Call for applications: MFA Fine Arts

MFA Fine Arts is an interdisciplinary studio program that emphasizes exploration and experimentation. Led by department chair Mark Tribe, our internationally renowned faculty includes Dara Birnbaum, Kenji Fujita, Tsibi Geva, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Omar López-Chahoud, Miguel Luciano, Eva and Franco Mattes, Suzanne McClelland, Dave McKenzie, Marilyn Minter, Laurel Nakadate, Sheila Pepe, Mika Rottenberg, Dread Scott, James Siena, Lumi Tan, Mickalene Thomas, Jasmine Wahi, Fred Wilson and Caroline Woolard, among others. Videos of faculty lectures can be found on our website. Graduates from the program include Katherine Bernhardt, Luca Buvoli, Andy Collins, Steve DeFrank, Leah Dixon, Inka Essenhigh, Joe Fig, Kate Gilmore, Michelle Lopez, Gary Peterson, Brian Rutenberg, Sarah Sze, and Phoebe Washburn.

Together, the faculty and students form a community of established and emerging artists from many backgrounds who work across disciplines and modes of practice. Our main goals are to provide a stimulating and supportive environment in which students can thrive and develop as artists, to foster rigorous critical engagement with contemporary art and other cultural forms, and to produce an ongoing conversation, through work as much as through words, about what we make, how we make it and why.

We respect craft and form, but we also encourage an approach to art-making in which ideas or questions serve as points of departure for artistic processes that may lead in unforeseen directions. While some students may remain committed to a single medium for the duration of their study, most experiment with multiple modes of production. In addition to drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture, students may explore animation, digital art, installation, performance, photography, public projects, social practice, video, and numerous other disciplines. Students in the MFA Fine Arts program have the freedom to reinvent themselves.

The close relationship between faculty and students—formed in mentorships, studio visits, seminars and workshops, but also through informal interactions—gives students the confidence to produce as much work as they can and to follow a personal course of intellectual and aesthetic investigation. The MFA Fine Arts program attracts ambitious emerging artists from many countries and backgrounds. In their commitment to art, and to one another, they provide a foundation for artistic growth that extends beyond graduation and forms an ongoing platform of professional support.

MFA Fine Arts is a full-time, two-year, 60-credit program. The curriculum is complemented by weekly visits from artists, curators, critics and gallerists, who are invited to give lectures and meet with students in their studios. Students may audit up to four undergraduate or continuing education courses, and take advantage of SVA’s lectures and other resources. Each student is given a private studio with 24-hour access. Students have access to equipment and facilities for bioart, ceramics, digital fabrication, digital photography, digital printing, metalworking, printmaking, risography, sound, textiles, video and woodworking.

The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction of purpose.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit the MFA Fine Arts website at mfafineart.sva.edu and to call or visit us prior to applying. Please email mfafinearts [​at​] sva.edu or call T +1 212 592 2500 with any questions or to arrange a visit. Registration for the November 11, 2017 information session can be accessed here.