an art school reformation

Written By: Art Of This Constellation 16 10.1.11

By Alyson Coward, Kelly Filreis, and Anthony Warnick (of Art Of This)

We are compelled to begin by stating that an art school should be in flux, changeable, nomadic in its structure, approach, and location. What is stated below doesn’t define our consensus on an ideal, but rather recognizes that an educational model should establish certain properties and concerns to effectively educate. It is here that we should mention that the goals (a so-called “mission statement”) declared by the school be clear and not compromised. This is simply to prevent a conflict of interests; it provides an equal ground to set one’s work onto.

In conversation to prepare for our written piece, we reacted most to how disparate each component in educational experiences are in relation to each other: can we attempt to connect time spent with a literature class and the time spent in our studios in a meaningful way? Though it is a no-brainer that today’s art schools promote an interdisciplinary practice, how often are they structured to make this practice feasible or worthwhile? Skill-based practices consume as much or as little time as needed to develop one’s work, but should always be in service to the work. Because of this, we wish to emphasize interconnectivity between classes and departments to the extent that evaluations (read: grading) occur as one review of the entire body of work from all courses and workshops. This should occur throughout the entire school; faculty and peers, both familiar and new to your work, oversee said evaluations.

Of course, this begs to ask how one is selected to take part in this model. We believe a more open enrollment, in combination with an immediately rigorous curriculum during the first year, will form the best student body. This is to avoid one becoming oblivious to the difficulties and openness of our proposed model. Again, in the transparency of a school’s goals, another form of interconnectivity is established–first year students interacting with fourth year and so on–and thus becomes a model not defined by titles or skill levels, but rather the quality of conversation, resources, and the implementation of a truly interdisciplinary, interconnected model.

Images:

1.) “We Have Students?”

2.) Traditional, siloed, hierarchical education model.

3.) Model made up of workshops and studios, where all are interconnected and non-linear.