Where did you go to school?

As the role of the artists becomes more and more professionalized, the specifics of ones academic training seems to play a more central role in defining ones practice. Art schools give artists a pedigree. They also give artists connections to jobs, galleries, and peers. An understanding of community and context for practice come out of ones academic experience. And the character and reputation of a school marks its students -- both how they practice and how they are perceived.