Advanced Mentored Studies

This three-year mentorship program supports ceramic artists in deepening their practice and expanding their professional portfolios through guided mentorship within an immersive studio-research environment. Participants receive individualized support, dedicated studio time, and critical dialogue while working independently within a collaborative community of peers. The program emphasizes conceptual development, craftsmanship, experimentation, and interdisciplinary approaches. Over its course, artists refine their practice, develop innovative methods, and complete a capstone project that reflects their artistic growth while exploring clay's unique capacity to shape ideas, narratives, personal histories, and identities in transformative ways. COURSE COMPONENTS Expand and refine professional practice and artistic portfolio. Receive individualized support, dedicated studio time, and critical dialogue. Deepen conceptual development, craftsmanship, and interdisciplinary approaches. Work independently within a community of peers in an immersive studio research environment. Complete a capstone project. IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR YOU? The mentorship program is for established professional artists at any stage of their career who seek a rigorous program to expand their knowledge and skills within the contemporary field of ceramics.

The third year of this three-year advanced mentorship program encourages each student to push their studio practice. Working at a rigorous pace, engaging in critical dialog with the group and with the instructors in individual critique, artists refine and expand their investigations. Wide-ranging topics include concept and approach to contemporary art practice as well as technical and material explorations. Students are expected to work independently with the support of their class peers and instructors, raising the ambition of their own studio goals. Although primarily a painting workshop, participation by installation artists and other artists working across media is encouraged. The goal of the series is for students to gain community, develop insight into their work and, through discussion, challenge themselves to reflect on their artistic intentions. COURSE COMPONENTS • Engage in a rigorous practice • Push your work to new levels • Participate in critiques and discussions IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR YOU? The AMS program is a good fit for advanced artists who want to push their practice to the next level through the critique, mentorship, and camaraderie of a sustained cohort and faculty.

This rigorous, three-year Advanced Mentored Study program at Anderson Ranch supports experienced photographers in developing a sustained, personally meaningful documentary project. The digital age has given documentary photographers and photojournalists new ways to tell stories with greater authorship and control. Through ongoing mentorship, critical dialogue, and intensive independent work, participants explore these possibilities while deepening their visual language, strengthening their research, and examining their responsibilities as contemporary documentary storytellers. Students identify a subject rooted in personal commitment and develop a distinctive approach through sustained fieldwork, experimentation, editing, and sequencing. The program emphasizes ethical engagement, relationships with subjects and communities, and critical examination of representation, authorship, and the contexts in which images circulate. Faculty mentorship and peer critique challenge participants to clarify their intentions, question assumptions, and build cohesive narratives. As projects evolve, participants consider how photography, text, audio, digital video, and emerging technologies serve their stories. They evaluate platforms such as social media, transmedia, and virtual reality for their narrative possibilities and relevance to the work. Equal attention is given to audience, publication, exhibition, and strategies for bringing projects into public view. The program culminates in a fully developed documentary project with a considered plan for presentation and dissemination. COURSE COMPONENTS Individual faculty mentorship Group critiques and discussions Project research and proposal development Sustained independent fieldwork Ethical and contextual inquiry Technical and narrative experimentation Editing and sequencing Exploration of multimedia platforms Publication and exhibition planning Culminating project and presentation IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR YOU? This workshop is designed for experienced documentary photographers, photojournalists, and visual storytellers with a developed body of work and strong technical proficiency. Participants should be prepared to advance an existing project or develop a new one, refine their visual voice, engage critically with contemporary documentary practices, and experiment with digital video, social media, transmedia, and virtual reality. A portfolio demonstrating a sustained commitment to documentary storytelling is recommended.

This rigorous, three-year Advanced Mentored Study program at Anderson Ranch supports experienced photographers in developing a sustained, personally meaningful documentary project. The digital age has given documentary photographers and photojournalists new ways to tell stories with greater authorship and control. Through ongoing mentorship, critical dialogue, and intensive independent work, participants explore these possibilities while deepening their visual language, strengthening their research, and examining their responsibilities as contemporary documentary storytellers. Students identify a subject rooted in personal commitment and develop a distinctive approach through sustained fieldwork, experimentation, editing, and sequencing. The program emphasizes ethical engagement, relationships with subjects and communities, and critical examination of representation, authorship, and the contexts in which images circulate. Faculty mentorship and peer critique challenge participants to clarify their intentions, question assumptions, and build cohesive narratives. As projects evolve, participants consider how photography, text, audio, digital video, and emerging technologies serve their stories. They evaluate platforms such as social media, transmedia, and virtual reality for their narrative possibilities and relevance to the work. Equal attention is given to audience, publication, exhibition, and strategies for bringing projects into public view. The program culminates in a fully developed documentary project with a considered plan for presentation and dissemination. COURSE COMPONENTS Individual faculty mentorship Group critiques and discussions Project research and proposal development Sustained independent fieldwork Ethical and contextual inquiry Technical and narrative experimentation Editing and sequencing Exploration of multimedia platforms Publication and exhibition planning Culminating project and presentation IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR YOU? This workshop is designed for experienced documentary photographers, photojournalists, and visual storytellers with a developed body of work and strong technical proficiency. Participants should be prepared to advance an existing project or develop a new one, refine their visual voice, engage critically with contemporary documentary practices, and experiment with digital video, social media, transmedia, and virtual reality. A portfolio demonstrating a sustained commitment to documentary storytelling is recommended.