January 24–February 2, 2014
Vermont College of Fine Arts
MFA in Visual Art
36 College Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
The MFA in Visual Art at Vermont College of Fine Arts is pleased to announce that Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet will be the Winter 2014 Artist-in-Residence.
Ferrera-Balanquet is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, curator, and Fulbright Scholar. He received his MFA in Inter-media Arts and Video from the University of Iowa in 1992, and is currently a PhD candidate in Romance Studies at Duke University. He has exhibited internationally and nationally in Columbia, Spain, Canada, Australia, Chili, Mexico, Germany, Romania, New York, and California.
The MFA in Visual Art at VCFA is a vibrant, local, national, and international community of artists and critical thinkers. The program’s precedent-setting pedagogy is based on the understanding that art does not exist in a void, but within a social context. Students emerge from the program with a dynamic new vision of themselves, their art, and the world around them.
Prospective students are encouraged to visit during the residency. Arrangements can be made by contact Assistant Director of Admissions Renee Lauzon at [email protected] or by calling +1 802 828 8636.
The program’s bi-annual residencies, artistic community, and innovative structure encourages a focus on the relationship between art and societal values, which in turn helps students recognize the inevitable conflicts and contradictions of being an artist/cultural producer in today’s world.
Since 1991, the MFA in Visual Art program has based its educational success on the principle of individualized learning. In the program, students complete a series of interdisciplinary writing projects with a faculty member and pursue their studio work with a local artist chosen in collaboration with the program. This system encourages artists to develop their own mentor system and determine educational values and expectations according to self-initiated ideas of progress and professionalism.
One of the two main components of a student’s course of study in the Visual Art program at Vermont College of the Fine Arts is a semester-long studio project in which the student develops and/or challenges specific aspects of their art practice under the guidance of an Artist-Teacher who lives and works in the student’s community. While there is no set prescription for what constitutes this relationship, each Artist-Teacher is asked to engage the student in a rigorous and critical dialogue concerning the conceptual and material issues they confront in their work. Current Artist-Teachers include Sally Apflebaum, Judy Pfaff, Judy Chicago, B. Wurtz, Lynda Benglis, and Harmony Hammond among others.
Applicants must have completed a B.F.A., B.A., or B.S. degree from an accredited college or university, or hold a diploma from a recognized professional art school, and must have substantial experience in making art. Applicants must also have a working knowledge of art history and/or visual culture, which may include such courses as theory or history of film, television, video, theater, design history, communications, aesthetics, popular culture, etc. The Program occasionally considers accepting a student without a Bachelor’s degree. Such candidates must show evidence to the MFA Admissions Committee of exceptional artistic work and strong writing and research abilities.
Visit the Admissions page here or contact an admissions counselor directly here.
