To 1st, 2nd, 3rd Year BFA Students:

So, after the first full week, a little bit of stress and excitement are lingering in my stomach.  

So, I'll walk you through the steps of what the first week will be like in your fourth year in Fine Arts.  If you're like me, you're not going to have a clue until you actually show up.  I had a basic  understanding of how things were going to work but I wasn't completely educated on the process until this week.

• Fourth Year Meeting - We had a fourth year meeting for the Bachelor of Fine Arts students in the Fine Arts building.  We were all given "Fourth Year Handbooks".
  
• The Head Advisor - a fine arts faculty member, told us how things were going to work this year.  We were informed that he'd be meeting with us a few times throughout the year as a group.
  
• Advisors - We have to pick two advisors from the F.A faculty.  These advisors are people who will be advising, assisting and evaluating us in the development of our independent work.  We will meet with these professors regularly throughout the semester.  We can have different advisors each semester.
• Studio Space - We got assigned our individual studio spaces that will become our home for the next eight months.  Some people have to share due to a lacking number of spaces.

Course Requirements/Expectations:

• produce a body of work plus studies/explorations relating to this body of work
• participation/presentation in weekly or bi-weekly group/individual conferences with your advisors
• produce a formal text addressing creative activity
• participation in joint advisor Studio Meeting
  
• participation/presentation in two formal critiques
  
• complete a presentation dossier with labeled documentation of artwork, artist statement, curriculum vitae or resume each semester
• attendance at all Visiting Artists lectures in the Visiting Artist Program
• attendance in fourth year workshops:  Artists in a Professional Context
• participation in New Year Open House studios
  
• participation in the BFA graduating show
  

Overwhelmed?  Well, I certainly am.  It's going to be a tough semester;  There's no one there to hold my hand anymore and I'm working primarily on my own.  I'm the one who creates my own "syllabus", assignments and deadlines.  This year is really going to test my independence, responsibility and ability to prioritize.  On top of the stress of meeting the BFA requirements and working in my studio, I'm lifeguarding when I can at the campus pool, blogging as much as I can, taking two seminar courses, my elective and a correspondence course.

OH MY OH MY OH MY!

I'm looking forward to it though.  Feel free to drop me a line if you would like to stop by and see my studio space sometime!

Peace, love, art.