Open Studio Tonight; 1st Year Review

If you happen to be in Philly tonight around 5, come and stop by Moore (its next to the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Franklin Institute). Ben and the four other graduate students are hosting an Open Studio, which means you can go in and look at what they’ve been working on this summer. They’re on the 5th floor- once you get cleared by security they should be able to point you to the elevators.


Before the Open Studio, the first-year graduate students in studio art are being reviewed by several artists/professors, including the artist/Graduate Program Manager Paul Hubbard (official site). This is the ‘qualifying review’ that takes place now that the first semester is complete. It is in preparation for the important mid-program review that will happen next summer, when students will be evaluated on their work and whether or not they are creating art at a level worthy of an MFA degree.

Tomorrow Ben will bring his work home and set up a space for himself in the loft, which will be his studio until next July. At that time, he will go to Ireland for a four-week residency at Burren College of Art.

But for now, Ben will have a break until the weekend classes begin in September!

[by] melissa
praise God who holds in his hand our life and all our ways

I’m in the News

A couple weeks ago the Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed me and Brad (a Masters in Art Education student) for being the first males to attend Moore. The article is an interesting read and it was great to be seen in the paper (some guy in the parking garage even recognized me!). The funny thing is that the reporter seemed to be searching for some underlying conflict about our presence at a school with an all female undergrad, which as far as anyone can tell, just doesn’t exist. He kept asking me why I would choose Moore (seemingly fishing for an angle), but I just told him that it is a school with a great reputation and that it offered exactly what I was looking for in an MFA program. Personal, International, Lots of Resources, Great Facilities… and Moore. haha

[by] ben