Post Graduate Certificate in Visual Arts

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 helped to make 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 want 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/ and bi-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. Monthly exhibitions in the SRISA gallery provide an on-site active artistic community. Post-graduate Certificate participants are invited to personally meet with visiting artists and at times collaborate with them

Support Course: Participating artists may also attend two support courses offered during each term. Courses can include: Printmaking, Photography, Book Arts, Drawing, Painting, Jewelry Design, Batik, Silk Screen, Art History, History, Italian Cinema, Italian, and will be chosen according to participants 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 functions in conjunction with all other aspects of the Post-Graduate Certificate and 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 arts practitioner. In addition, they will have the opportunity to study with art writers and other theorists in order to fully comprehend the role theory plays in the international field of art and culture.

Faculty: Andrew Smaldone: Program Coordinator, a program coordinator

Visiting Artists and Mentors:
Paolo Parisi
Wolfgang Berkowski
T-yong Chung
Elioise Ghioni
ReganWheat
Justin Randolf Thompson
Robert Petena
Amy Worthen
Dennis Olsen
Meredith Dean
Visiting Art Critics and Curators:
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._Catalog: A catalog of all the work for the exhibition and for the program will be produced in collaboration with program coordinator and participants. This catalog is a valuable documentation of successful completion of the program.

Excursion to a Tuscan Village: (Fall Program Only) Program participants will be invited to visit the Director’s home in the Tuscan countryside. This is the perfect place to draw, read, photograph, think, and take long walks. Excursion fee: 400 Euro

How to apply:
15-20 Images
Personal Statement
Curriculum Vitae
Letter of Reference
College Transcripts,

Tuition & Dates:
Fall 2010 September – December 2010, Tuition: 4,300 Euro_Spring 2011 January-December 2011, Tuition: 4,300 Euro_Fall 2011 September – December 2011, Tuition: 4,300 Euro

Activities Fee: 250 Euro Includes:
• Welcome dinner
• Museum Card
• Field Trip
• Farewell Banquet