320 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102
United States
The low-residency Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Studio Art at the University of the Arts is a highly selective professional graduate program that imparts a tradition of artistic and academic excellence through a distinctive pedagogical lens. This advanced focus carries the foundational and expansive concept of curator and critic as a vanguard. Conceived and implemented by the program’s director, professor Cynthia Nourse Thompson, the two-and-a-half year sequence is designated into divergent modules allowing for independent and collective initiation, commitment and realization.
Students complete their MFA in a year-round program both on- and off-campus. Through participation in an immersive eight-week campus-based summer semester, you can take advantage of extensive mentoring, instruction and facilities. The fall and spring semesters are dedicated to independent study designed by you and supported by our faculty and mentors, either through personal meetings or distance learning.
The educational concept of curator and critic is vibrant, experimental and independently malleable — bestowing a complexity of academic and applied acumen on those seeking to foster their artistic voice and vision. Both a fully immersed campus experience and an independent study experience are provided. Benefits of the low-residency program include the flexibility to continue working while completing degree requirements. Moreover, students engage with a variety of renowned artists, curators and critics through a vibrant program that brings prominent individuals such as Mia Locks, Amanda Hunt, Patty Chang, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Jennie C. Jones, David Brooks, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Lesley Dill and Chie Fueki to our campus.
Graduate fellowships are available.
For more information and to apply, visit the University of the Arts’ MFA in Studio Art website.
Apply now to join the University’s community of artists for fall 2018.
About the University of the Arts in Philadelphia
At the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, graduate degree and post baccalaureate programs offer visual artists, educators, designers, and museum professionals the opportunity to expand their creative boundaries, learn from accomplished faculty, and prepare for professional careers in the arts, all within the dynamic cultural landscape of Center City Philadelphia—second only to Manhattan in the number of downtown cultural organizations.
UArts’ faculty members and visiting artists are all working professionals, leaders in the fields they are teaching, ready to discuss current trends and topics with students. Low student-to-faculty ratios allow professors to have a close relationship with their students, mentoring and nurturing them so that they can define their goals and prepare for success in their chosen fields.
UArts’ College of Art, Media & Design Graduate Programs
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Crafts / MAT in Visual Arts / MFA in Book Arts + Printmaking / MA in Museum Education / MA in Museum Studies / MFA in Museum Exhibition Planning + Design / MFA in Studio Art / MDes in Product Design
UArts’ College of Performing Arts Graduate Programs
MFA in Dance / MFA in Devised Performance / MAT in Music Education / MM in Music Education / MM in Jazz Studies