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.

This entry was posted Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 1:02 am and is filed under Text. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.