The long and short of it is that Graduate School is an expensive endeavor. I want my MFA because I believe it will make me a stronger artist and more able to be competitive in the contemporary art world. I want my MFA so that nothing can stand in my way of getting a full time teaching position when I decide that is to be part of my art practice. I want my MFA so I can get some focused critique of my work and build a group of peers that I'll be able to rely on in my future artistic life. While these things are important, it's unrealistic to ask artists to take out loans equal to those of medical students. 

SAIC's Fiber & Material Studies program is the best textile program in the country. I'm told it's the most difficult department to get into at the school, and here I am, one of 11 incoming graduate Fibers students. I can't turn down this opportunity, and yet I'm faced with taking on more debt in an economy that shows no sign of creating jobs for all of us oh-so-educated 20-somethings.  This is where you come in. Crowd source funding offers you the unique opportunity to fund things you believe in and helps support people and ideas in a way that has a direct impact. 

I want to thank you ahead of time, for taking an interest, for your contributions and support, or for taking five minutes out of your day to take a look at my site or to spread the word. As with all things collaborative, I can't do this without a community of people to back me up.