You’d think we would be excited about the prospect of moving to a new place to pursue new career opportunities, but you’d be wrong (mostly). Ok, that’s a lie. I’m excited. Stacy’s not. And I can’t blame her… I don’t exactly have a guaranteed job, and that’s less than comforting. I’m sure the story would be different otherwise, but unfortunately, that’s how this whole post-MFA thing works. Adjunct for awhile until I have the teaching experience that can land me a full-time teaching gig.

So for the past several months, I’ve had my eyes set on Boston as our next home. This makes lots of sense for several reasons. I have a number of good contacts in Boston that would be very helpful in connecting me with adjunct positions around the city. Also, Boston is full of universities. If you didn’t know that, do a little search for colleges in Boston and be prepared to be amazed. Oh, and don’t forget Cambridge, the areas around Boston, and Providence, RI. Ever heard of MassArt, The Museum School, Harvard, Boston College, Boston University and RISD, to name a few? They’re all right there. This makes for an extremely educated community, and ideally, students that are serious about learning. These are major considerations, right? But what’s the downside?

Boston is expensive; there’s no way around it. Essentially because of the dogs, we need a house with a fenced backyard. Finding a house to rent outside of Boston (forget living in town) with a yard for less than $1500 a month has, so far, proven laughable. I’m sure it’s possible, but we haven’t really found it yet. And considering we’re paying far less than that here in Atlanta, it would be a major financial change for us. Yes, I would be pulling in additional income, but it would be paltry compared with the overall increase in our cost of living, even aside from the house. Also, the winters are blisteringly cold. I don’t think we’re going to find a way around that, but it’s just a point that should be made. Also, New England is about as culturally different from Texas/Georgia as anything in this country… but we can adjust.

So what options are we left with? Well, the one option we’re now seriously considering is Chicago. I’ll start with the cons. I have no confirmed contacts in the arts/education. Stacy’s friend Ruthann went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for undergrad, but it doesn’t seem like she’s plugged in to the teaching sector of the art community. It’s looking like I might have a friend of a friend or two in the city, but that has yet to actually be realized. Also, it’s cold there as well. And finally, we’d be moving there less than blindly. It wouldn’t be like moving to Atlanta, where I had a built-in network of peers in grad school that were also looking for new friends.

The upside, however, is that Chicago is a drastically cheaper place to find housing. Looking online, it’s immediately obvious that we could pay marginally more to live in a comparable house to the one we’re in now. They have yards there, too! Also, Chicago has a large, happenin’ art (read: [commercial & alternative] gallery) scene, with major activity in photography specifically. Strangely enough, I’ve always had kind of a fondness for the Midwest, too. I’m not super-familiar with it or anything, but it seems to be some kind of hybrid between the coasts and the South. Big surprise, I’m sure. Chicago is also home to many, many schools, but probably not as many (per capita?) as Boston. Certainly, there aren’t as many photography programs as Boston.

So there we are. I have to say that after amassing a considerable amount of student loan debt, it certainly makes more fiscal sense to go to Chicago, if those are our only two realistic options. But it’s really a tough decision. I’ve begun contacting schools in Chicago to determine their adjunct hiring submission procedures, so hopefully that will shed some light on the situation.

In other news, my MFA Thesis Show reception is this Saturday. Please come out if you’re in Atlanta. The work is showing at the Blue Tower Gallery in Southwest Atlanta. While it’s technically a “solo” show (for meeting the terms of the MFA), there are 7 other graduating MFA candidates exhibiting. The text above is from the back of the card, and the image below is the front of the card.

And then one week later, I will graduate. Hopefully it will be the last time I spend money to be a student.

I almost can’t believe it’s finally time. In less than a month I’ll have a master’s degree. Surprisingly enough, that’s not really all that exciting to me. Honestly, the reason I decided to go back to school was so I could attain certain goals. If it was another bachelor’s degree that I needed, I would’ve done that.

However, getting an MFA has been one of the best decisions I think I’ve made as an artist. I won’t lie and say the school is the reason… hardly. I think it’s simply because a handful of the people I’ve known here have really opened my eyes to the creative possibilities in the world. (I’m avoiding any use of the phrase “the Art World”.) Maybe just looking at a ton of art would’ve had the same effect.

I’ve also had a few really stellar professors who have given me reasons to think more deeply about the kind of work I want to make. Thanks Steve Aishman, Suellen Parker and Robert Brown. In addition to giving good advice, the key is that they don’t constantly dispense worthless information, like some other professors who will go unnamed. And I think that’s one of my goals as a future professor myself: don’t be worthless to my students. There will just be too many people out there who will want my job, and it only makes sense to constantly work hard at it.

So the title of this post refers to the fact that my thesis show is now sitting on the wall in a gallery space in South Atlanta. That space is the Blue Tower Gallery, as a matter of fact, and the closing reception (we’re forgoing a traditional opening reception) will be from 7-10pm on Saturday, May 24, 2008. You should come—there will be hundreds of dollars worth of… refreshments. Adult beverages included.

And so after a long, hard day of framing (yes, I’m sad to say that my pieces were not ready for the wall already), hanging lights atop a rather tall ladder and then actually hanging the work, it feels good to have it on the wall, essentially out of my mind. Of course, now I have to finish writing my actual thesis paper. The joys of reaching the end.

Many many many thanks to Kyle and Jason for the most direct help I received all day, as well as Rebecca for working with to Jason hang my last small pieces, and Chowoon for helping me move the giant ladder.