at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
David Levi Strauss, Chair
Applications are now being accepted
for the Fall 2012 incoming class.
T 212 592 2408
[email protected]
The Art Criticism & Writing program at the School of Visual Arts is one of the only graduate programs in the world that focuses specifically on criticism and art writing.
The practice of criticism involves making finer and finer distinctions among like things, but it is also a way to ask fundamental questions about art and life. The MFA program in Art Criticism & Writing is designed to give students a grounding in the philosophical and historical bases of criticism, to improve both their writing and their seeing, and to provide sources that they can draw on for the rest of their lives.
Critics cannot afford to be specialists, so our curriculum is wide-ranging. In addition to the foundation seminar, Bases of Criticism I & II, taught by chair David Levi Strauss; three levels of writing practicums, taught by Claudia La Rocco, Nancy Princenthal, and Michael Brenson; and the thesis seminar, taught by Lynne Tillman; we offer an array of continually changing electives taught by prominent writers and critics. We concentrate on the essay as form, as well as on shorter forms of review, and learn criticism by doing it. The thesis that students write at the end of their course of study is intended to be a substantial piece of criticism. We want students to come out of this program better prepared to write in the world.
From its inception, this program has had a special emphasis on the history and future of the image. The critics of tomorrow must study images in all of their manifestations in order to better understand how we are subject to them.
In addition to our exceptional core faculty, we invite many writers, critics, philosophers, editors, artists, and art historians in each year to give lectures and to meet with our students individually and in small groups. Guests have included Susan Buck-Morss, Sylvère Lotringer, Avital Ronell, W.J.T. Mitchell, Michael Taussig, David Graeber, McKenzie Wark, Boris Groys, Robert Storr, Leo Steinberg, T.J. Clark, Linda Nochlin, Lucy Lippard, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Peter Schjeldahl, Ann Lauterbach, Bill Berkson, and Dave Hickey.
Our acclaimed Art Criticism & Writing lecture series at the SVA Theatre in Chelsea continues this fall with writer and theorist Marcus Boon on September 27, author Elaine Scarry on October 11, writer Luc Sante on November 15, and art historian and critic Debra Bricker Balken on December 13, discussing her forthcoming biography of Harold Rosenberg.
In January 2012 we moved into our newly built facilities (including a new library) on the 6th floor of 132 West 21st Street in Chelsea. It is obviously a big advantage to have such a program situated in the heart of New York City, amidst one of the greatest concentrations of artists and art activity in the world.
Our students produce an online journal of timely reviews of current exhibitions in New York City and other writings called Degree Critical, edited by Nancy Princenthal, and they will host the second annual “Critical Information” graduate student conference in December 2012.
To see sample programs, faculty bios, news, our Degree Critical online journal, and recordings of past lectures, go to artcriticism.sva.edu.
We are now accepting applications for the fall 2012 term. We will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis until all positions are filled. Generous departmental scholarships are available on a competitive basis. To download an application, go to www.applyweb.com/apply/svag, or contact us at [email protected] or T 212 592 2408 for further information.