Grad School Application- RISD

Rhode Island School of Design interested me because they offer two different types of grad programs for teaching in the arts. The department is called Teaching + Learning in art and Design and you can get one of two degrees, Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master of Arts (MA) in Teaching + Learning in Art + Design. Their approach to art education seems very current and just the way it should be. They believe teachers must first be artists and practice everything they teach. Their program stresses community involvement and their graduates often get jobs at very large prestigious teaching museums. I am also interested in their photography program because they offer opportunities to teach undergrads at the school, and I am very impressed with their undergrad work.

They have amazing faculty who I would be extremely excited to work with.  Professor Deborah Bright's work interested me and she has quite an impressive bio.
"Deborah Bright is an internationally known photographer and critic whose work has been exhibited and collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Whitney Museum, Fogg Art Museum, Museet for Fotokunst, Copenhagen, Museum Folkwang, Essen; Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography; Vancouver Art Gallery; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Addison Gallery of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, among others. Her work is represented by the Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston. She has received fellowships from the Bunting Institute, National Endowment for the Arts, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She is the author of The Passionate Camera: photography and bodies of desire (1998) and professor of photography and art history at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2005-06, she was the Shirley Carter Burden Visiting Professor of Photography at Harvard."

“Heaven.” Being & Riding series, 1996-99

“Wild Secret Girl.” Being & Riding series, 1996-99

I was more intrigued by the undergrad student work than I was with the grad student work. I was interested in 2006 MFA grad Thaddeus Russell, here are some of his images.

Thaddeus Russell

Thaddeus Russell

Thaddeus Russell

Even though it is the number one Art program in the country and the number 3 photo program, I would seriously consider applying there.