Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Fashion Program
Boston, MA



Most commonly known as Mass Art.  I wanted to find some safety schools, and because of this school being a independent public school, I thought this was a good place to start.  Boston is such a vibrant city - one in four people you meet on the streets in Boston is a college student!


This might be a good safety for some - students need a 3.0 grade point average in high school, SAT scores of 500/600 in reading; 470-580 in math; 490-510 in writing.  ACT scores required are 22/27.
 But don't treat this school too lightly - it looks like a fantastic place to study!
The college opened in 1873 as the first public college of art and the first to grant a degree.
Mass Art wanted to "better the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by producing drawing teachers as well as professional artists, designers and architects".  You don't see teaching as a profession listed first too often.
When they opened the doors the school's philosophy was to welcome anyone with talent and the will to succeed at a time when access for everyone was uncommon.  "Our history sets the direction for our future."
The courses available for a BFA in Fashion Design cover everything from the history of fashion, textile design, even tailoring
along with the classic drafting, sewing classes all the way through couture
Fashion Certificate programs
are also offered at Mass Art for those who don't want a 4 year degree. "Our curriculum encourages creative expression built on a foundation of tech development"  The school teaches jewelry design and metal working and some study abroad programs.First level fashion design students can study in Brazil - that would be cool.

I haven't found any famous fashion designers that the school could boast about but I did find this guy - Will Wegmanand Wegman's art of adorable dog photo's

Mass Art is the home to the largest contemporary art space in New England - the Bakalar & Paine GalleriesWhich are free and open to the public.  Nice opportunity for the students to be discoveredbut do they have any of the fashion students work on exhibit?
This photo was on the gallery web site and clearly a fashion show - but more snooping lead me to the answer of yesfashion design students exhibit as well.  Mass Art students are treated to free admission to the Museum of Fine Arts as well the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum
This used to the home of Isabella Gardener before turning it into a museum displaying her vast collection of art.  Sweet.
The school is one of the five "The Colleges of Fenway" so the art students can take classes in other theory's if they wanted too.  MCPHS which educates people in the heath care field, as well as Emmanuel and Simmons Colleges.  All of this makes the city seem so open!  Mass Art has  three huge student dorms - including the "tree house" which boasts studio space! 

Although not the most well known, the school is competitive about gaining admissions.  If your high school doesn't have an art program, you will need to prove your passion for the arts by taking classes outside of schoolIn addition when applying a prospective student needs a 500 word essay on why this field of study is their passion, a portfolio of 10-15 of your best work, as well as a resume of your other activities.
 or did you play rec soccer all through high school?another language perhaps?
Mass Art clearly wants well rounded individuals.  So maybe we haven't heard of any famous fashion designers from this school - not yet anyway!  But maybe "somebody" started here, and finished somewhere else!  

Pam

Monday, January 12, 2015

ACCEPTED!


ACCEPTED!

Accepted!  The most wonderful sigh of relief there is!  After the doctor saying "your healthy" and the credit card company saying "it's no problem, you don't owe us any of that" when some thief uses your card.  The relief of knowing your ARE going to college SOMEPLACE is huge.


It may not be your first choice, it might just be your "safety" (just a word out there, everyone needs a safety school to fall back on - I think that will be my next post)  but knowing you are welcome to at least one institution is fantastic.  It takes off an enormous amount of pressure - for the student and family alike.  So celebrate!


It's not an everyday occurrence - it's a big deal!
   
I bought two confetti pops from the Paper Source Store with the idea of giving Mimi a 3 second ticker tape parade!  I had planned on doing this after we took her out for her favorite brunch - how many doughnut holes can that girl eat?!

 Well, my dear husband didn't quite understand how to use this simple  "toy" so now there is a pile of confetti lamely on the ground My intention was for us both to shoot off the pops at once over Mimi's head!  So I gave him mine and I took a good picture!

I first found out when she called me from school.  Here's the thing, DC doesn't handle snow very well.  No notification came from this school - but she kept getting invitations to workshops at the school - one was FedEx Overnight with a small gift of  knit gloves that say "Make Art" on them!  (she is wearing them to school today so I don't have a picture of them, and we don't blame her!)
Instead a nice picture of Bo Obama dog in the snow! 

Anyway, I advised her to call the school and let them know about how our town gets crippled in snow and just to check on the status of her application.  The nice man on the phone said he would resend their decision letter - would be here in about 5 days.  She asked if he could tell her over the phone and he asked her "do you really want to know?"  Mimi replied Yes!  But ONLY if it was good news.   He said he understood that and paused and then told her she got in!  ACCEPTED!  I don't get good cell phone reception at my work place, and as a teacher I can't really get to the phone anyway so Mimi knowing this left me a message on the home phone.  A quiet message, a very quiet message.  I had to play it 5 times to make sure I was hearing correctly!

well when your supposed to be in class, not on your cell phone while at school and don't want the whole world to know your business, OK, I get it!  It was Friday so that means that after school she needed to go to her job and from there she goes out with her friends - to which I gave her the green light on and told her we will celebrate over the weekend.  But I did post a card on her bedroom door - one that I bought over awhile ago because I had faith that this day would come,


Pam