Applications for fall 2022

Applications are now being accepted for the MFA Visual Arts and Sound Art programs at Columbia University School of the Arts.

The Visual Arts program is interdisciplinary and offers an MFA degree in Visual Arts rather than in one specific medium. The two-year studio program, taught by internationally celebrated artists, allows students to pursue moving image, painting, photography, printmaking, and expanded practice / sculpture.

The MFA Sound Art program, offered in association with the Visual Arts MFA program, the Department of Music, and the Computer Music Center, allows students the opportunity to pursue creative work in a variety of genres and focus on the integration of sound with other media.

Register for an upcoming information session to meet with the Chair, faculty, and department staff:
Visual Arts information session: Sunday, November 14, 11am ET. RSVP here.
Sound Art information session: Sunday, November 14, 1am ET. RSVP here.

We encourage you to contact the Admissions Office at soaadmissions [​at​] columbia.edu with any questions about the application process. For application requirements and to apply online, visit Visual Arts application requirements and Sound Art application requirements.

Visual Arts Faculty: Gregory Amenoff, Matthew Buckingham, Susanna Coffey, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Jon Kessler, Nicola López (Chair), Miya Masaoka, Naeem Mohaiemen, Shelly Silver, Sable Elyse Smith, Sarah Sze, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tomas Vu-Daniel.

Sound Art Faculty: Miya Masaoka (Director), Seth Cluett (Assistant Director), Brad Garton, Jules Gimbrone, Ben Holtzman, Dave Sulzer.

Visual Arts Mentors: Linda Bryant, Rochelle Feinstein, Valerie Hammond, David Humphrey, Michael Joo, Ralph Lemon, Rachelle Mozman, Matthew Ritchie, Rona Yefman, Craig Zammiello.

Sound Art Mentors: Phill Niblock, Katherine Liberovskaya, Marina Rosenfeld, James Hoff, Julianne Swartz, Sara Magenheimer, C. Spencer Yeh.

Alumni include: Derrick Adams, Shadi Habib Allah, David Altmejd, Kamrooz Aram, Julieta Aranda, Uri Aran, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Alice Baird, Guy Ben-Ner, Tamy Ben-Tor, Huma Bhabha, Dineo Bopape, Kerstin Braetsch, Matthew Brannon, Kamari Carter, Caitlin Cherry, Carla Cisno, Yve Laris Cohen, Ann Craven, Julian Day, Sue de Beer, Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Francesca DiMattio, Danielle Dobkin, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Ethan Edwards Cameron Fraser, Karel Funk, Barnaby Furnas, Chitra Ganesh, ector garcia, Tim Gardner, Cy Gavin, Lee Gilboa, Ashley Grier, Lemon Guo, Allison Janae Hamilton, Ilana Harris-Babou, Josephine Halvorson, Marc Handelman, Hugh Hayden, Tim Hyde, Jamie Isenstein, Iman Issa, Anya Kielar, Matt Keegan, Fabienne Lasserre, Liz Magic Laser, Leigh Ledare, Nolan Lem, Tom McGrath, Gerónimo Mercado, Yola Monakhov, Elizabeth Neel, Kambui Olujimi, Alyssa Pheobus, Sondra Perry, Eileen Quinlan, Lisi Raskin, Gilad Ratman, Rachel Rose, Mika Rottenberg, Heather Rowe, Georgia Sagri, Aki Sasamoto, Dana Schutz, Chatori Shimizu, Dasha Shishkin, Gedi Sibony, Gregory Parma Smith, Frank Spigner, Mika Tajima, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Naama Tsabar, Banks Violette, Garth Weiser, Paula Wilson, Rona Yefman, Mengtai Zhang, Kevin Zucker.

About Columbia University School of the Arts
Columbia University School of the Arts awards the Master of Fine Arts degree in Film, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Writing and the Master of Arts degree in Film and Media Studies; it also offers an interdisciplinary program in Sound Art. The School is a thriving, diverse community of talented, visionary, and committed artists from around the world and a faculty comprised of acclaimed and internationally renowned artists, film and theatre directors, writers of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, playwrights, producers, critics, and scholars.

Columbia University School of the Arts recognizes Manhattan as part of the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Lenni-Lenape and Wappinger people. By acknowledging legacies of displacement, migration, and settlement, we are taking a small first step toward the long and overdue process of healing and repair. The School of the Arts continues to confront and address issues of exclusion, erasure, and systemic discrimination through ongoing education and a commitment to equitable representation.