A Being in Life

This thesis is an excerpt of a novel-in-progress completed as part of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

Aesthetic Citizens: Producing Engaged Artists and Civic Art in the Modern University

The connection between the research university and the creative artist has markedly increased during the past half century. As a result, artists are embedded on campuses with the mandate to contribute to the university’s mission and to shape the civic order. Today artists are researchers, theorists, and activists. How did this occur? Based on a two-year ethnography of three master of fine arts programs in the American Midwest, I explain the creation of the discipline of visual arts as academic practitioners have become professionalized, have become able to control their evaluations, and have developed a set of motivating theoretical ideas that lead to participation in civic culture as their practices are linked to social justice and the good society. Artistic practice is not now value free, if it ever was. With the university as a political and a progressive space, students are encouraged to articulate their practices as linked to their responsibilities as aesthetic citizens.

Out of the stacks and into the studios: A creative approach to information literacy

At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students are often not aware of the library and its resources. As a way to address this gap, Flaxman Librarians have organized studio visits, in which librarians visit students’ studios to hear about their work and offer library resources to support it. Using the ACRL Framework and SAIC's core values as a guide, we are able to assess and address students' current methods/modes of research, as well as their artistic practice. In addition, we are able to forge new relationships with these students throughout their program and increase outreach to a program not targeted for traditional information literacy.

Soonponsri, Kamchorn (1937--)

Born in Lopburi, Thailand, Soonponsri graduated from Silpakorn University in 1962, and completed a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture and painting at the Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles in 1971. Throughout his career he has pushed the boundaries of institutional convention. While abstraction was popular with younger Thai artists such as Soonponsri in the 1960s, the National Exhibition of Art and Silpakorn University still favored more traditional works and approaches. Breakaway exhibitions arose, and Soonponsri was involved in one of the early shows held at the privately owned Bangkapi Gallery in 1964. He took on a politically active role following the pro-democracy student protests of 1973. Soonponsri became chairman of the Artists’ Front of Thailand, founded in 1974 with the aim of harnessing art in the quest to obtain democratic government. He was an organizer of the first Open Art Exhibition of Thailand, held in 1979 as a further challenge to the National Exhibition of Art. His activism contributed to significant change, and he later became a jury member for a revitalized National Art Exhibition. Soonponsri’s works are abstracted and emotive. In the early 1990s he was a lecturer at Silpakorn University with other well-known artists such as Ithipol Thangchalok.

Ahmad, Yousef (1955–)

A writer, an art advisor, and an artist, Yousef Ahmad has contributed significantly to the evolution of art in Qatar. Ahmad took upon himself the responsibility to document and archive the development of art in Qatar. Ahmad has developed an innovative style of calligraphic painting, whereby numerous letters and words are transformed into abstract signs and manifest abstract arrangements. Being more inclined to create large-scale works, Ahmad depicts Arabic words in their variety of shapes with a particular focus on the construction of his composition. In 1982, Ahmad traveled to the United States, where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Mills College, University of California. Following his return to Qatar, Ahmad taught art appreciation for more than twenty years at Qatar University, where he met His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali Al Thani. Sharing an avid love for art with HE Sheikh Hassan, Ahmad has played an instrumental role in collecting a variety of artworks which constitute the major collections of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Orientalist Museum. He also acted as the first director for Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, then named the Museum of Arab Art.

An Alternative Approach to Establishing a Studio Doctorate in Fine Art

As soon as the creative arts migrated from academies into colleges and universities, questions about accreditation and evaluation arose. From its inception, the master of fine arts (MFA) degree has been problematic. Although the College Art Association published standards for the MFA in 1977, confusion remains between this terminal degree and the nonterminal master’s degree (MA) in fine arts. Some believe that the solution to this problem is to establish the PhD as the terminal degree in fine arts; however, this solution is problematic in other ways: Standard approaches to research and publication in PhD programs do not mesh with the reality of studio-based creative inquiry and production. A better solution might be the development of a doctor of fine arts (DFA) degree.