27 Feb 2012

Apply to the Unschool Art School

THE UNSCHOOL ART SCHOOL

- Fall and spring residencies in New York City
- Summer intensives in Berlin, the art capital of Europe
- A contemporary learning experience without grades or pre-formatted curriculum
- Workshops, seminars, professional development, studio and performance tours
- Develop a sustainable artistic praxis rather than being trained in certain media or genre
- Realize your creative projects with the support of curators, faculty and self-chosen advisors
- Low-residency format allows you to keep professional and family obligations while advancing your career
- International make up of students and faculty fosters exchange across cultural boundaries
- Alumni and faculty form an international collective with exhibition and performance opportunities
- Offsite study, critiques and advisement wherever you live and work
- Regular one on one reviews and interactions with a variety of established and up and coming curators
- Thesis exhibition reviewed, critiqued and curated by established international Kurators.

THE MFA CREATIVE PRACTICE is a two year low-residency program where students and faculty come together for three weeks each summer to participate in workshops, lectures, critiques, seminars, performances and exhibitions. Additionally, students will experience a week of feedback on their projects in the fall and (optionally) in the spring in New York City. In the four semesters in-between residencies, students carry out individual creative projects wherever they work and live with the support of advisors, faculty and critique groups. Details on the Transart website.

TRANSART FACULTY come from a wide range of academic and artistic backgrounds as well as geographic locations. Current theoretical areas of expertise include curatorial work, cyberfeminism, African diaspora, interface technologies, digital arts, continental philosophy, media, social studies in colonialism, capitalism and tourism, word and image relationships, and contemporary Asian art history. Studio faculty includes international artists working with sound, performance, dance and choreography, photography, drawing, sculpture, film and video, intervention and installation. Details and bios can be found on the website.

TRANSART STUDENTS are emerging and mid-career artists and educators. Transart Institute's residencies are a meeting place for cultural exchange. Transart students and alumni will converge for the summer residency from areas as diverse as Italy, Egypt, Pakistan, Iceland, Croatia, Ethiopia, Canada, Costa Rica, the UK and the US. For many students the time at Transart is a transformational experience. New York based artist Virgil Wong found 'The community I've become a part of through Transart is already much more immersive than what I've developed in ten years of living and working as an artist in New York City'. Photographer and performer Angelika Rinnhofer found that 'to work independently can pose a challenge but it also offers freedom and flexibility. Since a large number of students are accomplished artists and earn a living, Transart's concept is ideal to work toward a degree and to expand one's artistic career in addition to having a job.' Performer and painter Nicole Stager wrote: 'This program has changed my life in profound ways. My art practice is more informed, better articulated, more open, more thoughtful, more grounded in theory.' You can learn more about the experiences other students have had on the website.

THE TRANSART COLLECTIVE is an informal, decentralized network of Transart alumni, students, and faculty. Transartists come together from all points on the globe for discussion, exchange, and independently-driven projects with others in the international Transart community. The Collective platform offers a place to connect with others in the network, allowing all to post news, announce projects, or initiate collaborations. Recently, members of the Transart International Collective participated in Not Festival (performances, exhibits, talks, classes, jams) Brooklyn, New York, 2011; Nothing to Declare (exhibition and education projects) Manila, Philippines, 2011; Working Conversations: (presentations and discussions on artists working in public space) Vienna, Austria, 2011; and the Shelter Project (talks, performance, intervention, exhibition) Vienna, Austria.

FINANCES are explained under Admissions on the website. The application committee is authorized to award scholarships of up to 25% with acceptance into the MFA. Please note that Transart has no full scholarships. Assistantships will be discussed with accepted applicants. Additional financing should be available through sources in your country of residence/citizenship. Funding letters are mailed with acceptance into the program.

If you have further questions one of the faculty will be happy to discuss the program with you in detail. Please contact administrative assistant Drew Henmi for a phone appointment: henmi@transart.org or call +1 (347) 410 9905.