Application deadline: January 15
UCI Department of Art
3229 Art Culture and Technology
Irvine, CA 92697-2775
studioart.arts.uci.edu
MFA in Art
The graduate program offers a generously funded and rigorous interdisciplinary study environment in the visual arts. The program provides a thorough and intensive professional training for students wishing to pursue careers in the field of contemporary art, and emphasizes experimental and interdisciplinary approaches to artmaking, while also providing a solid grounding in various disciplinary mediums and post-studio practices. Students undergo a rigorous course of study combining seminars, intensive critique courses, and independent study. The university is an unparalleled resource in all disciplines of research for artists to enhance their practice. Students may take advantage of the academic excellence UCI provides as a leading research university with courses in departments in the arts and humanities. Some students, in addition to their primary graduate degree in Art, also obtain graduate emphases from graduate programs such as Critical Theory, Gender and Sexualities Studies, and Visual Studies.
Faculty
Rhea Anastas, Kevin Appel, Juli Carson, Miles Coolidge, Bryan Jackson, Jesse Colin Jackson, Ulysses Jenkins, Antoinette LaFarge, Simon Leung, Joseph S. Lewis III, Mara Lonner, Monica Majoli, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Gifford Myers, Deborah Oliver, Jennifer Pastor, Simon Penny, Litia Perta, Shelby Roberts, Connie Samaras, David Trend, and Bruce Yonemoto.
Visiting Artists lecture series
A dynamic Visiting Artist lecture series is a key component of the MFA curriculum, providing students with the opportunity to conduct studio visits with world-renowned artists, critics, and curators.
Past visitors
Paul McCarthy, Tauba Auerbach, Silke Otto-Knapp, Robert Irwin, Alex Hubbard, Takashi Murakami, R.H. Quaytman, Connie Butler, Frances Stark, George Baker, Yvonne Rainer, Yoshua Okón, Matt Connors, Sam Durant, A.L. Steiner, Amanda Ross-Ho, Jon Pestoni, Edgar Arceneaux, Charlotte Cotton, Andrea Fraser, Stanya Kahn, Daria Martin, Shirin Neshat, Matthew Brannon, Morgan Fisher, Anya Gallacio, Jan Tumlir, Martin Kersels, Stephen Prina, Walead Beshty, Martha Rosler, Mary Kelly, and Lari Pittman, among others.
Application/additional information here.
MFA in Art with a Concentration in Critical & Curatorial Studies
The program educates graduate students to pursue careers in the fields of curatorial practice, art criticism, and public programming. Upon completion of this three-year program, students will be well-versed in debates that define art and visual culture from modernism to the present, capable of conceiving new models of contemporary exhibition and criticism, and trained to execute professional, innovative projects in the field. The curriculum is interdisciplinary, taught and administered by a core faculty selected from the Department of Art and the Visual Studies PhD program in the School of the Humanities. Students complete their concentration in the third year of study with a final thesis exhibition in Winter Quarter, followed by a final written thesis in Spring Quarter.
Faculty
From the Department of Art: Juli Carson (Director), Rhea Anastas, Kevin Appel, Daniel Martinez, Jennifer Pastor, Litia Perta, and Bruce Yonemoto; From the PhD program in Visual Studies: Cécile Whiting, Bridget R. Cooks, Bliss Cua Lim, Catherine Liu, and James Nisbet.
Application/additional information here.
Exhibition opportunities
Graduate students have opportunities to exhibit in three professional galleries. First- and second-year MFAs participate in open studios and mount exhibitions to evaluate students’ progress towards the degree. Third-year MFAs mount a thesis exhibition in the spring, and often make a second exhibition outside campus during the summer after graduation.
Teaching opportunities
Each graduate student is appointed to six Teaching Assistant positions, some of which may include Teaching Associate positions after advancement to candidacy (where graduate students teach course(s) under faculty supervision). In addition, some students are appointed as Graduate Student Researchers during the academic year, and/or as instructors for the Summer Academy, an outreach program for high school and middle school students. The department also appoints some graduate students to teach the Summer School curriculum as lecturers, in the summer immediately following graduation.
Financial packages and fellowship opportunities
Successful US applicants typically receive full academic financial support. Successful international applicants also typically receive very generous academic financial support for the first year and full academic support for the second and third years. The Department is committed to providing as much funding as possible to assist all students in the completion of the degree. Students also take advantage of the numerous grant and fellowship opportunities available through the School of the Arts and other external agencies.
