Certificate

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE
IN VISUAL ART

Overview
This four month long intensive program offers post-graduate participants and practicing artists the opportunity to work in a professional environment. This is a program for artists that are not seeking a degree but rather an opportunity to build and work on a professional portfolio. Post-graduate students are guided through the transition from a structured academic curriculum to an established working practice. The program is specially designed for those artists who wish to build their portfolio for admission to graduate school in visual arts and for working artists who are looking for a new perspective on their own work and would like creative feedback.

Program Structure
Participants in the Certificate Program are provided with a shared studio workspace. Each participant is paired with a professional artist who serves as a mentor for the duration of the program. Weekly meetings with mentors and visiting artists provide the structure of this studio experience. These nationally and internationally recognized artists help contribute to each participant’s experience through individual critiques and creative guidance. In addition, each week a visiting artist is invited to SRISA for critiques and studio visits with program participants. Frequent exhibitions in the SRISA gallery provide an active on-site artistic community. Post-Graduate Certificate participants are invited to meet with visiting artists and with the opportunity for collaboration.

Support Course
Participating artists may also attend two support courses. Courses can include: Printmaking, Photography, Book Arts, Drawing, Painting, Jewelry Design, Batik, Silk Screen, Art History, History, Italian Cinema, and Italian Language. The support courses will be chosen according to participant’s interests.

Portfolio Seminar
Participants will have the opportunity to attend seminars to help develop their current studio practice into a working portfolio that may be used for a variety of purposes, including preparing graduate school applications (MFA or MA), developing successful applications for artist’s residencies or learning how to seek funding for specific projects. The aim of the seminar is thus to consolidate participants’ work into a portfolio that MFA program application reviewers or art professionals can navigate easily due to clarity of form and content. In addition, participants will learn how to translate the visual language of their art into a written language that coincides with their practice, which is a fundamental aspect for any artist wishing to present their art in today’s world.

Topics in Contemporary Art
The critical theory aspect of the program is an essential component of the participant’s practice. Participants will be encouraged to consider theory as a way to becoming an inspired and autonomously creative thinker and practitioner. In addition, they will have the opportunity to study with art curators and other theorists in order to fully comprehend the role theory plays in the international field of art and culture.

Faculty Supervisor
Andrew Smaldone, Program Coordinator

Visiting Artists and Mentors
SRISA invites visiting professionals in the field to come to the campus to share their experience and working knowledge. These artists and mentors include but are not limited to: Paolo Parisi, Wolfgang Berkowski, T-yong Chung, Elioise Ghioni, Regan Wheat, Justin Randolf Thompson, Robert Petena, Amy Worthen, Dennis Olsen, Meredith Dean.

Visiting Art Critics and Curators
SRISA invites visiting professionals in the field to come to the campus to share their experience and working knowledge. These artists and mentors include but are not limited to: Lorenzo Bruni, Daria Filardo

Final Show
At the termination of the program participants will be invited to display their work in a final group exhibition. Additionally, a catalog of all the work for the exhibition and for the program will be produced in collaboration with the program coordinator and participants. This catalog is a valuable documentation of successful completion of the program.

Application Process
Applicants should complete the online application and submit the following items:
15-20 Images
Personal Statement
Curriculum Vitae
Letter of Reference
College Transcripts

Tuition & Dates
Spring 2012: January 10 – April 28

Tuition: 4,300 Euro

Fall 2012: August 30 – December 20

Tuition: 4, 300 euro

Activities and Field Trips
An Activity Fee of 200 Euro includes
• Welcome Dinner • Museum Card • 2 Field Trips • Farewell Banquet

Excursion to a Tuscan Villa (Fall Program Only)
Program participants will be invited to stay in the Director’s home in the Tuscan hillside. This one-week jaunt into the Tuscan landscape will help serve as a break from the busy city. The quiet time in the countryside is the perfect place to draw, photograph, read and take long walks. Artists will be asked to intervene in a site-specific work that considers the natural landscape. Dining will be a hands-on experience where participants are invited to assist in the preparation of traditional Italian cuisine. Meals, lodgings, and transportation are included.

Excursion fee: 400 Euro