M.F.A. in Art
Harrisonburg, USA
Master degree
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* Program begins in August.
Key Summary
The Master of Fine Arts Program will challenge and support independently motivated artists in their intellectual, philosophical, and artistic development. The graduate program encourages lifelong learning, career success, and community involvement.
The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in Art is awarded for a high level of professional competence. Admission is highly competitive; it is a three-year interdisciplinary program with a cohort of two to four students accepted each year. The graduate faculty have expertise in studio areas such as painting and drawing, fibers, metals, ceramics, digital and analog photography, sculpture, video, performance, and more. Students are provided with a private studio and have 24/7 access to a wide range of equipment, labs, visiting artists, and events.
Students enrolled in this program study art from multiple perspectives, experience integrative coursework and spend substantial creative time in their studios. Students complete a thesis and are honored with a thesis exhibition in our main gallery. Students also create a thesis monograph that is documented in JMU's search-optimized Scholarly Commons. Graduates receive special commencement recognition along with the Ph.D. and other terminal degree graduates.
M.F.A. students earned their bachelor's degrees from a variety of universities, from large, prestigious private art schools to smaller liberal arts colleges. Some of the undergraduate art schools represented in the M.F.A. program include:
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- University of California, San Diego
- East Carolina University
- New York University
- Old Dominion University
- Ringling College of Art and Design
- Tampa University
- Texas Tech University
- Towson University
- University of Virginia
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Wake Forest University
- Yale University
Students from around the world have earned their M.F.A. at JMU. Countries represented in the M.F.A. program include:
- China
- Colombia
- South America
- England
- Japan
- South Korea
All M.F.A. full-time students admitted to the graduate program are recommended for a Graduate Assistantship within The School of Art, Design, and Art History. This assistantship pays for full in-state tuition and graduate comprehensive fees for 18 graduate credits per year in exchange for 20 hours of work per week, per the stipend amount set by The Graduate School. Out-of-state tuition coverage may be available but is on a limited basis. The program requires an additional 6 credits to be completed during summer sessions; this tuition is not covered by the assistantship, but students may be able to apply for financial support. Students in their third year of M.F.A. study may be eligible for a Teaching Assistantship, which awards a larger stipend.
Acceptance into the Art M.F.A. program is highly competitive, with just three in-state Graduate Assistantships available. The offer of Graduate and Teaching Assistantship employment is contingent upon budget availability.
First Semester
- ART 601 Graduate Studio Practice 3
- ART 600 Graduate Integrative Seminar 3
- ART 593: Contemporary Art Theory 3
Second Semester
- ART 601 Graduate Studio Practice 3
- ART 600 Graduate Integrative Seminar 3
- ARTH 572 Modern Art Since 1945 3
First Summer
- ART 602 Contextual Practice
Third Semester
- ART 601 Graduate Studio Practice 3
- ART 600 Graduate Integrative Seminar 3
- ART or ARTH Elective 3
Fourth Semester
- ART 601 Graduate Studio Practice 3
- ART 600 Graduate Integrative Seminar 3
- ART or ARTH Elective 3
Second Summer
- ART 602 Contextual Practice 3
Fifth Semester
- ART 601 Graduate Studio Practice 3
- ART 600 Graduate Integrative Seminar 3
- ART 700 Thesis 3
Sixth Semester
- ART 601 Graduate Studio Practice 3
- ART 600 Graduate Integrative Seminar 3
- ART 700 Thesis 3
- To offer study in collaboration with an exemplary faculty who challenge candidates to develop artistic skills demonstrating professional competence.
- To advance each candidate’s ability to articulate a personal aesthetic, philosophical, and conceptual mode of individual inquiry.
- To equip candidates with a deepened knowledge of artistic history and culture as it relates to their chosen area(s) of artistic pursuit.
- To graduate candidates who have a heightened awareness of contemporary issues and who are prepared to develop an artistic career beyond the university as engaged and productive members of their communities.