Curatorial Practice MFA

Over the past ten years, MICA’s MFA in Curatorial Practice (CP) has defined curation as a creative process bringing together artistic collaboration, experimental formats, and ethical strategies drawn from socially engaged art. Through curricular projects that amplify the voices of cultural creators and foster audience and community cooperation, CP students forge groundbreaking paths and determine their own professional futures.

During their two years in the program, CP students work closely with faculty and mentors from across the country, working in an array of disciplines: from public art and arts education, to publishing and exhibition design, to fundraising and entrepreneurship. Recent visiting faculty have included Emmy Catedral (Center for Art, Research and Alliances, New York), Nico Rodriguez-Melo (Monument Lab, Philadelphia), Megan Steinman (Denniston Hill, New York) and Gee Wesley (Museum of Modern Art, New York); recent program visitors have included guest critics Ryan N. Dennis (Mississippi Museum of Art), Nora Lawrence (Storm King), Julio Cesar Morales (ASU Art Museum), Bonaventure Ndikung (Haus der Kulturen der Welt), Shani Peters (The Black School), and Yuri Stone (Glenstone), and guest artists Tammy Nguyen and Postcommodity.

Through contact with these mentors and access to the program’s extensive relationships with venues and partners in and beyond Baltimore, CP students have created public programs, planned and installed major exhibitions, and commissioned timely new works of art—all with dedicated project funding from MICA. Learn more about the groundbreaking paths and diverse practices of CP alumni in this recent article from the New Art Examiner (UK): 7 Baltimore Curators Proving That Curating is no Longer Enough. 

There is still time to apply to MICA’s MFA in Curatorial Practice for Fall of 2022! Graduate Admssion offers rolling admission through August 1. CP students come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and prior experiences—from studio art, to scholarship in the arts and sciences, to community organizing and activism—proving that there is no single trajectory for today’s independent curators. More information on applying here.

About MICA
Acknowledged nationally as a premier leader in art and design education, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is deliberately cultivating a new generation of artist—one that is capable of seamlessly integrating innovation, entrepreneurship and creative citizenship with contemporary approaches to art, design and media.

MICA is redefining the role of the artists and designers as creative, solutions-oriented makers and thinkers who will drive social, cultural, and economic advancement for our future.

As the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation, MICA is located in Baltimore, deeply connected to the community. It is a leading contributor to the creative economy regionally and a top producer of nationally and internationally recognized professional artists and designers.