QUIT GRAD SCHOOL

In his recent article, Quit Grad School, on the art:21 blog, Matthew Newton talks openly about the value of an M.F.A. education.

Matthew Newton, several other M.F.A. students, and I have been taking part in an experimental discussion on art education via the art:21 blog. In Quit Grad School, Matthew writes about how M.F.A. programs are primarily teaching grad students the skill of self-teaching.

He points out that, "In order to accommodate the growing curiosities of artists, art school curriculum panned backward, increasing scope of possibility while decreasing in details and determined instruction (life drawing in grad school?! Ha!). Prioritizing inclusivity over specificity, schools abandon skill for cognition, then cognition for validation, then validation for oblique encouragements. Perhaps rightly so, but the spiral of what not to teach has left us in a place where the only thing agreeable to teach is essentially how to teach one’s self."

This sounds like a great idea, but as Matthew then questions, "...if we are able to teach ourselves, what need is there for the ensconced institution of school to continue?" This is where he hits the nail on the head. What exactly is a graduate program supposed to offer us if we already have the knowhow to push our work forward? What do they promise us?