Application Deadlines
November 15, 2013: Priority deadline for Spring 2014 MFA
January 15, 2014: Priority deadline for Summer 2014 Low-Residency MFA
January 15, 2014: Priority deadline for Fall 2014 MFA, MA, and Dual Degree MA/MFA
Apply online: www.sfai.edu/GradAppProcess
San Francisco Art Institute
Graduate Center
2565 Third Street
(between 22nd and 23rd streets)
San Francisco, CA 94107
[email protected]
T 1+ 800 345 SFAI | 415 749 4500
SFAI is an educational experience for artists and scholars ready to become leaders in contemporary art and to engage and transform society through artistic practice. A hub for creative thinkers, poetic radicals, and relentless innovators for over 140 years, SFAI has been home to such world-renowned cultural figures as Kathryn Bigelow, Paul Pfeiffer, Kehinde Wiley, Catherine Opie, and Barry McGee. Today, SFAI continues to expand upon this legacy by fostering a learning environment centered on the creative pursuits of the individual.
Graduate Programs
MFA in Studio Art (optional emphasis in one of seven major disciplines)
MA in Exhibition and Museum Studies, History and Theory of Contemporary Art, or Urban Studies
Low-Residency MFA in Studio Art
Dual Degree MA/MFA in History and Theory of Contemporary Art/Studio Art
MFA in Studio Art
Founded on the conviction that critical inquiry and experimentation are at the forefront of contemporary art-making, the MFA in Studio Art program encourages students to use their own questioning to direct a sustained and vital creative practice. The program strikes a balance between academy and atelier that is remarkably generative for artistic production: students maintain independent studio practices; work one-on-one with faculty; participate in small, discussion-based critiques; forge student-led collaborations, collectives, and exhibitions; and take compelling, concept-driven critical studies and art history seminars.
Graduate Electives—such as Video Production: From Idea to Realization; Bodies as Sonic Messengers; Sculpture in Context: The Return to Craft and Clive Fellows Seminar (which brings internationally regarded painters into direct dialogue with students)—prepare emerging artists to creatively engage the most pressing issues of contemporary practice.
The culmination of the MFA degree is the highly anticipated off-site MFA Exhibition, which annually generates critical attention and is renowned for its diverse, cutting-edge creative output.
MA Programs
SFAI’s MA programs provide a generative context for advanced scholarly inquiry into the major ideas, institutions, and discourses of contemporary art and the sociocultural conditions of its production. Discussion-based seminars such as “Critical Hedonism: The Aesthetics and Politics of Riotus Indulgence”; “Fascinations; Medium Specificity and Experimental Cinema”; “Min(d)ing the Canon”; “Theories of the Text/ile”; “Critical Histories of Museums and Exhibitions”; and “Privileged Mobilities: Transnationality and Imagination” emphasize critical analysis and inventive modes of scholarly inquiry.
MA students work in close proximity to MFA candidates—creating a vibrant, interdisciplinary context that enables emerging scholars to test theories developed in the classroom with various praxes, such as exhibition curating, leading colloquia/symposia, and conducting cross-disciplinary studio/research projects.
The culminating projects of the MA degree—a written thesis and publicly presented collaborative work—give students the theoretical and practical tools necessary to embark on careers as scholars, curators, writers, educators, and more.
No Reservations Art
The professional practice of the artist/scholar is a vital component of the graduate experience. SFAI’s No Reservations Art program brings the work of graduate students into the public arena via international collaborations, group exhibitions, and publications. The program funds extracurricular projects that enhance the graduate community and strengthen students’ professional networks.
Faculty
SFAI’s graduate faculty are accomplished cultural producers; they are recipients of awards from the NEA, Guggenheim, and MacArthur foundations; they exhibit internationally in preeminent museums, galleries, and biennials; and they are widely published in monographs, books, and scholarly journals the world over.
Notable faculty: Nicole Archer / Linda Connor / Christopher Coppola / Claire Daigle / Tony Labat / Jennifer Locke / Reagan Louie / Bruce McGaw / Rigo 23 / Will Rogan / Clare Rojas / John Roloff / Henry Wessel
Visiting Artists and Scholars
SFAI’s graduate students have unparalleled access to international figures in art and culture through various lecture series and exhibition programming at the Walter and McBean Galleries.
Recent guests: Thomas Demand / Isaac Julien / Nina Katchadourian / Annie Leibovitz / Kerry James Marshall / Carol Mavor / Richard Misrach / Wangechi Mutu / Shirin Neshat / Allan Sekula / Mickalene Thomas / Andrea Zittel
For information about financial aid and fellowship opportunities, visit www.sfai.edu/financial-aid.
