Hello,
I am two years in towards getting a BFA in studio art, but I’m
afraid that my school no longer seems to offer a decent education and
I am now looking at transferring to a more competent institution. I
attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, after hearing
for four years about what a wonderful program they had, but as near
as I can tell that program is starting to die. As it stands, there
has been several interim professors who have stopped by to teach for
a semester or two for the past two or three years, but as of when I
left for Summer break, there was a question of whether or not the
school could even afford to hire another interim professor to cover
for 2007/08.
Since I already have so much time and money invested in earning a
BFA, it seems rather silly for me to just quit, but I really have no
idea where I should turn next. Right now I am looking at Illinois
State University, Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, and
possibly Oklahoma State University. I looked into the University of
Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, but by the time I found their program I
had missed the application deadline by almost a month.
Would anyone be able to give me any advice in picking a school? I’m
somewhat leery of SIUE, since I am pretty sure it’s ran by the same
people who run SIUC. I would somewhat like to stay in the Midwest,
although I know there are a great number of very good schools along
the East and West coasts. Furthermore, I’d especially like to go to a
school that might teach me something I could actually use as a
professional jeweler. Illinois State’s website had pictures that made
the program seem at least somewhat connected to real jewelry, and
Oklahoma State’s program claims to have a strong focus on design.
I would greatly appreciate it if someone who knows anything about
ISU or OSU’s programs could give me more or even
on some other school I might have missed.
Thank you very much,
Willis Hance