SOP mfa painting need major help
been struggling with a blank page for over a month. finally just sat down and attempted to answer their question prompts because i am applying in a week. Any advice?
Statement of Purpose Prompt Questions
(a) Write about any relevant experiences that have prepared you as an artist and describe why this is the right time for you to go to graduate school and SCHOOL X is the right place.
(b) Describe your professional goals and how you plan to actively achieve them while in school and after.
(c) What is your vision of an energized graduate program? Describe what you can contribute (initiate and risk) to enhance such a program.
Throughout my education and career at the SCHOOL A, I have been greatly influenced by my teachers, colleagues, and the culture in which I live. My education has enabled me to build relationships with artists and art professionals in CITY A and beyond, where I have worked with an amalgam of non-profit organizations, institutional programs, and local galleries.
In my fourth year at SCHOOL A, I had a studio visit with the director of the Art Gallery at the X, in which he was looking for a third artist for his exhibition titled, XX. This was my first experience of inviting a professional into my studio for a potential exhibition, and because of my experience interning with the curator of XX at X and attending many studio visits in the selection of artwork, I was able to orchestrate the visit in a professional manner that most students might not have been exposed to. I had been selected for the exhibition, showcasing my most recent body of work, showing alongside two other renowned artists far from their student years. Through this opportunity, my first solo exhibition was offered to me shortly after the XX opening, by the director of the XX. I was in the midst of my fourth year, having experiences most students rarely attain. Attempting to manage being a student amidst exhibition successes was quite a challenge as I was making work for classes as well as work for the gallery. During this time I was also curating an exhibition that would showcase the best work currently being made in the painting department, titled ABC, which was something I decided to take on to demonstrate to the curator of XX what I have learned from our internship. Both semesters I nearly kept a 4.0 gpa, and all of the exhibitions were highly successful. I just recently coordinated and curated an exhibition at XX for a class project about popular and material culture, which included eighteen students. Having worked for XX in the past, I approached them with a proposal, thinking it would be a reach to get an exhibition at a mainstream gallery, such as XX. Having shown my responsibility and dependability to the gallery in the past, I was given the go ahead and in November, 2008, X EXHIBITION coincided with their opening of Y EXHIBITION and was more successful than I could have ever imagined.
All of these experiences have shaped my vision of myself as a practicing artist and just began to fulfill my interest and strength in coordinating and curating. Approaching graduation from the SCHOOL A, I am enthusiastic to continue making paintings with a supportive community of peers, as well as building relationships with new artists and organizations in a new environment. As a graduate student, I intend to build upon my interests, and explore new ways of practicing and thinking about painting and the art profession by building on my strengths and branching out into new experiences that I have not yet had the chance to explore. My vision of an energized graduate program is one which has healthy competitive atmosphere, alongside motivating supportive mentors and visiting artists. My humble, self-disciplined nature and strength in leadership and perseverance will be an asset to the studio environment. CITY, STATE is an ideal setting to engage with the contemporary art world through a continued development of my technical abilities and professional experiences, as residing in CITY A for twenty-four years, I am looking for a new experience and new surroundings. I am specifically interested in working with X, as I also employ animal representations in my paintings and would be privileged to have her as a mentor. A department focused on the history, tradition, and contemporary issues of painting is what I am looking for in a graduate program. For these reasons, I am eager to continue my education at the University of X.
Statement of Purpose Prompt Questions
(a) Write about any relevant experiences that have prepared you as an artist and describe why this is the right time for you to go to graduate school and SCHOOL X is the right place.
(b) Describe your professional goals and how you plan to actively achieve them while in school and after.
(c) What is your vision of an energized graduate program? Describe what you can contribute (initiate and risk) to enhance such a program.
Throughout my education and career at the SCHOOL A, I have been greatly influenced by my teachers, colleagues, and the culture in which I live. My education has enabled me to build relationships with artists and art professionals in CITY A and beyond, where I have worked with an amalgam of non-profit organizations, institutional programs, and local galleries.
In my fourth year at SCHOOL A, I had a studio visit with the director of the Art Gallery at the X, in which he was looking for a third artist for his exhibition titled, XX. This was my first experience of inviting a professional into my studio for a potential exhibition, and because of my experience interning with the curator of XX at X and attending many studio visits in the selection of artwork, I was able to orchestrate the visit in a professional manner that most students might not have been exposed to. I had been selected for the exhibition, showcasing my most recent body of work, showing alongside two other renowned artists far from their student years. Through this opportunity, my first solo exhibition was offered to me shortly after the XX opening, by the director of the XX. I was in the midst of my fourth year, having experiences most students rarely attain. Attempting to manage being a student amidst exhibition successes was quite a challenge as I was making work for classes as well as work for the gallery. During this time I was also curating an exhibition that would showcase the best work currently being made in the painting department, titled ABC, which was something I decided to take on to demonstrate to the curator of XX what I have learned from our internship. Both semesters I nearly kept a 4.0 gpa, and all of the exhibitions were highly successful. I just recently coordinated and curated an exhibition at XX for a class project about popular and material culture, which included eighteen students. Having worked for XX in the past, I approached them with a proposal, thinking it would be a reach to get an exhibition at a mainstream gallery, such as XX. Having shown my responsibility and dependability to the gallery in the past, I was given the go ahead and in November, 2008, X EXHIBITION coincided with their opening of Y EXHIBITION and was more successful than I could have ever imagined.
All of these experiences have shaped my vision of myself as a practicing artist and just began to fulfill my interest and strength in coordinating and curating. Approaching graduation from the SCHOOL A, I am enthusiastic to continue making paintings with a supportive community of peers, as well as building relationships with new artists and organizations in a new environment. As a graduate student, I intend to build upon my interests, and explore new ways of practicing and thinking about painting and the art profession by building on my strengths and branching out into new experiences that I have not yet had the chance to explore. My vision of an energized graduate program is one which has healthy competitive atmosphere, alongside motivating supportive mentors and visiting artists. My humble, self-disciplined nature and strength in leadership and perseverance will be an asset to the studio environment. CITY, STATE is an ideal setting to engage with the contemporary art world through a continued development of my technical abilities and professional experiences, as residing in CITY A for twenty-four years, I am looking for a new experience and new surroundings. I am specifically interested in working with X, as I also employ animal representations in my paintings and would be privileged to have her as a mentor. A department focused on the history, tradition, and contemporary issues of painting is what I am looking for in a graduate program. For these reasons, I am eager to continue my education at the University of X.