To begin February 2015
Application deadline: December 1, 2014
Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA)
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
The first low-residency program in visual art in the country, the MFA in Visual Art at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is accepting applications to begin the program with the February 2015 residency. The final deadline is December 1 with scholarship opportunities still available.
The MFA in Visual Art at VCFA is a vibrant, local, national, and international community of artists and critical thinkers. The program’s precedent-setting pedagogy is based on the understanding that art does not exist in a void, but within a social context. Students emerge from the program with a dynamic new vision of themselves, their art, and the world around them.
Since 1991, the MFA in Visual Art program has based its educational success on the principle of individualized learning. In the program, students complete a series of interdisciplinary writing projects with a faculty member and pursue their studio work with a local artist chosen in collaboration with the program. This system encourages artists to develop their own mentor system and determine educational values and expectations according to self-initiated ideas of progress and professionalism.
As internationally known active artists, intellectuals, and teachers, the MFA in Visual Art program’s faculty members bring a wide array of interdisciplinary perspectives and ideas to every residency, with specific interests in feminism, race, ethnicity, difference, identity, inequality, radical pedagogy, art and politics, and regionalism/locality.
This diversity supports every student’s field of inquiry. The faculty’s direct engagement with the ongoing practical struggles of the individual student allows them to integrate a unique blend of context and experience into the educational process.
Current core and visiting faculty include:
Dalida María Benfield, Michelle Dizon, Ashley Hunt, Luis Jacob, Sowon Kwon, Lana Lin, Michael Minelli, Humberto Ramirez, Dont Rhine, Marie Shurkus, Cauleen Smith, Faith Wilding
For more information on their background and work, please visit our faculty page.
Applicants must have completed a BFA, BA, or BS degree from an accredited college or university, or hold a diploma from a recognized professional art school, and must have substantial experience in making art. Applicants must also have a working knowledge of art history and/or visual culture, which may include such courses as theory or history of film, television, video, theater, design history, communications, aesthetics, popular culture, etc. The program occasionally considers accepting a student without a Bachelor’s degree. Such candidates must show evidence to the MFA admissions committee of exceptional artistic work and strong writing and research abilities.
Visit the admissions page here or contact an admissions counselor directly here.
