What to Do with an MFA for Recent Graduates

So you've spent the last two or three years of your life slaving away at a Master of Fine Arts degree, and now you've been turned loose into the world. If you're like me, you probably spent the last couple years living on minimal sleep between work, school, and your thesis project. Now that you've finally gotten the coveted MFA, what are you going to do next? Keep on making art, of course.

Here are five ways to continue with your artistic endeavors, post-MFA. These suggestions for recent graduates will help you acclimate to life outside school but provide the structure and support you need to do what you consider your most important work without going broke.

Develop an online credentials file.

As the recent recipient of an MFA, you're going to need to apply for a lot of things soon if you want to keep working on your art. Whether you're interested in jobs, grant money, or artists' colonies, streamlining the application process will be the ticket to your success.

Developing an online credentials file allows you to keep all of your application documents in one place. The fees for storing and delivering these documents to the appropriate parties are nominal when you realize how much time it saves. After all, you don't want to have to ask the same person for seven different letters of recommendation.

Interfolio will let you pick and choose which documents you need to send. Store work samples, your artists' statement, project proposal, letters of recommendation, transcripts, curriculum vitae, and anything else you might need here. When you wish to apply for something, you simply choose the delivery method, input the contact information, and click on what you need sent. It's a ridiculously easy way to get organized, and worth every cent.

Apply for grants.

A grant is free money given to an artist to complete a project that might not otherwise be financially feasible. Grants can be used for travel, materials, or simply to buy yourself time to work. Grant money can be given to groups, to individuals wishing to serve a community in some way, or to individuals based on merit or financial need.

Where does all this money come from? The majority of artists' grants are given by state governments, private foundations, or colleges. Here is a good list to get an idea of where to start sending those applications. Scroll down to see a list of grants available by state.

Apply for residencies and fellowships.

A residency is an excellent opportunity for a recent MFA graduate. Many schools offer one or two year residencies where a recent MFA recipient will be given room, board, a living stipend, and a place within the college community to air new work. Many of these residencies come with requirements such as a teaching or attending a class, but it's a great way to get some college teaching experience on your curriculum vitae. Plus, you will get the added bonus of an illustrious-sounding title like "Writer in Residence," or "John Smith Fellow."

This is the Stegner Fellowship, one example of a highly coveted (and somewhat unusual) fellowship available to fiction writers and poets.

Jaunt off to an artist colony.

Maybe you don't feel like committing yourself to a college environment right after you receive your MFA. That's perfectly understandable, and it might do you some good to get out of an academic environment for awhile. Fortunately, there are places for you to go and work, too!

Artists' colonies are great places for any working artists (and not just MFA recipients) to get away for a couple weeks or a couple months. While you may have to pay to stay at an artist colony, many give fellowships to artists and writers of merit.

Here is a list of writers' colonies. Many of the places on this list also welcome visual artists.

Get a (gasp) real job in the arts.

Yep, I said it. Sometimes the best way to support your work is to work. The good news is that recent MFA graduates aren't restricted to competing for a limited number of college teaching jobs anymore. If you live in or near a moderately-sized city, chances are good that you may be able to land a job in the public school system as a writer or artist in residence. That means that you would go into public schools once a week or so and teach a class on poetry (or other artistic medium). You might also look into teaching art or writing classes in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, or through the city's adult education program.

Companies are also looking at MFA recipients as possessing skills the ordinary MBA-holding office drone doesn't have. If you can suck it up and write or design promotional materials, you can make a very decent living indeed.

Resources:

www.interfolio.com

www.cranbrookart.edu/library/research/grants.htm

http://www.stanford.edu/group/creativewriting/stegner.html

http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/colonies.htm