Program Overview

MFA-Art | Photography Specialization

The MFA-Art-Photography Specialization is a 60-credit hour in-person program that takes 3 years (6 semesters) to complete. Our Photography program focuses on rigorous critical discussion, technical mastery, and creative exploration supported by facilities, equipment, and opportunities to engage across campus and beyond.

Program Features

Overview

The program offers:

• 24-hour access to all facilities
• Graduate Teaching Assistantships & full tuition waivers
• School of Art, Art History & Design annual awards
• Secure, generous one- or two-person studios
• Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts awards, presentation travel, and research grants
• One-on-one studio visits with Hixson-Lied Visiting Artists & Scholars
• Opportunities to work with faculty across all studio areas, design, and art history/visual culture
• Opportunities to take courses across campus in other disciplines
• Proximity and dialog with MFA students in all studio areas
• Extensive collection of photobooks in UNLs Love Library
• Solo MFA thesis exhibitions
• Opportunities to exhibit work in the many galleries and alternative spaces in Lincoln
• A Residency Prize for one graduating student from the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts internationally renowned artist residency program

Notable Facilities & Equipment

The program boasts:

• Private graduate darkroom with 4x5" enlargers, archival washer, and a grad-only Jobo film processor
• Alternative process space and UV exposure units
• Graduate-only digital darkroom
• Critique space with configurable LED track lighting and magnetic walls
• Large open lab area with digital projector and framing/finishing space
• The School of Art, Art History & Designs Digital Lab for equipment check-out and use large format scanners and printers
• Lighting equipment including strobes, cool lights, and flashes with wireless transmitters
• Light modifiers including softboxes, umbrellas, grids, and gels
• Studio equipment including smoke and haze machines, light stands, V-flats, backdrops, tripods
• Sony alpha full-frame mirrorless cameras and lenses
• Hasselblad and Fujifilm digital medium format cameras
• Analog small, medium, and large format cameras and lenses

Alumni and Careers

Recent Alumni

Notable alumni include:

• Laura Cobb (2023)
• Jamie Ho (2023)
• Penny Molesso (2023)
• Eddy Aldana (2022)
• Austin Cullen (2022)
• Terry Ratzlaff (2021)
• Mallory Trecaso (2019)
• Zora J Murff (2018)
• John-David Richardson (2018)
• Emily Wiethorn (2018)
• Rana Young (2017)
• Amanda Breitbach (2016)
• Chadric Devin (2015)
• Allen Morris (2015)

Careers

Alumni have pursued careers as:

• University Professor
• Curator
• Editorial Photographer
• Photography Instructor
• Photography/Digital Lab Manager

Alumni are also faculty at various institutions, including:

• School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA
• Central Community College, Columbus, NE
• Black Hills State University, Rapid City, SD
• Stephen F. Austin State University, TX
• Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati, OH
• Bennington College, Bennington, VT
• Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE
• Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

About Lincoln

Students will immerse themselves in a vibrant arts community in the heart of the city of Lincoln, where creativity and opportunities abound that will shape their education and future career as an artist.