MFA in Fine Arts

Pratt Institute’s interdisciplinary MFA in Fine Arts is accepting applications now for the fall 2022 semester. The program was ranked among the top 11 nationally by US News and World Reports.

Pratt Institute’s MFA program provides advanced education for artists supported by a distinguished faculty, exceptional facilities, and a supportive community of peers. Driven by exploration and enriched by the abundance and inspiration of New York City, Pratt’s critically engaged faculty respond to each student’s individual practice, fostering their development within the diverse cultures and myriad practices of contemporary art-making.

Interdisciplinary program
Pratt’s MFA Fine Arts degree supports interdisciplinary practice. Many students remain committed to the area of interest that they identified upon entering the program—whether painting and drawing, printmaking, sculpture or integrated practices—however, they are free to explore other forms and approaches as their work evolves. Faculty and students build close relationships through structured studio visits, seminars, and informal conversations. These relationships create a vital community and supportive network that endures long after graduation.

Curriculum
The curriculum is both rigorous and flexible, offering wide latitude for exploration while fostering critical perspectives and a deeper understanding of the histories, issues, cultural and transdisciplinary contexts that inform art practices today. With the art world on our doorstep, there are many opportunities to meet influential contemporary curators, critics and cultural producers. Professional practice education is integrated throughout the program, providing students the tools they need to make their way as professional artists and cultural innovators after graduation.

Faculty
Our faculty are active professional artists distinguished by their numerous national and international exhibitions and inclusion in major publications. Many have also received significant awards from prestigious organizations such as the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Creative Capital, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Facilities
Graduate Fine Arts facilities are outstanding. Students have individual studios located in the Pfizer Building, a renovated industrial building that also houses our fabrication shops, temporary exhibition spaces, seminar rooms, and a student lounge. Campus facilities include a fully equipped woodshop, metal shop, print shop, ceramics studios, darkrooms, and a digital output lab with high-resolution scanners and printers, as well as dedicated campus galleries. There are many opportunities to show work in a variety of traditional and non-traditional spaces and students are encouraged to curate self-initiated exhibitions. In both fall and spring, MFA students host a public open studio event. In the spring second-year students mount individual thesis capstone exhibitions and have the option of showing their work in a curated group show at Pratt Manhattan Gallery.

Community & programming
We are a vibrant, socially-engaged and generous community! The department initiates many discussions around contemporary issues and collaborates with arts organizations to ensure we actively participate in the cultural life of the surrounding neighborhood, as well as broader national and international communities, two such initiatives are Project Third and PIE. Project Third is a ten-week gallery residency where we invite artists/collaborative groups whose community work is research-oriented and/or motivated by the desire to instigate social change.

Visiting artists, curators, and critics
In addition to a regular schedule of studio visits by faculty members, the department’s Visiting Artists Lecture Series (VALS) brings internationally renowned artists to campus to give public lectures and conduct individual studio visits with graduate students.

Applying: View admissions requirements or schedule a visit here. 

Scholarships: Graduate scholarships are available to incoming domestic and international students based on merit

Request information: join our mailing list to receive a full-color catalog filled with student work, curricula, and more.

Pratt Institute is ranked among the top design schools by BusinessWeek and among the top in the world for art and design colleges by QS World University Rankings by Subject. Top-ranked programs, a distinguished faculty of professional artists and designers, and an ideally located campus in Brooklyn, New York, make Pratt an excellent choice for graduate study.