Program Overview

Studio Art M.F.A Program Overview

The M.F.A. program at Maryland allows artists the opportunity to dedicate three years to intensive studio practice and to the development of a strong conceptual and historical foundation to that practice.

Program Structure

The Masters of Fine Arts program at the University of Maryland is a three-year, 60 credit interdisciplinary program of study. The focus of this program is placed squarely on studio practice.

Program Benefits

• Students admitted into the program are provided a spacious private studio and access to state-of-the-art facilities in sculpture, digital-media, and printmaking.
  • Throughout the three-year course of study, M.F.A students spend the majority of their time working individually with our full-time faculty.
• Our faculty of practicing artists provide guidance and expertise in a variety of media.
• M.F.A candidates work on an individual basis with faculty members of their choosing, developing a conversation in which studio practice is discussed and works in progress are critiqued.

Program Emphasis

The M.F.A program at the University of Maryland emphasizes the need for strong conceptual and theoretical understanding of contemporary art practices.

• Bolstered by an active visiting artist lecture series and a graduate colloquium that brings in regional and national scholars and critics on an annual basis to work with M.F.A. candidates, students in the program are expected to maintain a strong studio practice and develop and strengthen the critical and conceptual discourse around which they create their work.

Location and Resources

Situated within five miles of Washington, D.C., and less than 30 miles from Baltimore, MD, the University of Maryland offers M.F.A. candidates unparalleled access to some of the country's best art museums, galleries, performing arts centers, and contemporary art institutions.

• In addition, the Department of Art maintains close ties to diverse areas of study within the university, including the performing arts, engineering, architecture, art history, and archeology, among others.
• This allows candidates in our program to work with scholars from diverse media and have access to a diverse range of tools and technologies only available to those at large research institutions such as the University of Maryland.

M.F.A. Assistantships, Fellowships, and Awards

• The majority of candidates in the M.F.A. program are also given the opportunity to gain teaching experience through departmental graduate assistantships.
  • These GA positions, which include tuition remission and a stipend, are awarded on a competitive basis based on the strength of the applicant's portfolio and the needs of the department.
• In addition, the department offers numerous fellowships and awards to incoming and continuing M.F.A. candidates.

Graduate Level Departmental Awards

Each year, the Department of Art offers two special awards to exemplary M.F.A. students, who, through their creative endeavors and activity within the department, set new standards for the graduate program.

• The awards are:
  • The David C. Driskell Award of Excellence: This award is given to a graduating student for outstanding visual thesis, as well as for excellent teaching ability and overall service to the Department of Art.
    • The award is made in honor of the late Professor Emeritus David C. Driskell.
    • The recipient of this award is offered an adjunct faculty position for the course of the year following the recipient's successful graduation.
  • Daniel Nicholson Ohlke Memorial Fund Award: This monetary award aims to support the work of a promising graduate student who is entering their second year of study within the program.