I gave some further thought to the MA situation, kind of encouraged by Clare Smiths MA at Central St Martins, which only requires two evenings in London a week. The validity, necessity and quality of these courses has been debated quite a bit on blogs recently which has been helpful. I have been accepted onto two courses in the past and never actually followed them through due to international residency opportunities/ exhibitions etc. so the debate has been ongoing for me since my graduation.
Two things really seem to beckon me toward an MA, truly hard edged, constructive critical input and exposure/networking opportunities. I can't see that Clare's course can offer much more than these. Other time is spent working in the studio which I am doing at present without an MA. So therefore, if it was possible to facilitate regular, quality critical input and group support it may circumnavigate much of the need for the financially and logistically challenging possibility of attending an MA as a mother of four.
How to do that, there lies the problem. Anyone like to brainstorm an answer? Based in Salisbury I would be interested in hearing from any other artists (particularly around Winchester, S'Hampton, Swindon etc.) who either know of similar crit groups or would be interested in the idea of one. Could colleges run a long distance MA, a kind of OU, online thing with travelling tutors who visited artists on site? Outside of an actual course, could a group raise funding to invite visiting professionals to contribute critically to the development of a group, at times in person and at times online. Are there any tutors, curators out there who have any comments on this? Or is anyone already involved in a successful working model?
