Last Friday I attended the Mcdaniel grad school panel arranged by the art club & Professor Steven Pearson. It consisted of 8 Mcdaniel alumni currently attending graduate programs (first & second year) and the post-bac program at MICA. Most had graduated from Mcdaniel with a focus in painting/ illustration and a little bit of sculpture.

Mcdaniel's art program is smaller and limited than most colleges but doesn't lack in ability to prepare their students for graduate school. They don't offer the wide range of concentrations other schools have but their success rate for graduate acceptance is vastly growing thanks to Professor Pearson. He is one of those professors that the students are truely lucky to have. He cares about his students and their future. Those professors are rare and hard to come by, good thing the Metals & Jewelry progam at TU has those kind of professors! Last May, eight graduating students from the Mcdaniel art program applied to graduate school and all were accepted into degree or certificate programs: American University (DC), University of Delaware, George Washington University, and MICA (Baltimore).

20-25 people: art club members, advanced studio students, and others (like me) attended the panel discussion. 7 graduate and 2 post-bac students sat in a row in front of the lecture hall and each gave a short presentation on their experience applying, work, school, etc.After each presentation there was time for questions and answers.
i thought the talk was helpful. I attended it last year as well when Bobby was going to be applying. I especially like seeing how each person's work changed/ grew throughout their 1st year and into their 2nd year in graduate school. I know bobby's has changed from what he applied with to now (almost the end of his 1st semester). If i was more oriented in 2d work, the talk would have helped me more because some of the programs don't offer metalsmithing or jewelry courses/tracks but it's still interesting to get a glimpse into another track. I have gone to American University several times with Bobby and have seen each of the 20? grad students studios. I admire their work even though it's not my medium, i started out at Towson as a painting major :)
There are 4 in particular AU grad students that I am fascinated with (other than bobby): Amy krieger, Jill Bonahom, Sara ?, and Claire ?. *i'll find those last names soon. Each of them have totally different styles but they are amazing at fine art! I love walking into their studios and admiring their work. It makes me miss painting. I like how AU challenges their grads and tries to push them to the next level. I can see it in Bobby's work.
One thing i would stress to everyone is to go out there and look at work that's different from your own. the art world may be a big place but it's good to know what's going on in it. It's also good to design review with people from other tracks/ backgrounds because they will come at it from a different way. They will ask quesitons you may not think of.