Tennessee OR Florida ?

[ArtAblaze]

Hello, I'm a graduate in Arts...my majors being, Drawing&Painting, English Literature and Music(vocal).I have done my graduation from India.

I am looking forward to continue my studies in USA and have already started working on the process of getting into US. I perhaps have a list of question regarding my stay and studies in US but my first question here is which is best, Tennessee ot Florida to study Fine arts in?

I ask this question for the following reasons/demands-

1) Firstly, I have only these two states to choose from, cuz its going to be my first time in a country and culture way different from mine. I cant imagine living alone in a place where I know nobody around. In TN I have a family I know that can help me out at times needed. In FL I have a group of artist friends (one of them even willing to join an art college along with me)

2) I want to be a Fine art teacher...say Fine art Professor in future. But I have heard proper educated teachers or professors can only make good wages. I want to go for something where i get a good pay for my job and also enjoy doing it( I had a hard time convincing my folks that my artistic desires can earn me good money as well as my family dont support Art unfortunately) In that case what kind of education do I get into next related to be a Fine art teacher/professor, and where can i find it better and less expensive? TN or FL??

3) Besides, r there any more advantages for me being a foriegner and a non-traditional student as I am 25yrs old. If yes, where would I find it more beneficial, in FL or TN??

Looking forward for some help...

Very Sincerely-Atiya.

[dragoni689]

Atiya;

What schools are you looking at?

The best school for art in FL is RIngling, and i hear that it's a much more design oriented than fine art oriented school.

I cant tell you which school or state to move to, it's something you'll just have to figure out on your own, but in any case if you provide us with more pertinant info- like which schools you are considering and what areas you are considering living at- than you might find some more helpful information...

[ArtAblaze]

First of all, Thanks for the much awaited response to my question here :)

As for what schools I am looking for...well, actually thats what I too want to know...as I said , Im a graduate in Arts and now am further looking for what else I need to do in US to be a teacher in an Art school/college....??

Like, can I straight away go and apply for a teachers job?..or, do I have to have any more degrees or training or any type of course to be done to be a teacher...??..or what??...thats what I want to know...and also where I could find a good job, better place, and more wages?...thats what I'm at the moment looking for.

I would like to stick with fine art, cuz thats my first choice. Ringling, I have heard is pretty expensive and high standard....and gives more emphasis on designing.
I cannot afford very expensive schools and high standard is cool but I could do with a normal one too.

Regarding pertinant info...well, as I said I have yet to know what school or training or what i need to do to be a teacher, I know where I am going to live though...

In TN I will be living in Dresden and in FL I will be living somewhere in Tampa.

Hope this makes it more clear to understand my situation....
Looking forward for more help from our members here,
-Atiya.

[sancyr]

In TN I will be living in Dresden

I have been living and working as an artist in TN for about 3 years now. I have many friends in the fine art community that are also professors at various art schools in this area (I live near Nashville). I have not attended school in this area, so this is just second hand knowledge.

Check out Watkins College of Art and Design. Many of the professors I know are young and pretty fresh out of graduate school. Watkins is located in Nashville. Also check out Suwannee (sp?), south of Nashville. It's a private school but I also know a professor there that teache in the art program and he says the environment is good.

Sara

[ArtAblaze]

Thank you so much Sara for the info on Schools in TN...

I was bit confused and disappointed after putting up this question here. May be my question is not clear or just that I'm too new here to get more responses , I dont know what it is but ur response is a cool surprise to me this morning! :)

I will check out those two schools right now!

Reading u above where u said:

"Check out Watkins College of Art and Design. Many of the professors I know are young and pretty fresh out of graduate school."

..I want to know if ur suggestion for those two colleges is for job as a teacher or to study there?...cuz I am still confused whether I can get a job straight away or do I need any more education or training??

Thank you once again.

-Atiya.

[sancyr]

Atiya,

I thought you said you were a graduate student?


Hello, I'm a graduate in Arts...

Maybe you meant you were an undergraduate getting your BFA degree? Almost all of the professors I've learned with and know have MFA degrees in the areas they teach. Most universities require it. I don't know if the same aplies to community colleges or technical colleges.

I listed Watkins because I know many young professors with MFA degrees that teach. You cannot get an MFA at Watkins however.

Good luck!

Sara

[ArtAblaze]

Hi Sara :)

Yes, u read it right and I am already done with my BA Degree. In India, after a BA(equal to BFA) we can go for a MFA if we wish to, though I dont know how it is in USA.

OK, so one thing I know now, i.e. If I want to be a professor I gotta do MFA first.Thanks! That makes it a bit clear for me.

Could u help me with one more question please??
With my present education, which is a "first division-BA Degree" do I have any scope to be a teacher in Fine arts at some school or somewhere, so I can do my MFA along with the teaching job.Can any one holding a BA Degree be a teacher at all in TN/FL??

Please help!

-Atiya.

[sancyr]

With my present education, which is a "first division-BA Degree" do I have any scope to be a teacher in Fine arts at some school or somewhere, so I can do my MFA along with the teaching job.Can any one holding a BA Degree be a teacher at all in TN/FL??

Please help!

-Atiya.

Hi Atiya,

I've only known one person that taught at the college level and attended graduate studies at the same time. He was an illustration/computer art professor but he came to the school after working as an artist for NASA, he was a Disney Imagineer that worked on Disneyworld Theme Park Epcot, you get my point. I believe he had close to 20 years of professional experience, so he managed to get a college level teaching job based on his extensive real world experience.

I would see if you could contact some private schools to see if you could teach with a BFA. You may also want to look into any fellowship options any schools/universities might offer that has you work as a teacher and take classes as pay or partial pay.

Not much more help now. Contact the human resource departments in schools all over TN & FL and see what you can find. Check out smaller colleges and private schools. Good luck!

Sara

[luvlorn]

Hi Atiya,

I don't know anything about TN (sorry)

But I did go to university in Tampa for a couple of years. As far as I know you will be required to have an MFA to teach as a professor at the university level.

The University of South Florida in Tampa's art department is fine-arts based and has a graduate school. Their faculty has changed a lot since I left so I can't inform you of the atmosphere (the facilities are not pretty :-\), but I did meet a lot of cool people while in their art department and have had a few great professors.

Many masters level students work as teaching assistants for undergraduate classes (like Drawing, Painting, Design, Electronic Media, Sculpting, Photography, and Printmaking). Being a teacher's assistant usually means they either work closely with a professor (hopefully one who is related to their area of concentration) or teach their own section of a class. I am not sure what kind of deal they get for this in terms of pay-scale, but they tend to get all hours access to the labs they teach in, and I think all master's students get their own studio space. If you come on a student visa I am pretty sure you will be limited to working 20 hours per week, on campus only. You should check out exchange programs with schools where you live now, and scholarships, because sometimes you can find a pretty good deal. Tampa also has a pretty diverse community so you won't be the only Indian student there (which I'm sure is a plus for anyone moving far from home).

Other schools to check out in that area are Ringling (as someone said) and University of Tampa (both are expensive, but you may be able to get better scholarships from them if you try).

[Thaneeyabean]

I am not sure what kind of deal they get for this in terms of pay-scale, but they tend to get all hours access to the labs they teach in, and I think all master's students get their own studio space.

I attend USF in Tampa right now, and as far as I know, the graduate students who are teaching assistants get their tuition waivered plus a small stipend.

The Art Department at USF is more oriented towards fine arts than design (which is closer to what you want than Ringling, and more affordable too). Many of the grad students want to go on to become teachers.

[ArtAblaze]

All this seems so confusing. Seems like nothing can be decided sitting here on my pc, unless I actually walk into all those Art Colleges(suggested above) and enquire in person.

Well, to let u all know... to start with I just wanted some school in US to sponsor for my visa so I can to get into US for once and then decide where to go from there.This school is in TN and is got only Liberal arts course (no fine arts) but it is close to the family I know in TN and is the only one that cared to response to my emails.I have got done with TOEFL and have received an admission application form which it is clear that they r ready to sponsor for my student visa.

I have decided to study a semester there and keep looking for other preferable MFA colleges in TN and FL...I hope I'm taking the right step ...:confused:

During my enquiry about the job(on other site)...one lady from TN(teacher) sent me an address of State Department of Education in TN...she says it might help to write to them...so may be I might try that once I find the college where I would do my MFA. :rolleyes:

Another friend of mine in TN said ...I could easily get a job for a teacher in school to teach grades 1 to 4 as I have a BA Degree in English and Drawing.So that I can do the teaching job of junior level by the time i get my MFA Degree.

Looking at all these options and opportunities...I feel so lost here... :confused: ....I guess only time will decide whats in store for me...so right now I'm just trying to go thru the processes of getting into US first.Once I'm done with that, may be then I might be able to decide what I need to do next. Right??

BTW, thank u all for ur time and the info u provided....it is certainly a great help.Thanks again:)

-Atiya.