Grad School: Arizona State University: Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Interest:
The ASU program seems to be really good. It looks like they have a number of faculty that have experience in different types of photography. It sounds like the program really strives to be a community experience not just an academic one. I think the location would be a big plus for me.

Their facilities sound great, for example:

Photography Labs

The digital-photography facilities in the ASU Herberger Institute School of Art have been upgraded to include 27 Mac Pro computers, three 44" printers, 12 13" printers, a 17” printer, scanners for every format and a sophisticated network/server system. Six computers are designated for graduate-use only. Each computer is fully loaded with the most current software, including Final Cut Pro, the Adobe Creative Suite, Maya, Aperture and a variety of color management tools.

For analog processes, the program maintains several color darkrooms with a 24“ Cryonite color processor for analog color print materials, a black and white gang darkroom with film loading and processing rooms for the introductory level course, as well as an advanced black and white darkroom for upper division undergraduate students. The facility can accommodate graduate students using wet processes with a small personal darkroom. We also maintain a black and white mural darkroom with horizontal projection.

The facility, for teaching non-silver, alternative processes and late 19th-century printing processes, is comprised of a separate two-enlarger station darkroom, a chemical mixing and wet processing room with three large stainless steel sinks, an exposure room with one metal halide flip-top exposure unit and two fluorescent units with vacuum frames. There is a Vandercook Universal III proof press used for collotype printing and an etching press located in the printmaking area of the Art Building used for teaching copperplate photogravure.

Additional photography facilities include a small lighting studio as well as 16 mm motion picture film equipment shared collaboratively with other areas within the school.

Graduate Studios

Photography graduate students in the ASU Herberger Institute School of Art have a dedicated shared work space measuring 2,500 square feet within easy walking distance to campus. Each student gets a key to the common space with a relatively open floor plan and has a designated small personal studio space within, redivided each term based on the number of students. The building has a telephone, wireless internet and is available for your use 24 hours a day. You can use this space for various reasons, including test installations and sequences, to make work and assemble finished pieces. The photographic seminar often convenes in the graduate studios to discuss artwork in progress.

Faculty of Interest: Mark Klett




Mark Klett photographs the intersection of cultures, landscapes and time. His background includes working as a geologist before turning to photography. Klett has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Buhl Foundation, and the Japan/US Friendship Commission. His work has been exhibited and published both nationally and internationally for over 30 years, and his work is held in over 80 museum collections worldwide. He is the author of thirteen books including Saguaros (Radius Press and DAP, 2007), After the Ruins (University of California Press 2006), Yosemite in Time (Trinity University Press, 2005), and Third Views, Second Sights (Museum of New Mexico Press 2004). Mark Klett is Regents’ Professor of Art at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.


Grad Student of Interest: Angela Franks Wells





Solo Exhibitions:
2010
Instantaneous. 515arts, Phoenix, AZ.
Works from parts & labor. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI (Fall)
2009
Happy Hour 9-5: new works from parts & labor. Tilt Gallery, Phoenix, AZ.
2008
Somewhere. 515arts, Phoenix, AZ.
2007
Brown Bagger, 515 arts, Phoenix, AZ.
Parts & Labor, Tilt gallery, Phoenix, AZ.
2006
Parts & Labor, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Harry Wood Gallery, Arizona State University.