Master of Fine Arts

The two-year MFA program provides graduate students with the opportunity to explore studio production and theoretical work in a flexible structure that encourages individual development within an interdisciplinary context. The program stresses the importance of a profound understanding of the conditions in which art is produced. Students are exposed to methodologies of inquiry that foster innovative, analytic, and speculative thinking skills necessary for artistic development and creative production. The program’s internationally accomplished faculty are actively engaged in a range of disciplines and areas that include art and cultural theory, art history, film, video, sound, digital media, design, print media, photography, painting, sculpture, new genres, and writing. A number of the faculty hold appointments in the Centers for Interdisciplinary Study.

A tutorial-based studio requirement forms the backbone of the degree. Students are given the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty who are involved in a wide-range of research practices. In conjunction with an intensive curriculum which includes theory, studio critique seminars, a range of critical studies courses, studio electives, and the graduate program’s visiting artists and scholars lecture symposia, the MFA program provides graduate students with direct exposure to professional artists.

In addition to independent advising, MFA student progress is determined through a review process conducted by a faculty committee twice during the program: an intermediate review upon completion of the second semester and a final review during the fourth or final semester in the program. Teaching assistantships and/or professional internships are important components of the graduate degree program.

The two-year MFA program is designed for students from a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines, and life experiences working at an advanced level of competency within their chosen area of practice. The program wishes to attract motivated students who will benefit from interaction with a diverse and challenging faculty in an environment that offers focused research within a compelling educational and varied creative community while gaining exposure to the opportunities presented in the urban center of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area.

Areas of Study

The integrative study of theory and criticism in conjunction with artistic production are essential parts of the graduate program. To introduce ways of considering art in relationship to contemporary existence, all graduate students take a minimum of three critical studies seminars and three art history courses. These courses provide an in-depth look at contemporary media and art discourse historically contextualized by a wide range of theoretical approaches, including: aesthetic theories, new media theories, structuralism, semiotics, phenomenology, Marxism, gender and queer studies, post-structuralism, deconstruction, issues of authorship, postcolonial theory, multiculturalism, and theories of social and environmental justice. In addition to the art history and critical studies offerings, students have access to course offerings throughout the institution in all studio areas.

MFA Exhibition

Participation in the annual MFA Exhibition is the final requirement for the MFA degree. It also functions as the site of the graduate student’s final critique. In their final year, students prepare for this important event, the largest of its kind in the San Francisco Bay Area. A great deal of discussion ensues during the exhibition about the nature of work being produced as well as issues surrounding the presentation and exhibition of work. This annual MFA Exhibition attracts critical attention from the public. It draws curators, gallery directors, and collectors from the West Coast region and beyond and is noted for diverse, provocative, and innovative work.

Graduate Lecture Series / Studio Visits

A selection of recent artists and scholars includes:

VITO ACCONCI
CARLOS AMORALES
ALEX ARRECHEA
BRETT COOK-DIZNEY
BILLBOARD LIBERATION FRONT
TRISHA DONNELLY
NICOLE EISENMAN
ARTHUR ELSENAAR AND REMKO SCHA
ERIC FISCHL
KIANGA FORD
ANYA GALLACCIO
STEVEN HULL
MARY KELLY
CHIP LORD
MATMOS
CHRISTOPHER MILES
DEBORAH OROPALLO
JENNIFER REEVES
LARRY SULTAN
STELARC
JEFFREY VALLANCE
BENJAMIN WEIL