat the art exhibition as an educational and...
Artists Talk: Sean Glover
Q: Tell me a little bit about the ideas behind your work and what you hope to convey to your audience. How would you describe your art to someone who has never seen it?
SG: I often describe my practice as making art with whatever is laying around. However, I try to impart upon the viewer a sense of potential for each object while also providing some kind of acknowledgement for the histories...
Are Curators Artists or Editors?
Read what Robert Storr, the first Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, thinks here.
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Artists Talk: Jill Fannon
Be sure to constantly be checking our Artists Talk page. New interviews are being added all the time. Today, I want to highlight my interview with Jill Fannon. Jill attends the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Here is an excerpt from our conversation.
Q: First off, I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about the ideas behind your work and what you hope to convey to your...
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Opening Night
The Masters of the Vision Universe opening was fantastic. The DCCA was filled for the Biennial’s debut with visitors of all ages. Many of the MFA artists were there - to name a few: Emily Erb, Ted Walsh, Erica Prince, and all of the Towson artists. The MFA artists answered questions and discussed their work with guests. “MFA?”, the interactive video exhibition created by the...
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Can't Wait?
I know, I know, I can hardly wait until tomorrow either. In case you forgot, tomorrow night, October 7th, is the opening of the 2011 MFA Biennial, Masters of the Visual Universe. The show officially opens at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts at 5:00 p.m. If you’ve been paying attention to your calenders, you would have also noticed that tomorrow is the first Friday of October,...
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MFA Seminar
As you know there are 13 artists from Towson University in the MFA Biennial. These artists are participating in the show as part of a “hands-on” seminar course about “the history and changing definition of curating”. Additionally, the seminar addresses “conceptual approaches to and methods of organizing exhibitions”. Essentially, the purpose of the class is to...
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The Life of an MFA Student
For another take on what it is like to be an MFA student check out this blog post entitled “Design as a Democratized Community” by 1st year VC Grad Student, Ashley Davis, from Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design.
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Ever wonder...
how the artists of Masters of the Visual Universe ended up in the show? Well, first they answered a call for entries. The call went out several months before the show. It was posted on the DCCA’s website and facebook page. Maiza Hixson, curator of the MFA Biennial, also sent the call for entries to the directors of regional MFA programs. Curious about what the call looked like?
Once all...
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Artists Talk: Ted Walsh
I’m back with another addition of Artists Talk. Like always click here for the full interview, but here is an excerpt and a few images of Ted’s work.
Q: How has PAFA’s M.F.A program influenced your development as an artist?
TW: The program has influenced my art in many ways. Technically and theoretically, it has pushed me to better define what I am trying to achieve in my work, and it...
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"Haste Makes Waste" and Other Views of the MFA
A few posts ago, I addressed, with the help of the College Art Association, the question, “What is the MFA”. Today, I have a new question, and this question isn’t any easier to answer. In fact, it may make your head spin a little. I’ll stop with the suspense, ready? Here is goes…
Is an MFA required to be a successful artist?
I think this question particular...
