Visual Art Apr 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm

The Cost of Art School

Jen Graves
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Comments

1
the work implies that all you do for the degree is pay the high tuition, which is incredibly insulting to other students and faculty members. what an incredibly tacky one-note.
susiem on April 4, 2012 at 12:09 PM Report this
2
"most likely by Cornish Faculty."
Or someone hoping to break in and find a whole lot of quarters.
Matt the Engineer on April 4, 2012 at 12:12 PM Report this
3

Brilliant...it's like the inverse of Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" -- a urinal put into an art museum.

Here the artist puts the certification for sale without the institution.

He may have justified his tuition with this.
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on April 4, 2012 at 12:13 PM Report this
4
The cost to society for an art diploma is fairly cheap.

The cost to society for an MBA in Finance for an economy-destroying Hedge Fund Executive is in the Billions.

The cost to society for an engineering degree is incredibly cheap, as that grows the GDP of a nation.
Will in Seattle on April 4, 2012 at 12:17 PM Report this
5
So this is what they learned to do at art school? I can see why they'd be pissed to be out $75K.
Tyler Pierce on April 4, 2012 at 12:20 PM Report this
6
Most post secondary schools have just become diploma mills. Thanks for the 50k here is your literature degree and your application Starbucks application.

I spend a lot of time each year deprogramming students who believe they will never amount to anything of they don't set out immediately to a four year school upon graduation.
Rotten666 on April 4, 2012 at 12:22 PM Report this
7
Speaking as a Cornish Graduate with $90,000 in student loans, that diploma is a steal. I had 1/4th of my tution covered by scholarships and grants AND worked 35 hours a week almost all the way through.

I work in IT now because I just wasn't dedicated enough to be a starving artist. Gotta pay the bills.

I honestly have though of doing something similar with my diploma.
tigntink on April 4, 2012 at 12:23 PM Report this
8
Both gentlemen attended the University of Washington.
itsbettertolaugh on April 4, 2012 at 12:25 PM Report this
9
Geez. Typo city, amirite?
Rotten666 on April 4, 2012 at 12:27 PM Report this
10
@8

Well that certainly puts a different spin on it.
Leo77 on April 4, 2012 at 12:28 PM Report this
11
It may be insulting to the other students and faculty, but you gotta admit it's still pretty funny.
SPG on April 4, 2012 at 12:31 PM Report this
12
@8, well done, sir or madam! Max was the Piecyclist, no?

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/chow-…

The only Cornish grad I know makes a fine living selling high-end furniture of his own design and has a celebrity trainer boyfriend. He's pretty happy he went to Cornish, I believe.
gloomy gus on April 4, 2012 at 12:37 PM Report this
13
comic art sans serif
harold hollingsworth on April 4, 2012 at 12:46 PM Report this
14
I've never heard of this Cornish outfit, but I know a few RISD grads. All of them would have been better off keeping the money for themselves.
Fifty-Two-Eighty on April 4, 2012 at 12:47 PM Report this
15
Neither of these artists went to Cornish. Actually that is what I enjoy most about this piece. Graham didn't attend a college and Max went to UW. It is a very tongue and cheek piece of work.
I myself graduated from Cornish and am not insulted at all by this piece. I think it is hilarious. Also if you look closely it is titled 'dispensor' which is spelled incorrectly. :)
vignettes on April 4, 2012 at 12:50 PM Report this
16
Definitely a UW student. Just look at the shitty mail-order engraved plaques.
mattereaterlad on April 4, 2012 at 12:51 PM Report this
17
@13, Harold!
Fnarf on April 4, 2012 at 1:00 PM Report this
18
I've been standing in front of one of these machines, waiting for someone to insert $75k in front of me so I can grab an MFA before the door closes.
Dougsf on April 4, 2012 at 1:13 PM Report this
19
I absolutely love this piece. It's hilarious! I'm the product of two art schools, but I graduated from Cornish. while I absolutely adore my art school education and benefit greatly from it, I think the diploma mill is ridiculous, and overinflated; especially in the art world. I also think the art world is in perpetual danger of taking itself too seriously, especially in regards to "pedigree", whatever the fuck that means.

people who make good art make good art and they don't have to come from anywhere. value is not in the degree, but in the person. this here is some damned good art.
sharonArnold on April 4, 2012 at 1:31 PM Report this
20
If they were Cornish students they probably would have gotten the tuition right. I think it's 32 K a year next year so $75,000 is way too low. Also there's no way the faculty would have removed that I'm sure the administration/security did I can't believe it was there for two weeks. If they intentionally spelled dispenser wrong the piece is way funnier. Also I really want an artist who did go to Cornish to remake the piece and then place the photographs next to each other because though the clever/satire/commentary level is super high and awesome aesthetically it's failing a little. (Also a Cornish Grad. Also totally not offended.)
notadancer on April 4, 2012 at 1:32 PM Report this
22
Cornish art grads will bag our groceries, and then complain that we used paper bags while stealing the extra ones to make paper mâché puppets with them - famous UW Grad School saying.
Will in Seattle on April 4, 2012 at 1:57 PM Report this
23
It really depends on which department you are in at Cornish. I went there and had half my tuition covered by scholarships and the other by loans and work study. It is expensive as all hell, but so is every private school. I can say some departments had some of the most talented people I have ever met coming out of them (Music, Visual Art). Some seemed like a cash cow at times (Design) and while there may have been some strong students there were other's who absolutely stunk but likely were admitted simply because they/their parents/federal loans could foot the bill. The classes are small, the faculty is talented and interested in interacting and you have a chance to get to know them on a first name basis, which might not happen at the UW. And once you graduate, you are branded a 'Cornish Grad' which established people in this town seem to admire and find a conversation piece when applying for jobs or what not. Emperors new clothes? Who knows. It has worked for me.
on April 4, 2012 at 3:07 PM Report this
24
I'm just curious as to whether or not this piece actually functions. If one were actually deposit $75,000 in quarters, could they open the machine and remove a diploma? Honor system ensuring that they only take one, and not the whole stack to then sell at half price? Can the change box even fit $75,000?
on April 4, 2012 at 4:18 PM Report this
25
I know somebody who's sister managed to fail out of Cornish. Her back-up plan was to get knocked up and move back in with daddy.
suddenlyorcas on April 4, 2012 at 4:44 PM Report this
26
Cornish grad here and while I loved my experience, it didn't do much in terms of helping me find a relevant job. If I had known that the economy would tank while I was in school, I would have chosen something else based on the cost of my current student loan payments. I think this piece is pretty amusing and would love to know more of the story behind it.
Manthony on April 4, 2012 at 4:50 PM Report this
27
A lot of grads from all kinds of schools are feeling like the hundred grand they spent on higher education was perhaps not a wise choice. They're kicking themselves for not going to grad school at a state university where you can get a Master's for around 10 grand and being, of course, under the impression that a name school or a private university degree had more prestige. The only place left, really, where that still works (and it doesn't work all the time) is the Ivy League. If you get into Harvard or Yale or Brown or Princeton, you're going to most probably be set.

So why not just go to a state school that has to meet the same educational standards and accreditation that the Ivy League has to meet?
Bauhaus I on April 4, 2012 at 5:05 PM Report this
28
And we thought the Mortgage Bubble was bad... Just wait until the Student Loan bubble pops.
You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on April 4, 2012 at 5:25 PM Report this
29
I went to Parsons School of Design for a while. Everything about it was money based and elitist. You can learn more from a 'how to make art' website than that school. Most of my artistic motives are now: "do everything the opposite of how they tell you at Parsons."
michijo on April 4, 2012 at 6:57 PM Report this
30
Come on seriously?! A college degree isn’t a pre-req for success!! No one said it was! We chose to go to school though... No one held us captive, we could have left at anytime. And for those who, I guess aren’t aware, you rarely pay the tuition list price or atleast you shouldn’t be!! I went to Cornish and I received the majority of my tuition in scholarships and grants. Cornish has so many opportunities for scholarships, if you didn’t look into them or qualify for them, maybe that was a sign you shouldn’t have been there! It’s a tough market right now and it’s hard to find a job whether you have a degree or not! If you don’t think you’re better off from being there, than you did something wrong and should have left long before you graduated!
elizabethestelle on April 4, 2012 at 7:43 PM Report this
31
Cornish has so many opportunities for scholarships, if you didn’t look into them or qualify for them, maybe that was a sign you shouldn’t have been there!

And as a recipient of these awards, you should know more than most it's a crap shoot and almost a full-time job applying for scholarship. Glad you were able to master the system. Not everybody can - not people who have to work a full- or part-time job to pay for school and certainly not everyone who would benefit from an education.
Bauhaus I on April 5, 2012 at 9:39 AM Report this
32
Of course they attended, UW. That's because Cornish grads are getting all the jobs. It is making people talk, obviously, so I'll give them that, but it would have been much cooler had they placed it on their own campus.
virgil6 on April 5, 2012 at 10:18 AM Report this
33
Its cute. So that's success I guess. But really, if you didn't go there you don't have anything to say. So I'll file it in the oh-so-full folder of "look at me, I'm clever!" works that I can't seem to get away from. Please make work you mean, whether or not you attended this or any other school.

Its not for everyone.

Art school will never be worth the $ if you go about it with a pedestrian attitude and ethic. So that price tag should be the deterrent.
justinl on April 5, 2012 at 12:56 PM Report this
34
Who goes to art school for the diploma? I graduated from an "elitist" MFA program and it's quite possible my life & future prospects are fucked forevermore. And I don't regret a fucking thing. Everything that went right, went right because of me. Everything that went wrong, went wrong because of me. I'm still making art (that no one cares about) every single day (with a full time job) and I consider that a huge victory.
ellie_dee on April 7, 2012 at 2:55 PM Report this
35
There's nothing insulting about it, it's just the truth. Nobody's ever heard of an art school kid getting flunked, you just know of dropouts. Either because they were lazy, or because it was too damn expensive. This is because each student represents about $60,000 - $120,000 in revenue for the institution. Failing paying customers is costly, to say the least .

It's true many students work hard and leave not just with a useless document but with a solid skill set. The fact remains though that faculty members risk losing their jobs for posting low grades. Therefore:

1. Insert $75,000.00
2. Receive diploma
on April 10, 2012 at 3:43 PM Report this
36
try the degree at http://www.fluxusinstitute.org/
touchon on May 13, 2013 at 10:32 PM Report this

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