You will have to ascertain whether the committee has asked for a “Statement of
Purpose” or a “Letter of Intent.” Have you been asked to submit a “Statement of
Purpose” and an “Artist’s Statement”? Are you required to submit a sample of your
writing (as in an academic paper)? If you have to write a “Statement of Purpose”
that is accompanied by “Artist’s Statement,” the “Statement of Purpose” will
generally focus on what you intend to accomplish in graduate school. The “Artist’s
Statement” will provide them with a sense of where you’re coming from, your
philosophies, your current practice. A “Letter of Intent” usually provides your
audience with a sense of what your practice is now, how it’s developed and where
you see it going in the future — a sense of what you see yourself accomplishing in
graduate school. Remember: A “Letter of Intent” and a “Statement of Purpose” are
both types of proposals. Your audience does want to know what you propose to do!
They want to know how you’ll fit into their program, whether you have an interest in
teaching (if there are TAships available), who you’d like to work with (if that’s
possible to determine), whether you want to be involved in an exchange (if that’s
part of the program), your interest in curatorial work, academics, theory, and your
influences