York University
Faculty of Graduate Studies
Graduate Program in
Visual Arts
Handbook
2013-2014
Gradients(cover), Fall2012 MFA and PhD group exhibition at Gales Gallery, Accolade West
Gradients showcased art works by returning and incoming Masters students, and incoming PhD students, in York University's graduate programs in Visual Arts.
Each artist engages pivotal ideas in contemporary Canadian art practice. Featuring drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, print and time-based media, Gradientscelebrates the unique accomplishments of York graduate student artists.
Participating artists: Marina Black, Gord Bond, Teresa Carlesimo, Amanda Clyne, Miles Collyer, Mary Grisey, Neil Harrison, Mike Hoolboom, Amelie Jerome, Yoon Jin Jung, Christie Kirchner, Jorge Lozano, Rachel Ludlow, Carly McAskill, Nadia Moss, Milena Roglic, Shannon Scanlan, Victoria Vitasek, Tobias Williams, and Colleen Wolstenholme.
PHOTOS: Miles Collyer
Artist: Jorge Lozano
Watch My Back, HD, 9 minute-loop, 2011
CoNTENTS
Welcome from Nell Tenhaaf, Graduate Program DirectorPage 4
Getting StartedPage 5
RegistrationPage 6
Faculty Members Contact InformationPage 7
Student Contact InformationPage 7
Faculty Research InterestsPage 8 - 9
Introduction
Master of Fine Arts (MFA) A brief historyPage 10
Aims and Objectives of the MFA program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) A brief historyPage 10
Aims and Objectives of the PhD program
Overview of the PhD programPage 11
MFA / PhD Degree Requirements
MFA degree requirements - coursesPage 13
MFA thesis requirements, supervision procedures, reportsPage 14-15
MFA thesis exhibition and support paperPage 14
PhD degree requirements - coursesPage 15
PhD comprehensive examination, dissertation proposalPage 16
PhD dissertation, oral examination, reportsPage 17
MFA / PhD General Student InformationPage 18 Key distribution, studio space, group exhibitions,
parking, photocopying, library facilities, etc.
MFA / PhD Computing FAQ’s
E-mail Account, computer access on campus, printing Page 24
MFA / PhD Financial FAQ’S
Funding, tuition fees, refund table, Awards, OSAP, etc.Page 25
Useful Phone Numbers
Important Phone Numbers and WebsitesPage 30
Appendices
a) Sessional Dates
b) Oral Examination form
Welcome from Nell Tenhaaf,
Graduate Program Director
Welcome to our MFA / PhD programs in Visual Arts at York University. My colleagues and I look forward to engaging with you in a rich and stimulating dialogue about contemporary art, drawing on our own professional art practices that encompass most types of practice visible today in the art world. Our intention is that your time in graduate school will contribute significantly to your lives as artists.
Our programs offer numerous opportunities for studio visits and exchanges with guest artists, curatorsand art historians,who reflect a wide range of interests to guide you as you develop your own practice. Students in the MA in Art History and PhD in Art History and Visual Culture are also your key colleagues during your time in the Visual Arts programs. We hope that you will make lasting friendships and professional connections with your colleagues at York that enrich your ongoing development as an artist.
The MFA / PhD programs are supported by a vibrant university culture at York that promotes creative dialoguesamong many areas of knowledge and scholarship. We encourage students to seek out faculty form other areas of the university to participate on their committees. Whether in Visual Arts, other departments in the Faculty of Fine Arts, or from the university at large, faculty members actively support divergent views and approaches to art practice.
The excellence of York’s MFA / PhD graduate students’ work is publicly acknowledged through numerous awards won from the university, government agencies and the professional art community. These awards include the prestigious Samuel Sarick Purchase Award, W. Lawrence Heisey Award, Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award and the Joseph Plaskett Award; the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, SSHRC Doctoral and Canada Graduate Scholarship. A significant number of alumni continue to achieve national and international success as artists and educators. Another important and dynamic component of our programs are the exhibition exchanges we have had and are continuing to develop (Ohio State University, Art Mûr Gallery and l’Ecole des arts visuels et médiatiques at l’UQAM both in Montreal.
Students will find within the structure of our two programs the focus and knowledge needed to become active creative participants in the contemporary art milieu.
Wishing you all the best,
Nell Tenhaaf
Professor
Graduate Program Director in Visual Arts
GettING Started
This handbook provides essential information for all graduate level Visual Arts students. It outlines the history and objectives of the MFA and PhD programs, enrolment and supervision guidelines, and other useful information such as faculty research interests, scholarships, finances, contact information, etc. Its purpose is to facilitate a successful candidacy towards the MFA / PhD degrees.
Information provided in this handbook is supplementary to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar for 2013-2014 (hereafter designated as the FGS calendar). Every attempt has been made to make it as current as possible.
Program information can be found online at look for Visual Arts MFA or PhD under Programs. This links to the FGS calendar (program requirements pdf) as well as to the Visual Arts program website at
*In August, mail (or email or fax) the NEW STUDENT INFORMATION form and a VOID personal cheque or a bank account information form (from your bank) to the GPA’s attention () in order to process September’s payroll by direct deposit.
Before you can access York's online services, you MUST create a Passport York account.Your Passport York username and password authenticate you as a member of the York computing community. Go to: Select Current Students..
A Passport York account gives you access to a wide range of services. You can register, add/drop courses, view grades on-line, print receipts for tax purposes, etc. After you have created your Passport York account, proceed to create a York e-mail address.
If you encounter difficulties, contact the computing Help Desk.There is a live chat available during daytime hours from the computing website. The University Information Technology (UIT) Help Desk is the liaison between York University's central IT services and its users. It is the initial point of contact point for reporting technical problems, seeking solutions, and making routine requests for services. The principal purpose of the Help Desk is to provide quick resolution to inquiries related to IT services.
How to request/access this service.
- By Email: write to
- By phone 416-736-5800 (voicemail available outside of business hours).
- By visiting the Service Counter at William Small Centre - Computing Commons.
ENROLMENT AND REGISTRATION
Once you have completed your mandatory advising session with Nell Tenhaaf, Graduate Program Director (GPD) and Dawn Burns, Graduate Program Assistant (GPA), you can proceed with enrolling in courses. Please note you are not competing for spaces in courses with other students. Dates for these advising sessions will be sent to you in the summer, but they are tentatively planned for the first week of September (after Labour Day and before classes begin on September 9).
MFA studentsmust register and pay fees for a minimum of 5 terms,including the summer term and the term in which you will complete all degree requirements. PhD students register term by term, with a normal completion time of 11 terms including 3 summer terms.
Graduate students are required to register in each term until the completion of their degree as either a full-time or part-time student. A student may petition for the following other permissible categories of registration: Leave of Absence, External Leave of Absence, No Course Available, or Maternity/Paternity Leaves of Absence, Elective Leave. See FGS website at forms.
If a student withdraws, or is withdrawn by the Faculty for failure to maintain continuous registration, the student will be required to petition for reinstatement (if eligible) and will be required to pay fees for the intervening term.
Fall 2013: September9, 2013.
Winter 2014: January6, 2014.
Notice to All Students
By registering you are considered to have accepted the terms of a contract with the University which binds you to abiding by the regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. This contract is valid whether or not you have read the information on this website, or in the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar.
It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself each year with the information in the FGS Calendar for your program, the FGS Academic Regulations at as well as with any additional regulations of the specific program in which you are enrolled.
Summary information for registering and enrolling in courses:
- Familiarize yourself with FGSregistration information, including current deadlines and how to change status.
- Follow the link on this FGS page to the Registrar’s Office website to enroll in courses for each term.
Continuous registration is mandatory for all graduate students. Students are expected to work on their thesis/dissertation exhibition during the summer. They may enroll in summer courses if required, and if appropriate ones are available.
Faculty in the Visual Arts Graduate Program
Graduate program director
Nell Tenhaaf (Professor)
Graduate Program Assistant (GPA) – 416.736.5533
Dawn Burns
Associate Professors and full members of the program
1
David
Barbara McGill Balfour
Jon Baturin**
Marc
Michel
Michael
Janet Jones
Yam
Katherine Knight**
Nancy Nicol
Judith Schwarz**
Yvonne
Brandon Vickerd
Kevin
1
Nina
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS OF THE PROGRAM (can serve as in-program committee member)
John Greyson (Film)
MarkDavid Hosale (Digital Media)
Michael Longford (Digital Media)
Allyson Mitchell (Gender, Sexuality and Women’sStudies)
** on sabbatical fall/winter 2013/14 (Prof. Baturin half sabbatical to Dec. 2013)
RETURNING MFA STUDENTS
Gord ke
Teresa élie Jérôme
Amanda hristie
Miles Collyer (MBA)lena
Mary
NEW MFA STUDENTS
1
Katie la Morton
Ashley Culver hristos
Scott Harber nna Sarchami
Rebecca Houston ances Thomas
Michelle MacKinnon y Wong
RETURNING PhD STUDENTS
1
Year 6
Eshrat
Year 5
Elle
Troy
Year 4
June
Elida
Year 3
Kika
Year 2
Jorge
Colleen
Year 1 – NEW PhD STUDENTS
Alejandro Tamayo
Zoë
1
1
FACULTY RESEARCH
David Armstrong, Associate Professor, MFA, University of Western Ontario; BFA with Distinction, University of Alberta - Print media, artists’ books, photography, time-based media, focus on printed matter as a trace of cultural production, as well as issues of memory and perception.
Barbara McGillBalfour, Associate Professor, MFA, Concordia University, AOCA, Ontario College of Art, BA Smith College - Print media, digital media, artists’ books and artists’ writing, art and science, representation of the body, and feminism.
Jon Baturin, Associate Professor, MFA, Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow; Advanced Diploma, Emily Carr College of Arts; BA, University of Victoria - Large photo-based installations that investigate ideological constructs as they relate to notions of truth. Deals with the body, sexual identity, and subjective interpretations of hope
Marc Couroux, Associate Professor, BMus, MMus (McGill) - interdisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in his experiences as a contemporary music pianist. His early piano performance works centred on the reinvention and renewal of the audience-performer dialectic, challenging the received notion of the performer's physical presence within the socio-political confines of the public event.
Michel Daigneault, Associate Professor, MA, University of Montreal and Hunter College; BA University of Montreal and Concordia University - painting, drawing, installation, theory. Main subject of inquiry questions what constitutes abstraction today and explores how abstraction relates to larger social forces.
Michael Davey, Associate Professor, PDA, Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland; BA (Honours), York University - Drawing, stone carving, bronze casting, metal fabrication, 3D installation, multi-media site specific installation, digital video/photography.
Janet Jones, Associate Professor, PhD, New York University; MFA, York University; BEd, University of Toronto; BFA, Concordia University - Painting; the body and technology; the Flaneuse in the postmodern city; critical theory.
Katherine Knight, Associate Professor, MFA, University of Victoria; BFA, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design - Photography and photo-based approaches, emphasis on landscape, text/narrative integrating time-based components and archival source material.
Yam Lau, Associate Professor, Post-Grad Diploma, Seneca; BFA, MFA, Alberta - painting, drawing, theory. Work focuses in the exploration of new expressions and presentations of pictorial space, and traverses diverse media including painting, writing, animation and the Internet.
Nina Levitt, Associate Professor, BA, Ryerson; MFA, Illinois-Chicago - Photography, installation and video. Her practice examines the representation of women in popular culture and often involves the recovery and manipulation of existing images. Her current research focuses on the representation of female spies during WWII.
Nancy Nicol, Associate Professor, MFA, York University; BFA, Concordia University, Video art and documentary, with research interests in art and activism, cultural studies, post colonialism, feminism, and gay and lesbian studies.
Judith Schwartz, Associate Professor, MFA, York University; BA, University of British Columbia - Sculpture, public sculpture, art and cultural theory.
Yvonne Singer, Associate Professor, MFA, York University; OCA, BA McGill University - Installation artist dealing with memory, identity, history; specifically, the intersection of public and private histories in the formation of identity from a feminist psychoanalytic perspective.
Nell Tenhaaf, Professor, MFA and BFA, Concordia University- Electronic media art and writing, interactive art, web-based art, science and technology, and artificial life.
Brandon Vickerd, Associate Professor, BFA (NSCAD), MFA, University of Victoria - sculptor whose research encompasses robotics, site-specific interventions, metal fabrication, foundry processes and collaborative projects.
Kevin Yates, Associate Professor,Ontario College of Art and Design, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, MFA (Victoria) - his art practice and research revolve around creating sculpture which functions like film stills: objects that hold space like a “pause” so the viewer can examine and inspect.
INTRODUCTION
MFA Program in Visual Arts at York: A Brief History
Launched in 1974, the York University MFA program in Visual Arts spans a history of almost four decades. A number of important factors continue to define the program’s strength. These include: an integration of theory and practice, an openness to all media, up-to-date and advanced facilities, a supportive and well-established faculty, opportunities for teaching and for exhibiting, financial support, and the program’s close ties to the professional art community. All of these contribute to a rich and challenging learning experience for MFA students.
Aims and Objectives of the MFA Program
The overall aim of the MFA program is to provide graduate students the necessary challenge and opportunity to develop:
1)A mature and critical studio practice that engages with contemporary ideas and art forms;
2)A strong theoretical knowledge base to enhance studio practice;
3)A clear sense about future intentions and ambitions.
The MFA provides students with the necessary knowledge, experience and opportunity for professional careers as practicing artists and/or educators. The program offers opportunities for:
1)Dialogue with professional curators and practicing contemporary artists;
2)Exhibitions;
3)Teaching.
On completion of the MFA, students should:
1)Have developed a mature body of work that engages and contributes to contemporary practice on a professional level;
2)Be able to research and practice independently;
3)Be able to articulate their ideas and intentions in both written and oral formats.
PhD Program in Visual Arts at York: A Brief History
Inaugurated in 2008, York University’s PhDin Visual arts is unique in Canada for its concentration on studio-based practice. It aims to place our graduates in the vanguard within their field, as exceptional artists and scholars. There is a growing trend toward PhD programs in visual arts with many successful established programs internationally, particularly in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The York PhD program is the first of its kind in Canada, in which all candidates are artists whose studio practice leads their thinking.
Aims and Objectives of PhD Program
The primary objective of the PhD in Visual Arts is to provide opportunity for advanced independent research that is integrated within the development of original studio practice, in all visual arts media. This four-year degree leads to both development as a professional artist and higher qualifications for university teaching positions. Participants in the program will develop new methodologies for reconciling the two sometimes-conflicting forces of scholarly depth and art world professionalism. These objectives are achieved through a combination of coursework in the Visual Arts program and in the university at large, and two exhibitions of original work accompanied by contextualizing papers. Students must demonstrate maturity in research as recognized by the academic sector as well as by their peers in the art community. Supervisory committees in the program include artists, scholars and art world professionals, so as to foster the best intellectual environment for meeting the program’s objectives.
On completion of the PhD, students should:
1)Have produced an original body of studio work for critical engagement through exhibition in the art milieu (which includes engagement with other artists, curators, critics and scholars);