MFA in Art

Program Overview

The MFA program in Art provides students with a flexible structure to explore studio production, field studies, and theoretical work. Students work closely with accomplished faculty in various disciplines, including art theory, digital media, painting, and performance studies. The program emphasizes both artistic practice and an understanding of the context in which art is created, preparing graduates for careers in teaching, studio work, and other art-related fields.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Department of Art two-year MFA program provides graduate students with the opportunity to explore studio production, field studies, and theoretical work in a flexible structure that encourages individual development within a multi and interdisciplinary context. The department equally stresses the importance of making and an understanding of the conditions in which art is produced. Students are exposed to methodologies of inquiry that foster innovative and problem-solving skills necessary for artistic development and creative production.

Teaching:

Students are given the opportunity to work one-on-one with accomplished faculty who are actively engaged in a range of disciplines and areas that include art and cultural theory, video, digital media, print media, photography, per formative studies, painting, spatial and public arts, and related fields in the Humanities, Sciences, and Engineering including film, art history, and media arts & technology. The program provides graduate students with an intensive curriculum which includes seminars in studio, critique, theory, post-graduate concerns, a range of directed media research courses, and the department’s visiting artist lecture colloquium.

Careers:

Our unique program offers direct exposure to visiting artists and scholars as well as post-grad positions on a competitive basis that may include teaching, a studio, and access to department facilities.

Other:

The department wishes to attract motivated students who will benefit from interaction with a diverse and challenging faculty and peers. The environment offers focused research in a compelling natural setting while gaining exposure to the opportunities presented in the urban centers of Los Angeles and San Francisco.