MFA Season: Carnegie Mellon MFA Thesis Show Opens Tonight @Miller Gallery

As you can see from the links, the region has lots of good colleges, a good number of which, like CMU,Chatham, Kent State, WVU and IUP will be having their thesis shows starting. Sadly, it won't be very easy to see most of this work without an extreme amount of effort. As I have said before this is both a huge loss to both the artists and the public.

CMU MFA Thesis Show

UP DOWN UP DOWN
Carnegie Mellon 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition
Organized by the School of Art
March 18 - April 17, 2011

March 18, Fri. 6-8pm: Reception

March 22, Tues.
6:30-9:30pm
Critique and discussion with Tina Kukielski
Associate Curator, Carnegie Museum of Art

"I am writing on the threshold of the MFA thesis exhibition, where each year the graduate students extend themselves to produce something extraordinary. This stretching of imagination and ambition creates an adrenaline-fueled run-in for all concerned. Jesha will push the envelope; Sean will produce yet another magical bricolage; Dan will combine the poetic and the profound; Rob will puzzle us with some photographic conundrums; and Courtney will present us with a wry intellectual challenge. This year’s exhibit promises to be bold, ingenious, thought-provoking, and tinged with humor. I have seen them develop their work and grow in confidence over the last three years, through a mutually supportive camaraderie, which has seen them through their Carnegie Mellon journey. All have had to reappraise the notions they arrived with, and have undergone a rigorous period of critical evaluation, in order to recognize their fundamental motivations and to refine their mode of practice. Not only does this exhibit showcase their talent and considerable achievements, but it also represents the philosophy of the MFA program, which is to produce self-defined artists of exceptional ability and initiative, able to create opportunities for themselves and connect meaningfully with the communities and cultures around them."

Artists

Sean Glover
Jesha Chen
Daniel Luchman
Courtney Dow
James Robert Southard

Fitting the somewhat accurate stereotype of the CMU Art Dept, traditional painting and drawing seem light in this show. But I haven't seen it yet.

Miller Gallery
at Carnegie Mellon University
Purnell Center for the Arts
5000 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Tues.-Sun., 12-6pm
Closed Mondays

Admission:
Free and open to the public

Cleveburgh Collaboration Idea # 1 : Mega College Art Exhibit

This is a copy of a post I first did in 2006, very soon after I started this blog, when my gallery alive. It seemed pretty self evident, at least from a distance that the "Cleveburgh" region, spanning say, Morgantown/Wheeling/Pittsburgh//Youngstown, Akron/Cleveland/Erie gathered in a lot potentially deluxe and valuable assets. Why don't we use them better?

"When I came to Pittsburgh, I did so with the awareness that the region is home to a lot of respected art programs. CMU, WVU, Penn State, IUP, Edinboro, and Kent State come to mind. I knew a few great artists who had gone to these schools while living in NY and I hoped to be making it out to see a lot of the MFA shows but this has not happened. I was very lucky to catch LeRoy's great show at IUP almost by chance.

In NY right now it seems like the MFA shows are not to be missed part of the scene. Here is some blog buzz to give one an idea of the fever here, here, here, here, here, here, and in LA, -- here, here, here, and in San Francisco-- here, here and Philly--- here.

Now we are all by now aware and a lot of us are a bit mad about the almost pedaphilic interest that the current art world has for hot creative flesh and the MFA's evolution and merger with the debutante ball seems gross. But in this region one can see that the reverse is not good either. There are many serious artist's flowing through these schools whose work deserves to at least be seen. For many, the MFA show is the culmination of some of the most concentrated studio work they will ever have a chance to do. Unfortunatly, most of it will just be seen my a tiny number of academic insiders and students. This is wrong and a huge lost oportunity for the students.

Wouldn't it be so great if these schools started getting serious about interacting with the wider world and started working on joint MFA shows. For the last 2 years 8 schools in Southern California have worked thier MFA shows into a single art blitz called "Supersonic". ( here, here and here is more dope on Supersonic )Couldn't something like that be done in Pittsburgh, using empty spaces in the city?"


A great idea for any city in the Cleveburgh Region. I doubt you lack the space.