Slide LibraryIntroduction
The University at Albany is one of the four comprehensive research and graduate centers of the State University of New York. Our graduate program, comprised of forty graduate students, is highly selective, with students coming from all regions of the United States and abroad. We offer both Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts degrees in four areas: painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. Students are provided with a private studio space and spacious, well-equipped common work areas and exhibition spaces. Albany and the Upstate New York area are home to a broad range of visual arts institutions and we are within easy driving distance of the major cultural resources of New York City and Boston. We have an active Visiting Artist/Art Historian/Critic Program.
Degree Programs
The Art Department offers a
30-credit Master of Arts (MA) and the 60-credit Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees with areas of specialization in painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking.
Teaching Assistantships and Financial Aid
Teaching Assistantships are awarded to MFA candidates only. Awards are given based on the quality of the applicant's portfolio, the individual's financial needs, and departmental needs. An assistantship stipend is currently $4600 per year, a half tuition waiver, and a health insurance program. Graduate Assistants are obligated for 10 hours a week to assist faculty or to teach a class with faculty supervision. Graduate Assistants normally require more than four semesters to complete their MFA degree because of this time commitment.
Contact the Financial Aid Office (518-442-5757/5480) for complete information on financial aid/student loan opportunities.
Facilities
Fine Arts Building
The Fine Arts Building, on the main campus of the University, houses the Art Department offices, the University Art Museum, the Slide Library and graduate studio spaces. It also contains the main facilities for photography, printmaking, painting and drawing areas.
The Sculpture Program welcomes all stylistic approaches, is sufficiently flexible to allow each individual to pursue his/her goals without restrictions to medium, scale, or content, and seeks to foster an atmosphere of intellectual inquiry and structured professional practice. Space, shops, facilities and equipment, criticism, support and time are provided to encourage and enable each candidate in the degree program to find his/her own expressive voice.
In the Fall of 2002, Sculpture moved to the new 20,000 sq.ft. Boor Sculpture Studio, a state-of-the-art, stand-alone facility on the Uptown campus. Private studio spaces are accessible to the graduate sculptors 24 hours a day. An in-ground furnace and overhead rail for classic investment casting, a high-bay welding and metal fabrication shop with forge, a wood/pattern shop, electric and gas-fired kilns, a figure modeling room, plaster/mold making facilities, a wax working room, plastics/paint spray booth, sand blast booth, and a media suite are all under one roof adjoining an enclosed outdoor work area. Fume hoods, slotted vents and dust collection systems are integrated throughout the building. The General Purpose space, with digital projection equipment is used for temporary installations, photographing work, Visiting Artist presentations, and group critiques.
Ann Wolf is the curator of the Visual Resources Library in the Fine Arts department. The VR Library houses about 77,000 slides as well as an assortment of art periodicals. Ann has a B.F.A. in Surface Pattern Design from Syracuse University and worked for various designers in New York City. After leaving New York, she was employed at Vassar College in the Visual Resources Library for several years. Ann began the job as curator at the University at Albany in August of 2002 and was admitted into the school of Information Science and Policy in December 2002 where she is now pursuing a Masters of Library Science.
Art Museum
The University Art Museum occupies 11,000 square feet in the Fine Arts Building. The exhibition program includes national, regional, faculty and MA/MFA exhibits.
The Fine Arts department has invited a wide variety of practicing artists and critics to visit the Albany campus. Many of these visiting lecturers have also been available to visit graduate students' studios for discussion and critique. A selected list of past visiting artists and critics includes:
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Vito Acconci Dennis Adams Janine Antoni Michael Ashkin Dottie Attie Greg Barsamian Zu Bing Jeremy Blake Jean Blackburn Nancy Bowen Scott Brodie Dexter Buell Jim Butler Tom Butter |
Luca Buvoli Dan Cameron James Casebere David Cohen Susanna Coffey Petah Coyne Lucky DeBellevue Ellen Driscoll James Elkins Kate Ericson James Esber Sandy Fellman Nancy Fried Tom Friedman |
Suzy Gablik Brower Hatcher Jene Highstein Ken Johnson Penny Jolly Ron Jones Elizabeth King Komar and Melamid Duane Michaels Barbara Krueger Robert Lobe Donald Lipski Tony Matelli Catherine Murphy |
Richard Nonas Tom Nozkowski Sylvia Plachy Jennifer Reeves Mia Westerland Roosen Luc Sante Peter Schjeldahl Barry Schwabsky Rudy Serra James Sienna Dean Snyder Sandy Skoglund Robert Storr William Tucker |
Carrie Mae Weems William Wegman Sue Williams Trevor Winkfield Alexi Worth John Yau Michael Young Lisa Yuskavage Mel Ziegler |
All graduate students meet each semester with the Graduate Advisor, Marja Vallila, to review their program of study and to ensure that all requirements are being met in a timely fashion. Professor Vallila's Fine Arts Building office number is 518-442-5570, and her Boor Sculpture Studio number is 518-591-8383, mvallila@csc.albany.edu. Each student is urged to become familiar with all pertinent information in the Graduate Bulletin and to meet periodically with his/her area coordinator.
| Art Department (518) 442-4020 art@cnsunix.albany.edu |
University at Albany State University of New York 1400 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12222 |
