The Mountain School of Arts
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The Mountain School of Arts, or MSA^, is an alternative pedagogical model based in Los Angeles that provides a tuition-free, community-based education. Founded in 2005 by artists Piero Golia and Eric Wesley, it is the oldest continuous artist-run school in California.[1]
MSA^ is often cited as one of the most successful examples of an art school that exists outside of the Educational Industrial Complex, along with the Whitney Museum of American Art's Independent Study Program (ISP).[2][3] The development of the school and its program have been written about as "follow[ing] a poetic of the gesture, of the instant, and of actions recalling Fluxus, Gino de Dominicis’ or Paul McCarthy’s works."[4] The school has been featured as one of the most prominent alternative art education models in several exhibitions, notably in the 2010 festival No Soul For Sale – A Festival of Independents[5] organized by the Tate Modern, UK as well as the 2006 edition of Art Basel in Miami Beach, USA.
The Mountain School of Arts was named after the original meeting place of the school: the upper floor of The Mountain Bar (founded by Jorge Pardo and gallery owner Steve Hanson in 2003) in Chinatown, Los Angeles.[6] The idea of "a free, bare-bones, yet ambitious graduate school— no tuition, no degree, but a vigorous curriculum— centered on talks and seminars led by visiting artists and curators" was the result of a conversation between Golia and Wesley.[7] The program began in 2005 and initially took place over three months a year (from mid-January to mid-April), with participants convening at the Mountain Bar in addition to several off-site field trips across the city.[6] The Mountain Bar officially closed in 2012, ending the artistic activity centered around the locale.[8] Afterwards, the Mountain School of Art adopted a new format, with classes over an intensive two-and-a-half week period instead of the original three months.